Written by Josh W. | 11 May 2010

Josh is going to be a regular contributor to Pending Pinstripes from now on. Please give him a warm welcome, as I think he will be a great addition to the PP team. Here is his first post, which touches on Derek Jeter's odd 2010 season.

Derek Jeter has hit to the tune of a solid 107 wRC+(.336 wOBA) this season. Unfortunately, we may see this number decay unless Jeter changes his new approach.

So far this the Yankee captain has been much more aggressive, leading to lukewarm plate discipline figures and surprising batted ball profiles. He currently is swinging at 53.5% of all pitches, compared to a career average of 48.1%, and a five-year career low last year of 46%. Now, this would be fine if he was swinging more at good pitches to hit. But the numbers suggest a different story.

This year he is swinging at 33.9% of pitches thrown outside the strikezone, compared to a career average of around 20%. One might postulate that he is swinging more at first pitch fastballs that are meatballs. Well, if this were true, we would see an uptick in his wFB/C figure. Yet we see the opposite; this year, he's hitting fastballs at about half the quality he did last year.

As we are all aware, Jeter is an outstanding contact hitter. For any other hitter, these plate discipline changes would usually accompany a jump in strikeout rate. Jeter, however, is actually making contact at the highest rate of his career.

This is evidenced career low strikeout rate of around 10.2%. But as we have noted, he is making contact with bad pitches to hit. He's swinging at a lot of pitches outside the zone, and it's degrading his ability to put a charge into the ball.

There are three basic components to a players offensive skillset: power (represented by iso), plate discipline, and BABIP skill.

Power

This year, Jeter has a .156 iso, which would be a three year high. But as we discussed, this year his BABIP profile is even more groundball extreme than usual. He has a career low 18.1% FB rate so far this season.

Usually, less flyballs and less linedrives mean less power, and not more. Jeter's iso this year is propped up by an unsustainable HR/FB rate of 19%, which would also be a career high. His career rate is about 13%. This is more likely a fluke than anything else.

Plate Discipline

As we have discussed, this year Jeter is adopting a hacktastic approach. This has led to a 4.4% BB rate and a .46 BB/K ratio, both of which would be career lows.

BABIP

Another figure that would be a career low is his line drive rate of around 12%. The linedrives he hit last year, and throughout his career, are now turning into groundballs (career high of around 70%). It's pretty obvious that hitting less linedrives and more groundballs is going to accompany a drop in BABIP, which is .304 for Jeter this year, more than 5% less than that his career average! Obviously his BABIP will continue to suffer unless he returns to previous norms.

In conclusion, Jeter has managed to degrade all three components of his offensive skillset with his new approach. For all the praise Kevin Long as received for his work with Cano, Swisher, and Gardner, one has to wonder why he doesn't tell Jeter to be a little more patient.

There will be a very interesting narrative (in a very bad way) at the end of the season for the Yankee Captain if he continues this approach. If you want to view it from a positive light, a down year for Jeter would mean a less daunting contract.

Photo Credit: Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Written by Greg Fertel | 10 May 2010

Majors

• Facing the Yankees for the first time, Austin Jackson went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts. His good offensive start has been a mirage, but his defense has definitely been impressive so far.

• Former Yankee Phil Coke faced two batters and got two crucial outs against his old team. He has a low ERA on the season, but a poor strikeout to walk ratio.

• One of the big stories for the Yankees today was how good Joba Chamberlain looked. He topped out at 98.3 on the radar gun and averaged 96.8 on his 11 four seamers. Even more impressive was that of the 7 fastballs Joba threw in the strike zone, he generated five swinging strikes. Hitters just couldn't touch his fastball, even when it was in the strike zone. While some see this as a sign that Chamberlain should stay in the bullpen, it just makes me want to see him in the rotation even more, especially when the Yankees have the likes of Sergio Mitre starting games.

• Ivan Nova did not make it in to today's game after being called up earlier. If Vazquez leaves tomorrow's game early, expect Nova to come in and get an opportunity to eat up some innings.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

• Kevin Whelan got into the game and was his usual self. He pitched two innings and walked three batters. He now has only 5 strikeouts in 8.1 innings to go along with 9 walks. He's basically a non-prospect at this point.

• Jesus Montero returned to the lineup today and went hitless in four at-bats. I noted earlier today that he was benched over the weekend for lack of hustle on a groundout. I'm sure he got the message and it won't happen again.

• Is Reegie Corona figuring out how to hit in Triple-A? I wouldn't go that far yet, but he has hit in his past few games. Tonight he went 3 for 4 with a double. Any hitting from him is good to see, because I do like him as a future utility candidate.

• First baseman Juan Miranda went 1 for 4 today. With Robinson Cano playing every day, I really don't see a purpose for both Kevin Russo and Ramiro Pena on the roster. Miranda really needs to be called up, as the Yankees need someone on the bench who can hit right-handed pitching at least somewhat well. I don't want to see a guy like Randy Winn hitting in a high-leverage spot.

Trenton

• Ryan Pope got the start and gave up only one unearned run on six hits in six innings. He also walked two and struck out just one. He has no struck out more than three batters in only two of his eight starts this season. For a guy that the Yankees were hyping a little bit before the season, he has disappointed.

