Mar
23
Nady has leg up in right field competition
ByFor much of the winter, at least since the Mark Teixeira signing, there’s been plenty of debate as to who will start in right field for the Yanks. Two able-bodied vets are vying for the job: newly-acquired Nick Swisher and contract-year Xavier Nady. Via Bryan Hoch’s Twitter feed, we learn that Nady is the current favorite. This doesn’t appear based on spring performance, as Nady isn’t exactly lighting it up. Pete Caldera notes that “Nady has more in the bank with Girardi based on last season.” So was it really a competition at all?
Update (11:45 a.m.): Hoch’s Twitter feed just lit up again, letting us know that Kei Igawa has been optioned to AAA. Not huge news, hence no new post.
97 Comments»
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swish gets on base more and plays a little better D… id still prefer him
Hes also a swish hitter
Waca waca waca
Yup. He goes both ways and hits to all fields, and he catches a lot of balls out there.
Did I leave anything out?
He sees a ton of balls.
he likes to have relations with members of the same sex
Aaaannnnd there goes my sandwich.
Excellent work.
He’s good at bringing men home.
The guys in the clubhouse love him.
His name is Nick Swisher
LOL…I needed some comic relief this morn, thanks guys!
I think it’s Nady’s job to lose, based on last seasons performance. Swisher is a great talent and I’m glad we’ve got both of them, but I think that while many RAB’ers expect Swisher to rebound from his 2008 campaign and thus should get the nod in RF, there’s also several of us RAB’ers who think Nady has been progressing steadily and can continue his 2008 performance as a sign of things to come.
On whether or not it was a competition…is it only a “competition” if the guy some folks here want to win the job gets in (i.e. Gardner/Swisher over of Melky/Nady)?
It’s a competition if the competition continues. I know Girardi hedged by saying “if camp broke today,” but I think he just basically declared Nady the starter. I’d like to have seen them getting regular at bats before seeing a winner declared.
On whether or not it was a competition…is it only a “competition” if the guy some folks here want to win the job gets in (i.e. Gardner/Swisher over of Melky/Nady)?
No. It’s only a competition if the better player wins the competition. Thay may not be happening in either case.
Many RAB’ers said going into the spring that there should be an open competition in both CF and RF and predicted that Gardner and Swisher would win those open competitions. During the spring, Gardner and Swisher have, in fact, won those competitions for all intents and purposes, as they’ve outplayed Melky and Nady, and despite that, neither of them have “won” the competition as Girardi has said that Melky has been “closing the gap” on Gardner and now, apparently, Nady’s got a “leg up” on Swisher.
Those two statements don’t make much sense to me. Girardi seems inclined to give an advantage to the guys who were here last year over the newer guys who were statistically projected to do better, and who have validated that statistical projection during the spring.
During the spring, Gardner and Swisher have, in fact, won those competitions for all intents and purposes, as they’ve outplayed Melky and Nady
sorry, not really seeing it:
Swisher – .265/.409/.324
Nady – .244/.262/.488
yes, if this were the regular season, give me the OBP.
but one of the big concerns for Swisher from last year, is that he can still work walks, but that his bat speed has slowed.
he hasn’t exactly calmed that concern yet.
yes, we all like Swisher better. we all think he will eventually win the job.
but i don’t see the evidence that he’s won the job based on their ST performances.
Swisher wasnt hitting anything at the beginning of spring. Just like last season. Then a week ago K-long tweaked his stance and he started hitting again.
good. and if he keeps hitting over the next 2 weeks, maybe he wins the job.
but AS OF TODAY, he hasn’t yet.
seems odd to get worked up over it.
Ok so its settled. Good.
I gotcha. Still, if I had to guess, I’m assuming it’s going to be an OF of Damon/Gardner/Nady. Whereas the CF job may be a “lesser of two evils” decision, in RF I think both guys are decent and bring some nice options to the table.
Girardi Statistical Nerd
Should say “not equal to”
Andy + Internets = Epic Fail
You have let Melvin down.
“It’s only a competition if the better player wins the competition.”
Don’t you really mean the following?
“It’s only a competition if the player I think is the better player wins the competition.”
You can’t attack Girardi for not holding a “true competition” just because the guy you like better might not win.
But the judgement of “better” is not just mine and mine alone. Gardner is clearly outplaying Melky, and Swisher is clearly outplaying Nady.
Do you disagree with either of those observations?
No but I agree with steve (different one)’s take on the situation. I don’t think Nady’s better than Swisher, I just think it’s wrong that people’s reaction to Nady possibly getting the nod early in the season is a signal that there was no competition to begin with.
