SG, is there such a thing as a consistently (not for one year or two, but over time) ‘warm weather hitter’?  IF there is, and if we have a lot of them, it would explain not only some of the bad starts, but also some of the weak finishes.  After all, if there IS such a thing, it can’t help in October (let alone November).
If there IS such a thing, could it be related to age of batter?
And if there is such a thing, are there also cold weather hitters?  And wouldn’t they be an advantage in the post-season?
Has this been studied yet?
Just a thought!

is there such a thing as a consistently (not for one year or two, but over time) ‘warm weather hitter’?

It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find out that such a phenomenon existed.  As to whether or not it’s been studied, I’m not certain.  I think I’ve seen general studies about weather and how it impacts offense, but no looks at individual hitters.

The work on individual hitters, of course, is the only thing that would answer this question.

And if there are warm AND COLD weather hitters (relative to average, and with significant splits), wouldn’t that influence how you construct a team, especially if you’re going to have the budget to have a consistently high chance of regularly making the post-season?

Obviously, the preposterous weather in which our team’s been playing (surely not the only team to have done so, but still) is what prompts the thought…

From NY POST:
SCOREBOARD NOT UP TO SPEED Phil Hughes’s apparent lack of velocity in his start Tuesday was a topic of concern on some Web sites devoted to the Yankees, but Hughes said he was not worried, and that his fastball was actually 90 to 93 miles an hour.
The scoreboard at Kauffman Stadium has been renovated and was erratic with its the miles-per-hour feature. When it did show velocity, it was several miles an hour slower than it should have been, not only for Hughes but for Ross Ohlendorf, who relieved him.

Hopefully, this issue is now put to rest.

The best thing about last night’s game was being in the comment’s thread, and Keith’s belated liveblog. At least that brings some much needed humor and perspective in these truly frustrating and annoying times.

A law needs to be passed to force you guys to liveblog every damn Yankee game.

Anyway, The Office is back today. How cool is that?

Hopefully, this issue is now put to rest.

I thought Gameday and the YES gun also showed Hughes’s velocity as being down?  I don’t think the scoreboard impacts either of those.

If its true that there are hitters who hit relatively poorly in cold weather and its further true that the Yankees have a disproportionate share of those hitters,  that would indeed be a problem. 

The good: We should expect marked improvement in the summer leading to a good regular season record and a probable playoff berth. 

The bad:The postseason will be played in October when the weather will be cold.

Is there a way to look at the aggregate yankee batting, much like you did for each individual hitter?  Is the batted ball data available for the first nine games?  I know nine games isn’t much data for each hitter, but in the aggregate, it should be enough to see some trends.  Are they getting unlucky with their BABIP and LD%, or are they really striking out at a rate that justifies the low scores?  Anyways, just wondering.

EB, that’s exactly what I had in mind.  Inquiring minds want to know!

The data could be keyed to local temperature throughout the game (that kind of info is available for the entirety of the 20th C, I believe).  And there might be an effect whereby numerous games in cold/hot weather affect hitters more than a single such game…

Cano is making a habit of starting off slow.  I’m not too worried.  The othe guys?  Outside of Melky, they are old.  Time has taken its toll and it takes them longer to get up to speed, much less get out of bed.

Is there a way to look at the aggregate yankee batting, much like you did for each individual hitter?  Is the batted ball data available for the first nine games?

Yep.  Give me a few.

As a team the Yankees have a BABIP of .284.  Given their LD% of 17% it should be closer to .290 which isn’t a huge difference.  That LD% ranks 10th in the AL.

As a team, the Yankees are hitting .241/.322/.356 collectively and are 9 runs worse than average according to linear weights (no position-adjustment), which is the worst total in the league.  Next worst is Detroit at -6.

The White Sox are the best at +12, Baltimore second at +10.

So, basically, they’re getting what they deserve.  Thanks for the info!

Ew.

Yeah, annoying is right.  I have no cable tv and little ability to go out (re: 3 year old and 8 month old, full time graduate school) so I have the dual smackdown these days of not only listening to the Yankees suck at the plate, but having to hear Sterling and Waldman opine about it.

