Looking at Granderson’s new stance

April 9, 2010 by Benjamin Kabak 26 Comments

Later tonight, the Yankees will trot out their lineup heavy on right-handed bats vs. Tampa’s David Price. Robinson Cano and Nick Johnson, two lefties who can handle southpaws will play, but Marcus Thames will sub for Brett Gardner. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the order will be Curtis Granderson, the Yanks’ center fielder who struggles against lefties. For the last few seasons, Granderson hasn’t done well against lefties, and today, Moshe Mandel at The Yankee U posits that this trend could change. Granderson, he discovered had adjusted where he positions his hands, and a few scouts think this new handset will prevent him from flying open against lefties. As the game unfolds tonight, keep an eye on Granderson’s ABs against Price. Perhaps there’s something to this after all.

Addendum: In other Curtis Granderson news, after the home run against Jonathan Papelbon on Wednesday night, John Sterling apparently started singing “The Grandy Man Can” to the tune of “The Candy Man Can” from the original movie version of Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. The good folks at It Is High, It Is Far, It Is….Caught captured this one and juxtaposed it with Sammy Davis Jr.’s version of the song. It’s a must-listen 45-second clip.

Tom Zig

I’m thoroughly disappointed in Sterling’s HR call.
- poster
  
  “Curtis, you’re something sort of grandish” is horrible but I’ve been pulling for him to use “The Grandy Man Can” for months, so I’m happy with that one.
  - Mattchu12
    
    I’ve been a fan of Granderslam to be honest. “A Granderslam from Granderson!”. Not unlike his “An A-Bomb from A-Rod!” call.
bexarama

Heh. I’ve come to not like IIH, IIF, II…C because if you’re looking for a site more pessimistic than Was Watching, well, that’s it, but that’s priceless.

PS. Guys, I think you forgot to close the italics tag…
- poster
  
  Steve Goldman from the pinstripedbible is smart and a good writer but damn he’s depressing. He’s actually said that he equates “making suggestions to improve the team” with “prophecies of doom” (or something to that affect. People have called him out on his negativity before.).
dkidd

i disagree with girardi batting granderson ninth against lefties to start the season

it’s not as bad as torre batting a-rod 8th in the playoffs, but my problem is the same: why give him something to stew about?
- YankeesJunkie
  
  Honestly, I think that moving Granderson to the #9 spot versus lefties for now is not that big od a deal. Granderson seems like a guy that goes with the flow and is willing to take the #9 spot with stride. If he proves to hit lefties better this year he will move back to the #7 hole. Also putting him in the #9 spot keeps the lefty-righty thing. I don’t think it will be that big of a deal #7 to #9 is not that big of deal considering #9 is more like a second leadoff man rather than the worst hitter.
  - dkidd
    
    you’re right that cg seems much less “in his head” than alex. and the 9th batter is actually more important than the 8th (i think. according to larussa, anyway). but my preference would be to give the “new team/new hitting coach/fresh start” effect a chance to snowball…
larryf

I’d play Gardner and bat Grandy lower. Thames is a terrible defender and that will hurt us. We have enough bats. This experiment will be over soon in my opinion…..
- YankeesJunkie
  
  Ture I don’t think that Thames has much time with the Yankees as a reliable player. I would much rather see Gardner and Granderson rather than Granderson and Thames.
larryf

sorry-I meant higher in the order for Curtis Blow…looking forward to his first Granderslam homerun
Cecala

Why is Thames playing. Gardiner has not been playing bad at all and Thames plays like Betty White out there. Hopefully he gets DFA’d soon.
- V
  
  Who do you want on the 25 man roster instead of Thames?
  - JD
    
    …Dare I say it?…If I could have it my way I would want the Jesus on the 25 man roster instead of Thames…
    - radnom
      
      Why?
      
      So he can not catch?
      
      Hell, he wouldn’t even get consistent at bats.
  - bennyprofane
    
    Honestly, I think Russo is a better option. He’s a solid utility guy in that he can play anywhere on the infield and the corners in the outfield. Bat is decent also. Thames just offfers nothing of need to this team. They don’t need a late inning power option.
    - ROBTEN
      
      Perhaps, but it’s really not a big deal. If Thames performs well (over and above what Gardner or Russo might provided), it provides a useful benefit to team. If not, then it’s not liked they’re locked into playing him and he could either be traded or DFA’d. I expect that the Thames experiment will be decided one way or another fairly soon, which is why he’s playing so much this early in the season (to see what he’ll do).
  - http://theyankeeu.com Matt Imbrogno
    
    It’s not going to happen over night, or even quickly, but if Chad Huffman does well in AAA, I’d like to see him get a shot.
    
    How long do we think this platooning will go on?
  - king of fruitless hypotheticals
    
    Hoffmann :)
    
    (hey look, its a fruitless hypothetical, but that’s better than saying Montero, right?)
    - whozat
      
      No, he meant huffman, the guy they took off waivers from the padres the other day. Hoffmann, Jamie was returned to the Dodgers before the end of spring.
  - Cecala
    
    I would have rather seen Hoffman than Thames. I would even give Randy Winn more playing time than Thames. Thames is just horrible on all aspects of the game. At least Winn can field and run.
    - http://mystiqueandaura.com/ pete
      
      no, Thames is not “just horrible on all aspects of the game”
      
      Thames is very good at hitting LHP. Gardner is a no-power lefty and while winn has historically been solid by his own meagre offensive standards against lefties, he has never been as good as Thames in that department, and he was Grandersonian last year. I think there’s a very obvious reason why Thames is on this team (although I don’t think Hoffmann would have been a bad pick over him, at all, considering the fact that he is an excellent defender, can hit lefties pretty well, and still has some room for growth that could potentially turn him into a solid MLB regular.
ROBTEN

From TYU: if he wants to hook the ball out over that nice little porch in Right at Yankee Stadium, he won’t have to fly open to do so, he’ll just have to be quick with his hands.

This is a good move on Long’s part, and another instance of Long helping players to simplify their swings and thus eliminate any elements which can contribute to longer slumps. Of course, whether it works or not will be interesting to see, but it’s a mark of how much the players seem to respect Long’s insights that they are willing to make these changes, especially when, in the case of Granderson, they haven’t been on the team for any extended period of time.
http://mystiqueandaura.com/ pete

It looks from those shots that the biggest difference is in hands (and thereby the bat) being upright in one and relaxed (i.e. the bat basically on his shoulder) in the other. If you think about it, it makes sense that the upright position would provide quicker batspeed (as long as the bat isn’t too upright or pointing forward, since that just increases the distance the bathead needs to travel to make contact with the ball) because the hands are already engaged when the pitch comes in. With the bat resting, the hands/wrists need to clench in order to gain full control of the bat before reacting to the ball. Just a theory, though.
http://newyorkstateofsports.com Matt

Another foolish Sterling call.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWEOM2dKh1k SD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWEOM2dKh1k