And dude, it’s not like Swisher is setting the world on fire or anything. He’s clearly got the OBP and fielding edge, but it’s March. Girardi is watching these guys every day, I have no problem trusting his judgment if he decides he’d prefer to stick with Nady as his primary RFer to start the season.
Fair enough. Perhaps the word we need to be quibbling over is the “open” in open competition.
Perhaps the CF and RF battles weren’t “open” competitions, they were “partial” competitions. As in, Melky and Nady were given the jobs outright, based on the balance of their experience/contributions to the team, but Gardner and Swisher were allowed to compete with them in the spring for the chance to unseat them. If Gardner/Swisher absolutely dominated the competition, they would be given the jobs, but all ties go to the incumbent.
Hence, Gardner’s great spring was enough to push him over the hill, but Swisher’s merely solid spring wasn’t enough to unseat the favorite who should be given deference.
Fair?
Fair enough. You’re still a crybaby.
You still need a haircut.
http://pictopia.com/perl/get_i....._id=381549
That’s another potential hairstyle for Jeter once he moves to the outfield (as him changing his hairstyle at that time will symbolically represent the end of his SS career as well). I think when the time comes, the Jheter Curl is the way to go still.
yes, this is a good way of summarizing.
THAT IS HOW YOU DEBATE!!!!!!!!!
That was posted pretty fast, it only showed up on ESPN 25 minutes ago… impressive.
If Nady falters, I don’t think Girardi will hesitate to make the switch, so I’m not too concerned with who wins the job initially. Hopefully Swish will get enough at bats this year though, I think he may end up being more effective than Nady, although I’m not as sold as everyone else here on RAB
Pretty much the same thoughts as me. Much like the CF job, if the person who gets picked out of the gate falters, there is someone waiting in the wings who can hopefully step in and provide a spark.
I actually had it written up about 45 minutes before it was posted, but we like to spread things out during the day.
And that’s why we love RAB
In a platonic way, of course. [/no_homo]
Igawa’s not on the 40 man, so he couldn’t have been optioned. He was just assigned to minor league camp probably.
Hoch = Epic Fail.
No, I think that was my own epic fail.
shhh let
‘s just keep it with hoch = epic fail. we like you better
Exactly. Don’t look a gift-blame in the mouth.
This doesn’t appear based on spring performance, as Nady isn’t exactly lighting it up.
this only really makes sense if Swisher IS lighting it up, no?
checks…nope.
they’ve played about evenly during the Spring. Swish is getting on base but not hitting for any power. Nady is hitting for power but not getting on base.
both will get lots of ABs, and the better player will eventually settle into the job.
i don’t think it’s crazy to assume 2008 give Nady the slight head start on the “competition”.
and yes, i do think Swisher will eventually win the job.
Yeah, I think you’ve nailed it. Whoever is the starting day guy could lose it the day he has a couple 0-fors in a row.
they’ve played about evenly during the Spring. Swish is getting on base but not hitting for any power. Nady is hitting for power but not getting on base.
Swish- .269/.409/.324
Nady- .244/.262/.488
I’m sorry, no. An extra .164 points of slugging is not worth .147 points of not making an out. OBP > SLG.
And, in any event, defense should be the tiebreaker, and it’s not remotely close there.
Hmph…Swish has been getting more hits lately. He BA was in the .100s last I checked. This is an interesting gut check for Girardi – is he going to go the Torre route and give a job to someone arbitarily, or is he going to actually be smart and look at the numbers?
im with u tommie… id rather have the guy obp-ing 409 without hitting for extra bases than the guy obp-ing 262 and hitting a few extra base hits…. especially when player 1 is better defensively and more versatile
I’m sorry, no. An extra .164 points of slugging is not worth .147 points of not making an out. OBP > SLG.
and if this were the regular season, absolutely.
but this is SPRING TRAINING.
who is Swisher working his walks against? minor leaguers?
is he hitting the ball with any authority or just going up there looking for walks?
i don’t know. but i DO KNOW that Girardi and the coaching staff are wathing every AB and making a decision with much more info than we have.
it’s pretty silly to look at a handful of ST numbers and draw such definitive conclusions.
there is more than just numbers to this.
and i don’t think we really KNOW who is “winning” the competition.
“its pretty silly to look at a handful of ST numbers and draw such definitive conclusions”
correct, but we arent just lookin at St numbers, we are looking at careers
over the course of their careers, swish has had about equal power with nady while obp-ing 20 points higher, and playing better defense
5 seasons is a big sample size
over the course of their careers, swish has had about equal power with nady while obp-ing 20 points higher, and playing better defense
which is why i think he’ll eventually win the job.
i am not arguing that Nady is a better player than Swisher.
what i am arguing is that Girardi’s approach for who gets the job ON OPENING DAY seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Swisher is coming off a super shitty season. Nady is coming off a very good season.
yes, we all understand the underlying issues with both of their performances. we all understand the possible fluke (good for Nady, bad for Swisher) factor in 2008.
i get all of that.
i just think it’s perfectly reasonable for Girardi to want Swisher to show him a little more before he hands him the job. and so far, he hasn’t put enough distance between himself and Nady. he still has 2 weeks though.