On Damon not playing left…the thing is, he has to rest sometime.  I think he’s played in the field every game thus far?  Girardi just picked him to rest on a day where there was a ball hit to left that perfectly described the difference between his and Gojira’s range.  Not that it made a difference last night, as the Yanks squandered or erased the few baserunners they had.  When your offensive stars of the game are Molina and Gonzalez..bless their defense…you know you’re in trouble.

Any predictions for today?

Any predictions for today?

Predictions?  Pain.

Well, the forecast calls for scattered strong thunderstorms earlier and then showers later, so hopefully the rain won’t so much a problem they can’t get the game in.  Oh wait.  You said “pain”.  Yeah.  There’s that.

I thought Gameday and the YES gun also showed Hughes’s velocity as being down?  I don’t think the scoreboard impacts either of those.

Do we know that each radar gun that MLB uses to feed GameDay is, say, the same exact model and calibrated prior to each game? That certainly would be a valuable piece of information in this debate.

Given their LD% of 17%

Something I’ve always wondered about LD% is what’s the next closest type of hit to an LD? Could it be a pop up? 1 cm or less lower on the barrel of the bat and a pop up might be a line drive.. 2 or 3 cm’s and perhaps it’s a groundball. The Yankees seems to have a lot of pop-ups through the first 9 games.. SG is there any way to check how many pop-ups they’ve hit?

Something I’ve always wondered about LD% is what’s the next closest type of hit to an LD?

I’d have thought a ground ball.  I think if you are a hair early you will hit more grounders, if you are right on time you will hit more line drives, and if you’re a little late you’ll hit more fly balls.

is there any way to check how many pop-ups they’ve hit?

Yes.

Hardball Times says they’ve hit 20 so far, which is the second highest in the league to Minnesota.  Pop-ups are about as damaging as strikeouts since runners will almost never advance.  Not sure about the general repeatibility for hitters, although pitchers supposedly have at least some ability to control them.

hey guys found some info that could explain why we have been struggling from the plate-
courtesy of pinstripealley

The Yanks have seen 1190 pitches in 314 plate appearances, or 3.79 pitches per appearance. While that number is low for the Yankees (19th in MLB, 7th in the AL), it means that the Yanks’ approach isn’t too far off. Last year they averaged 3.89 P/PA and led the majors in pitches seen.

Looking over the 9 starters the Yanks have faced, something jumps out at me: Bannister 60% of his pitches were strikes, Burnett 59%, Greinke 68%, Halladay 64%, Hammel 63%, Jackson 61%, McGowan 59%, Shields 68%, Sonnanstine 71%.

The Yanks have faced a bunch of strike throwers, and haven’t had much luck putting the ball in play. Of the regulars, only Abreu and Arod have BABIP over .300. Neither of those trends figures to last.

lets hope we have just been extremely unlucky so far….

Stastics update:

Suckitude + Unluckiness + Farnsworth + YES/CBS announcers = Bullshit

Crawford : -4.3
Johjima : -4.3
Ortiz : -4.3
Cano : -4.4
Polanco : -4.6

This list says it all.  Does anyone think any of these 5 players won’t be one of the best hitters at their respective positions by the end of the season?

“Does anyone think any of these 5 players won’t be one of the best hitters at their respective positions by the end of the season?”

I do. (But it isn’t Cano.)

Well, we’re going on year three of Cano not hitting early in the season, so he’s definitely a candidate for “slow starter” or “warm weather hitter.”  Given his performance during spring training in Florida, “warm weather hitter” might make more sense.

Yeah, I really do think Robinson hates the cold.  Then again, he was the only Yankee to hit in the playoffs last year, as I recall, and it’s cold in October.

Anywhoo, he’s driving me nuts.  So is the rest of the offense.  And I’m really worried about Posada.

I liked Girardi’s idea - it’s amazing there was no rain delay in the middle of the game - and I liked what I saw from Bruney.  Traber scared me, but got it done.  Farns… yeah.  IPK was screwed by his defense a bit.  He settled down, though, and I think he’s got something to build on now.

“I think he’s got something to build on now.”

For example, the thought that the major leagues haven’t entirely abandoned the notion of the called strike?  I’ve never, ever seen a pitcher squeezed the way he was (esp. in the first two innings) in his previous start.

they’ve hit 20 so far, which is the second highest in the league to Minnesota. 

20 pop ups in 9 games is really annoying.

