The Yankees plan to bat Robinson Cano fifth in the batting order this season:
There had been speculation that Granderson, who has more power than Cano, might hit behind A-Rod, but Cano’s high batting average and low strikeout rate (he whiffed once every 10.69 at-bats compared to Granderson’s 5.03) make him a more appealing candidate.
“Power is not so important to me; it’s the ability to hit for average,” Girardi said. “I think Robbie has matured as a person and as a player. I like what I see. His work ethic is tremendous.”
As I wrote in my post on the Yankees offense:
It’s clear that it is difficult to construct a bad lineup for the Yankees.
That said, both the Lineup Analysis Tool and I like Cano batting sixth. However, I do see the logic of batting Robinson fifth. That’s the point when the team would be toward the end of an offensive sequence. It’s a place where getting a hit is probably better than drawing a walk, so you’re looking for a Bill Buckner type of hitter, someone with a high probability of delivering a hit. That’s less true on the Yankees, since the people coming up behind Cano are very good hitters. In general, however, I can see wanting the fifth hitter to be someone who concentrates his offense on getting hits, and not leaving driving in runs to the next batter.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:12 am | Strategy | Permalink | 7 Comments
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March 15th, 2010 @ 10:54 am
Also, consider that Yankees will normally have 3 lefties and two switch hitters in places 5 – 9, so lefties should go 5-7-9, and neither of them is really a walk machine.
March 15th, 2010 @ 11:08 am
though his obp is nothing to celebrate, i’m surprised that they dont use cano to lead off. he has a significantly better career avg with no one on base, compared to batting with risp.
March 15th, 2010 @ 11:22 am
Cano’s OBP last year with the bases empty was .407. My guess is that the Yankee front office doesn’t like that kind of stat — they might think you can’t project those stats forward (and they might be right).
March 15th, 2010 @ 11:37 am
Sorry to have to point this out (although you are a stat guy, not a grammarian), but it should be “both the Lineup Analysis Tool and I like Cano batting sixth…,” not “…and me…”
March 15th, 2010 @ 12:29 pm
[...] just read at Baseball Musings that the Yanks plan to bat Robinson Cano in the 5th spot of the batting order this year. I don’t know if that’s such a great idea though. Over his career, [...]
March 15th, 2010 @ 3:42 pm
@Tom: Thanks for pointing that out. I’m still not 100% over the stomach bug, and when I wrote that it looked like an object to me.
March 16th, 2010 @ 4:33 am
Cano hits way too many GB to be in the 5th spot. He will lead the league in rally ending GIDP’s.
He also swings at way too many balls out of the zone. A-Rod is not going to see many good pitches if Cano is behind him (assuming they keep in at the 4th spot).
Also, in terms of average you never really know what you are going to get anyways, he is like a yo yo from year to year.
I would have an order like Jeter, Johnson, A-Rod, Tex, Granderson, Cano, Posada, Swisher and Gardner, but then again, I am a Red Sox fan so don’t listen to me.