08/11: The Yankee First Basemen
Posted by: James
Well, since the Yankees now have 3 first basemen on the team, I thought it would be interesting to see how each of them have been doing lately, starting with the newest Yankee, Craig Wilson.
Well, suffice it to say that Wilson is something of a streaky hitter and right now, he's in a funk (and what a funk it is). Since the beginning of July, Wilson hasn't hit a lick. In that time, his line so far is .239/.250/.388/.638 in 67 ABs with 4 2Bs, 2 HRs and 9 RBI. He's only walked once while striking out 25 times. 25 Ks in 67 ABs is a 37.3% K ratio, just in case you were wondering. However, keep in mind that this includes his time with the Pirates and while I'm no psychologist, constant trade rumors and inconsistent playing time could certainly be a partial cause of this. He has started to turn it around of late and since the beginning of his tenure with the Yankees, he has hit .276/.276/.483/.759 in 29 ABs with 3 2Bs and 1 HR (interesting that 4 of the 6 XBHs he's had in the last month and a half have come as a Yankee). He still hasn't drawn his first walk as a Yank but he has struck out 10 times (34.5% K ratio) and at least once in each of the 7 games he's played in. As I said before, Wilson has a bit of a reputation as a streaky hitter so hopefully last night's 2-for-4 performance was the start of a hot streak.
For you Andy Phillips supporters out there (I like the guy myself but not over Wilson), he hasn't played well either. Over the same course of time (beg. of July until now), he's actually had quite a few more at-bats than Wilson and has performed even worse with a total line of .177/.218/.292/.509 in 96 ABs with 5 2Bs, 2 HRs and 10 RBI. He's walked 5 times and K'd 17 times. Eeep. Were it not for the Cairo injury and the Yankees need for an infielder to replace him, Phillips might have been on the DFA train back to Columbus or parts unknown.
Our last first-baseman (and I use the term loosely) is Jason Giambi, who is starting to heat up again. So far this year, he's been on a pretty regular monthly cycle in terms of power and production. Don't take that as any sort of insinuation - it is simply a statement of the facts. He had been sporting a decidedly weak(-er) bat during the whole month of July but that seems to have changed as the calendar shifted into August. Including last night, his numbers for the month are pretty impressive. In only 20 ABs, he's hitting .350/.536/.900/1.436 with 2 2Bs and 3 HRs (8 BBs and 3 Ks). Honestly, I have no idea why his numbers have been on a roller-coaster ride for the whole season but if it works out according to plan, the Giambino should have a killer August and hopefully carry the Yankees through the rest of this gauntlet. (Oh, and the cycle puts him on pace to have a good October...knock on wood.)
Finally, and this is something that I had meant to do a little earlier in the year, but it's better late than never. I've maintained that Giambi began his turnaround on 6/14/2005 vs. the Pirates. from that point, Giambi reached the 162 game mark on July 1, 2006. I just wanted to showcase the numbers that he was able to put up in that time. The final tally is: .280/.450/.630/1.081 with 23 2Bs, 52 HRs, 135 RBI and one SB just for good measure. That works out to be a HR every 9.83 ABs. Throw in these other stats, 139 BB, 5 IBB and 22 HBP! (against 127 Ks), and that's one heck of a way to come back from injury (physical and psychological)/disease/PEDs/etc. etc.
As an aside, the first-baseman of the future should be returning to action soon as Eric Duncan will return to the AA Trenton line-up in an upcoming road trip to New Hampshire.
Well, suffice it to say that Wilson is something of a streaky hitter and right now, he's in a funk (and what a funk it is). Since the beginning of July, Wilson hasn't hit a lick. In that time, his line so far is .239/.250/.388/.638 in 67 ABs with 4 2Bs, 2 HRs and 9 RBI. He's only walked once while striking out 25 times. 25 Ks in 67 ABs is a 37.3% K ratio, just in case you were wondering. However, keep in mind that this includes his time with the Pirates and while I'm no psychologist, constant trade rumors and inconsistent playing time could certainly be a partial cause of this. He has started to turn it around of late and since the beginning of his tenure with the Yankees, he has hit .276/.276/.483/.759 in 29 ABs with 3 2Bs and 1 HR (interesting that 4 of the 6 XBHs he's had in the last month and a half have come as a Yankee). He still hasn't drawn his first walk as a Yank but he has struck out 10 times (34.5% K ratio) and at least once in each of the 7 games he's played in. As I said before, Wilson has a bit of a reputation as a streaky hitter so hopefully last night's 2-for-4 performance was the start of a hot streak.
For you Andy Phillips supporters out there (I like the guy myself but not over Wilson), he hasn't played well either. Over the same course of time (beg. of July until now), he's actually had quite a few more at-bats than Wilson and has performed even worse with a total line of .177/.218/.292/.509 in 96 ABs with 5 2Bs, 2 HRs and 10 RBI. He's walked 5 times and K'd 17 times. Eeep. Were it not for the Cairo injury and the Yankees need for an infielder to replace him, Phillips might have been on the DFA train back to Columbus or parts unknown.
Our last first-baseman (and I use the term loosely) is Jason Giambi, who is starting to heat up again. So far this year, he's been on a pretty regular monthly cycle in terms of power and production. Don't take that as any sort of insinuation - it is simply a statement of the facts. He had been sporting a decidedly weak(-er) bat during the whole month of July but that seems to have changed as the calendar shifted into August. Including last night, his numbers for the month are pretty impressive. In only 20 ABs, he's hitting .350/.536/.900/1.436 with 2 2Bs and 3 HRs (8 BBs and 3 Ks). Honestly, I have no idea why his numbers have been on a roller-coaster ride for the whole season but if it works out according to plan, the Giambino should have a killer August and hopefully carry the Yankees through the rest of this gauntlet. (Oh, and the cycle puts him on pace to have a good October...knock on wood.)
Finally, and this is something that I had meant to do a little earlier in the year, but it's better late than never. I've maintained that Giambi began his turnaround on 6/14/2005 vs. the Pirates. from that point, Giambi reached the 162 game mark on July 1, 2006. I just wanted to showcase the numbers that he was able to put up in that time. The final tally is: .280/.450/.630/1.081 with 23 2Bs, 52 HRs, 135 RBI and one SB just for good measure. That works out to be a HR every 9.83 ABs. Throw in these other stats, 139 BB, 5 IBB and 22 HBP! (against 127 Ks), and that's one heck of a way to come back from injury (physical and psychological)/disease/PEDs/etc. etc.
As an aside, the first-baseman of the future should be returning to action soon as Eric Duncan will return to the AA Trenton line-up in an upcoming road trip to New Hampshire.
Seamus wrote: