On the afternoon of Opening Day, we linked to a profile of Brett Gardner, who would get the start in left field that evening. In it Gardner spoke about his place in the Yankees’ lineup and what it means for his approach at the plate. “The last thing [opposing pitchers] want to do is put me on base for those guys. So I’m going to get pitches to hit. It’s just a matter of being consistent with my swing, being consistent with my approach and going up there and having good at-bats.” I thought this signaled that Gardner would become a bit more aggressive, knowing he’d see a good number of strikes. We have yet to see such an adjustment.
A glance at the Plate Discipline section of Gardner’s FanGraphs page shows similar results as last year. He has actually swung at fewer pitches than he did last year while seeing more pitches in the zone, especially on the first pitch. He has made contact with more of the pitches he has actually swung at, but we’re talking about a pretty low percentage at this point. In 27 plate appearances he has seen 121 pitches, an excellent 4.48 rate. That has led to four walks, which will help. But what’s the cost?
We often caution against analyzing events based on small samples, and Gardner’s 27 PA certainly qualifies as such. This is just a gander at the results. In other words, this is what we’ve seen so far from Gardner. Basically, it’s the same as it ever was. Gardner continues to take pitches regardless of location. Sometimes this results in a walk, a hugely positive result for Gardner. Other times he’ll fall behind in the count quickly and have to react. Then again, he hasn’t done poorly in those situations so far, going 3 for 6 in plate appearances that started 0-2. That will obviously change as the season goes along. But it appears that so far, despite his low average over the first few games, he’s made the most of his approach.
This might actually be the best thing for Gardner. In recapping the Marliners’ blowout of the Tigers last night, Jeff Sullivan of Lookout Landing makes an interesting point about pitchers and the ability to throw strikes.
Chone Figgins drew three walks. He’s now up to nine in 48 trips to the plate. He saw 20 pitches tonight and swung at four. I’m beginning to think that if you go up to the plate and just stand there – seriously just stand there – you can Michelangelo’s David your way to a .360 OBP, because pitchers are that bad. Pitchers are so bad at throwing strikes against even the most punchless batters that they need the batters to help get themselves out, and if they don’t, it just turns into a walk-fest. Look at Felix in the seventh. Felix had an 11-2 lead. There was no point in messing around and doing anything other than throw the ball down the middle. And even one of the best pitchers in the league still threw 12 of 22 pitches for balls. Pitchers suck at throwing strikes, and for some reason it takes a hitter like Figgins or Reggie Willits, with a startling lack of true hitting ability, to recognize this and exploit it. Must be an ego thing.
I wouldn’t lump Figgins into the “lack of true hitting ability” category, but Sullivan does make a good point about Willits. He and Gardner appear to be comparable players. While Willits doesn’t get a ton of playing time he does make the most of his. In 808 career plate appearances he has seen 3553, or 4.40 per trip to the plate. He also owns a career .366 OBP, which make some wonder why he doesn’t get more playing time. After all, a player who gets on base that often and who has Willits’s speed can provide immense value, especially from the bottom of the lineup.
I do hope Gardner gets more chances to play. The Yankees feature a powerhouse lineup that has Nick Swisher in the eighth spot. They can afford to have someone like Gardner hitting ninth, taking pitches and getting on base at a decent clip ahead of the big hitters. With all the strike he sees maybe he’d benefit from swinging more, but we can’t be sure of that until he does change his approach. That appears not to be happening. If Gardner can stand there and build a .340 OBP from seeing tons of pitches and taking walks, doesn’t it make sense for him to keep the bat on his shoulders?
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