Curtis Granderson Is Just Dirty

(When it comes to making guys pay for poorly-located pitches, the Grandy Man can, and often does)

I've done a post where I wondered how Curtis Granderson was going to repeat his 2011 performance, and I've done a post where I questioned how he's been able to exceed his 2011 performance.  I was fully prepared to just do a post today where I stopped analyzing and just slurped him for how awesome he's been, but it looks like William Tasker of IIATMS had the same idea as me and already beat me to it.  Oh well, I'm going to slurp anyway.

- wOBA- .394 in 2011, .382 in 2012
- wRC+- 146 in 2011, 140 in 2012
- SLG- .552 in 2011, .551 in 2012
- ISO- .290 in 2011, .290 in 2012
- BB%- 12.3% in 2011, 12.6% in 2012

Simply put, C-Grand is mashing the shit out of the ball all the time.  He's still hitting line drives at an obscenely absurd clip (26.2%), he's still hitting home runs at an even more obscenely absurd clip (31.5% HR/FB), and he's managing to do it while still swinging and missing at a lot of pitches (11.4%).  He hasn't really gone on any kind of extended hot or cold streak, and his BABIP is actually down from last year, but when he gets ahold of one it's going to be trouble for the opposing pitcher.

There haven't been a lot of guys in the lineup who have met or exceeded expectations recently, but Curtis is one of the few.  He's been the most productive, and arguably the most valuable, Yankee for the past year plus.  I know Robbie Cano put on a hell of a show at the HR Derby last year, but I would love to see what Curtis could do this year.  They way he destroys anything that catches too much of the plate in game situations, just imagine what he could do with a BP pitcher of his choice lobbing them into his kill zone?

Introducing The Yankees' 2012 1st Round Pick- Ty Hensley

(Courtesy of Sarah Phipps/The Oklahoman)

Full disclosure, I don't really follow the MLB Draft at all.  There's always enough going on in Yankeeland for me to talk/write about, and I can cover that a helluva lot better than I can the draft.  I don't start getting too into prospects until I know they're a part of the organization, and there are already plenty of guys out there who are way more knowledgeable about the draft than me, so I just leave that heavy lifting to them.

That being said, I did stay awake last night long enough to see who the Yankees chose with the 30th pick in the 1st round and gather a little intel on the kid, and word around the cooler is that the Yankees got themselves a damn fine pick at 30.  So without further ado, please give a warm welcome to Mr. Ty Hensley.

Whatever Happened To The Ibanez/Jones Platoon?

The Raul Ibanez/Andruw Jones DH platoon was supposed to be the Yankees' cheap filling of the hole left in their lineup after Jesus Montero was traded away.  Brett Gardner's elbow injury and delayed comeback from the DL has thrown a bit of a wrench into those plans, and both players have been forced into more OF duty than the Yankees anticipated (especially Ibanez) while the DH spot in the lineup has become a revolving door.  Even with the loss of roster flexibility created by the Gardner injury, there's really no reason to get away from the L/R platoon plans for Ibanez and Jones, especially with a manager like Joe Girardi who loves to play the matchup game.  Lately, though, it seems as though Joe has gotten away from that tactic, particularly in late-game situations, which is puzzling considering that Ibanez and Jones were signed to fill those exact roles.