• Austin Romine started at DH and went 2 for 4. He didn't play yesterday and this was his first start at DH all season. I wonder if something is up with him, but I'm probably just being a little paranoid

Tampa

• Hector Noesi got the start and was his usual dominant self. In 6 innings, he gave up two runs on four hits, but struck out eight without walking a batter. He now has 28(!) strikeouts in his last 17 innings(3 walks). How much longer does this guy really need in A-ball?

• Reliever Pat Venditte wasn't great today. He gave up 2 runs(1 earned) on a hit and a walk in his one inning today. He struck out one.

• Not much offense from the prospects in Tampa today. Brad Suttle had a double in four at-bats and Melky Mesa had a double, a walk, and two strikeouts in his four plate appearances.

Charleston

• I was worried for a second after I saw that starter Graham Stoneburner was taken out of the game after one inning. It turns out that the Yankees are just limiting his innings, as Kevin Bilodeau reports.

• After a big game yesterday, Kyle Higashioka went 0 for 4 today as the team's designated hitter. Jimmy Paredes played shortstop, which is always nice to see, and went 1 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout.

Written by Greg Fertel | 10 May 2010

With a need for an extra pitcher with Sergio Mitre and Javier Vazquez pitching the next few days, the Yankees recalled Ivan Nova and sent Romulo Sanchez down. I don't think this is the last we'll see of Sanchez this season; this is just an example of the Yankees needing fresh arms.

I'd assume that Nova will take the role of long reliever while he's up, and that could be an important role. It would be surprising to see the Yankees get a lot of innings out of Mitre, who has not started a game in a while. I look forward to seeing some pitch f/x data on Nova.

Also from Jennings' post, some news on Jesus Montero and why he was not in the lineup over the weekend. He was apparently benched for a lack of hustle. This seems like an isolated incident for Montero, who is known for working at his craft very diligently. Hopefully it was a mistake that he won't make again, but either way, I'd rather have this news than some injury. Montero is back in the lineup for tonight's game.

Photo Credit: SD Dirk

Written by Greg Fertel | 10 May 2010

Big man Romulo Sanchez made his Yankee debut in last night's blow out against the Red Sox. The game was already over when he entered the game, but that didn't stop Romulo from showing what he is capable of.

After AJ Burnett was shelled, the Yankees turned to Sanchez to save the bullpen. He did his job and finished out the rest of the game.

3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

This was very good to see, especially considering the start to the season Sanchez had. After his first four starts, Romulo possessed a pedestrian 14:13 strikeout to walk ratio.

In his fifth start, we saw the Romulo that we were used to seeing towards the end of last season, where he dominated out of the Triple-A rotation. When I profiled Sanchez back in November, I talked about how impressive his transition to the rotation last season was.

Scranton's rotation was full of holes, and Sanchez was moved into the rotation for the first time since early 2006. To say that he thrived in the rotation might be an understatement. As a starter, he struck out 55 in 55.1 innings, while maintaining high-90s fastballs into the middle innings. He was just overpowering hitters, getting ground balls and posting the best whiff rate of his minor league career.

I also noted that he could be one of the first call-ups in 2010 because his upper-90s heat could make him a valuable piece in the bullpen. When he struggled at the start of the season, I didn't think he had a chance to be called up.

Luckily for him, he put together his best start of the season right around when the Yankees needed to add another pitcher. In his last AAA start before being called up, Sanchez pitched seven innings and gave up only one earned run while striking out eight and walking just one.

The Yankees called Sanchez up and he certainly did his job last night. River Ave Blues called him "the unsung hero" of the game, giving the Yankees' bullpen a night off.

Here is how he did it:

With Romulo, the first thing to notice is always the velocity. He hit 98 on two pitches and averaged over 95 with his four seamer. That's the norm for him, and that is the pitch he works off of. He even generated some swinging strikes with it last night on two pitches outside of the strike zone.

None of his secondary offerings are really anything to write home about, but his changeup does have a nice velocity difference than his fastball, and that makes it an effective pitch for Sanchez.

Hopefully, Sanchez can make himself an effective piece in the Yankees bullpen. With his fastball, I don't see any reason that he can't be an above average reliever in the major leagues. He just has to become more consistent and keep the walks down. He didn't do that at the start of the season, but giving up just two walks in his last 11 innings is an encouraging sign.

Written by Sean P | 10 May 2010

Scranton beat Durham 9-3 on Sunday. Zach McAllister had an improved outing, throwing 7 innings and allowing just 2 runs. Scranton was able to hand Jeremy Hellickson his first loss. Scranton will host the Columbus Clippers this week and two of the best catching prospects in the game will square off. They'll also run into this guy.

Trenton destroyed the Bowie Baysox 15-3. It's the second time this week the Thunder have scored 15 runs in a game. DJ Mitchell had a good outing finally and continues to make progress. The Thunder finally got back to .500. Chan Ho Park might be showing up for a rehab assignment in the future.

Tampa was off.

Charleston downed the Shorebirds 5-3. Jimmy Paredes had his best game to date. Shaeffer Hall was impressive again. The Shorebird's 9th inning rally fell a little short on Sunday.