I think if you are a hair early you will hit more grounders, if you are right on time you will hit more line drives, and if you’re a little late you’ll hit more fly balls.

I did a quick search but couldn’t find anything.  I’d say though, that with the number of pop ups we’ve seen, plus the info that someone posted about the strike throwers we’ve faced, and the slightly below average BABIP, that would pretty much explain the slumping offense.

Hey guys, really silly, question- what does LOOGY stand for, anyway?

And also, I know how to use, my commas.

Ivy @ from a Hardball Times article:
“(L)eft-handed (O)ne (O)ut (G)u(Y)”

Not @ but :

Damon LF
Cabrera CF
Rodriguez C
Posada DH
Matsui RF
Molina C
Cano 2B
Ensberg 1B
Gonzalez SS

A bit of a different look tonight. Hopefully it’s different in substance as well as appearance.

From Pete Abraham

Also, I’d guess ARod is actually playing 3B.

I don’t think I buy a warm weather/cold weather thing for the Yanks.  When they were tuttering last Spring, it was primarily Damon, Abreau, Matsui, and Cano struggling.  Abreu and Matsui are off to fast starts this year, and Damon was one of the few guys who had a good postseason in the cold October.  Ar-Rod’s been OK, but lat year he ws off to a historically briliant start.  I just don’t think there’s any real reason to think they’re bad cold weather hitters.

Cano is strugglig because he’s not being selective at the plate. Last year he started with the same problem - in April and May he was up there hacking and making quick outs, and when he got hot it corresponded to him seeing something like .5 more pitches per at bat than hen he was slumping (don’t have th actual nmbers at hand).  It isn’t his game to work walks, but still he is a lot more successful when he is “selectively aggressive.”

Re: Hughes - I do think his velocity is down (a lot ofdifferig opinions on why, wiht some saying his mechanics are out of whack - I really dont know what to believe, TBH).  I thought Joba’s velo was also down a little in his first two appearances, but last time out he was back up to 96, 97, and touching 99.  As for Hughes, I still think he can be effective at 91 because of the good curve and changeup (and control - although that was bad on Tues.), but it would be nice to see him get the fastball back up to 93-94.

As a team the Yankees have a BABIP of .284.  Given their LD% of 17% it should be closer to .290 which isn’t a huge difference.  That LD% ranks 10th in the AL.

The White Sox are the best at +12, Baltimore second at +10.

What killed the Yankees last season was the early run of the Red Sox. The Red Sox, Jays, and Rays are all in the same boat with the Yankees this year. The O’s will get a dose of reality soon enough.

As far as warm blooded vs. cold blooded hitters goes, I wonder how much the native climate of the individual hitter factors in. After wintering in the D.R. it can’t be easy hit in the cold and rainy north.

I’m not sure I buy the warm weather/cold weather hitting thing. I distinctly recall the April-May 2007 debacle going something like this:

Good enough hitting, horrible pitching.

Good enough pitching, horrible hitting.

I’m too lazy to look up the numebrs, but that was the story until we strung a few 6 or 7 run games together and then it all clicked.

This new line up is weird.. but it’s another difference we’re seeing between Girardi and Torre. It took 9 games of no offense for Girardi to shake things up massively. Giambi’s on the bench, Abreu’s on the bench (can’t say I understand that considering he’s one of the few guys hitting, even with a lefty on the mound, come on).

Maybe he’s thinking squeezing Posada between ARod and Matsui will give him some pitches to hit?

Also, how bad does Damon have to be to not hit leadoff?

Oh noes!  Cano and Crawford are both on my fantasy team.  Figures they’d be on that exclusive list.

It’s interesting to see the Yankees treat John Bale like he is Randy Johnson with their lineups.

“We can’t have Abreu hit against John Bale! It’s John Bale! It would be suicide to send a lefty up against Bale!!”

Well, Abreu hasn’t had a day off yet, has he?  That could be playing into it as well.  Just a guess.

I do think his velocity is down (a lot ofdifferig opinions on why, wiht some saying his mechanics are out of whack - I really dont know what to believe, TBH).

Before we get to “why” we have to establish “if”.  And there’s that whole thing about guys who’ve scouted him throughout his minor league career saying that he’s always sat at 89-92.  Where’s Fabian when you need him?