Joe Girardi decided to bat Jeter first and Damon second this year. That should improve the Yankees offense by about 0.02 runs per game (compared to this lineup), or a little over 3 runs over the season. Jeter projects to get on base more than Damon, and both project to the same slugging percentage, so this is the right move, it just doesn’t make that big of a difference.
Update: Sabathia will start both the road and home openers for the Yankees.
Dave, it’s possible the Yankees have also looked into the number of GIDP that Jeter committed last year (24), with 21 the year before that. You are potentially wasting Damon’s OBP in those situations.
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