Robinson Cano may be the only superstar batter for the Yankees in 2013. Photo: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Joe Girardi may use, at least at the start of the season, is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results:
- Best lineup: 4.80
- Probable lineup: 4.64
- Worst lineup: 4.47
- Regressed lineup: 4.34
There is a ton of uncertainty involving the Yankees lineup. I’m guessing that even if those are the nine players used on opening day, Girardi won’t allow Brett Gardner to be the petunia in the onion patch of outs at the bottom of the order. Gardner and Derek Jeter at the top of the order with Ichiro Suzuki batting ninth as a second leadoff man makes a lot more sense.
On top of that, while Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson are out for a while, they should be back in May. A lineup with those two in and healthy should score about 0.2 to 0.3 runs more per game.
There’s no guarantee, however, that they come back healthy. Both injuries are around the hand, and even when those heal, it usually takes a while for batters to return to their usual stroke. The Yankees also have to worry about declines by the aged Jeter and Suzuki, and Kevin Youkilis isn’t exactly a young man any more. There’s a real possibility this season that this offense turns out very ugly.
You can follow the data for the series in this Google spreadsheet.
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