Okay. This angle, I get completely. Seems fair.
who is Swisher working his walks against? minor leaguers?
Nady’s facing those same minor leaguers and not working walks at all.
Different kinds of hitters?
I know this is off topic but did anyone else see this…
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=4007993
“BOSTON — Curt Schilling retired from baseball Monday after a career in which he won World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks and was one of the game’s most dominant pitchers and grittiest competitors.”
“Grittiest”? It’s obviously because he’s was a Sox…
Nails played a whole year with a broken hip and didnt even notice. Take that bloody sock douche.
He became gritty via osmosis from working with ‘Tek.
By osmosis you mean that when Tek catches he gets grit all over the ball. This is because Tek grits on his hands (similar to Jorge peeing on his). So by the end of the inning the pitcher has grit all over this hands as well. That explains all the no hitters.
amazing.
I’m surprised he didn’t toss a fleeting dig at the Yankees by saying that he’d retire before the inevitable call from Cashman to try and bring him in on a 1 year deal…good riddance.
Im hoping he doesnt end up on the MLB Network or ESPN, because having to listen to his self serving BS will give me one more reason to use the mute button.
LET ME SHOW U MY GRITBALL, HAROLD!1!11!!!1!1
Does anyone know if Schilling is a B-Jobber or not?
Wow, I’m ashamed to admit that I just realized the sexual innuendo of the term, “B-Jobber.” I’ve always known what it stands for, but I thought the spelling was more of a dig at the likes of Mike Francessa who – for some unbeknown reason – pronounces “Joba”, “Jobber.”
Yeah, I’ll just go sit this one out…
You should have known I wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity to inject some sexual double-entendre into one of my portmanteaus…
http://failblog.org/2008/07/14.....club-fail/
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3423428
From the article:
BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!
If he was a B-Jobber, it would cause the world to implode with irony.
Schilling is one of the best textbook cases of why B-Jobbers are wrong. He’s retiring as one of the best starters of our generation, and is probably a Hall of Famer, but early on he struggled with injuries and people doubted whether or not he would ever stay healthy enough to pitch 200+ innings with regularity. The Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox should be eternally grateful that nobody was dumb enough to allow Schilling to be moved to the bullpen.
I don’t think he is:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3423428
12:38 says hello.
Does anyone know if they’re going to use every starter/half starters/ or no starters in the exhibition games vs the cubs? I’m heading home to Ny for a wedding and would like to catch the first game but tickets start at 35 on stub hub. Would it be worth it or is it gonna be all scrubs playing giving the vets rest?
since they’re skipping Joba first time around, and with the off day after opening day, chances are you might see Joba or Pettitte
what about the lineup?
Wang has been announced as the starter for the first game against the Cubs
That reminds me:
Nick Swisher likes to hang out with Wang.
Nady likes to keep “a leg up” on Swisher.
NadyARod likes to keep “a leg up” on Swisher.Fixed.
Tommie, its really a shame that Im probably old enough to be your mother
Experience is sexy.
Yankeegirl49 = http://i208.photobucket.com/al.....1237828854
LOL…Im sure you don’t think I have never seen that one before!!!
In what world is a player with a .409 OBP behind a player with a .262 OBP?
A world where the .409 player had a line of .219/.332/.410 last year.
But ISO D is a more durable skill set.
a world where we are talking about 40 ABs in Spring Training.
If the Yankees, as Cash has said, want to go back to being grinders and playing better defense, Swisher is a better fit for this team.
and therefore, he is going to play a lot.
Not playing Not Starting on Opening Day
HTML fail.
“not playing” does not equal “not starting on opening day”
Rip Don Lafontaine
If Nady has the advantage over Swisher based on last year, then at least I hope that Melky will be riding the pine based upon the damage he did to my retinas last year. That’s right, I saw it with my own eyes and it hurt . . . a lot!
I’m pretty sure Gardner had some cataract-inducing moments as well…
Gardners game winning hit off Papelbon was akin to surgery to correct the damage Melky did.
sure, but Melky won two games in April with two HRs against the two best pitchers in the American League.
both were in April and neither were in the 9th inning, so i know they doubly don’t count….
Yeah, but Gardner was praying for the Yankees to win and for Melky to hit those home runs, so he gets partial credit.
IETC
Nothing much to say about this except “Boo!”
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