Marcus Thames went from someone who might not make the 25-man roster to someone who has received two starts in the first four games of the infant season. After watching him butcher left field on Friday night and add to the woes of Javy Vazquez, we’re wondering why he’s featured so much. As we witnessed, he’s a horrific outfielder with a career -12.2 UZR/150 in LF. Did the Yankees really sign Thames to be Brett Gardner’s platoon partner?
In our interview with Brian Cashman, he clearly indicated Randy Winn would be the Yankees’ 4th OF. Winn still plays very good defense and has been decent against LHP over the past 3 seasons. Brett Gardner has a grand total of 93 PAs against LHP at the big league level. He hasn’t even been given a chance to prove himself.
Thames has immense power versus LHP, but considering his god awful defense, there’s no way he should be seeing platoon-like playing time in the field.
10 Comments
pollo April 10, 2010 00:48
I’m already having Cody Ransom flashbacks.
This is not good. Listen to Sensei, Joe. Listen to Sensei.
zero April 10, 2010 00:48
that disgusted me tonight. thames is basically the replacement for Eric Hinske. the rare spot start but most of the time a late inning bat off the bench. hopefully joe will be quicker to pick up on his own mistakes this year.
JoeThunder April 10, 2010 07:35
Randy Winn – 4th OF, Marcus Thames – 5th OF.
phieleblunt April 10, 2010 09:22
I was listening to the Rays announcers basically say that the bottom three in the Yankees lineup ccould all hit
30 HRs in a year and I was wondering what the hell they were talking about. Then I say Thames and laughed my ass off.
JoeThunder April 10, 2010 09:50
We should have signed Mel Hall.
bartonbickle April 10, 2010 11:42
Jermaine Dye remains unsigned.
Just saying.
Hughesus Christ April 10, 2010 20:14
While there isn’t a great deal of data (for obvious reasons), I’m not sure that there’s any reason to suspect that Gardner isn’t capable of handling LHP.
Minors – .292/.361/.406 (397 AB)
2008 – .125/.125/.125 (24 AB)
2009 – .291/.381/.400 (55 AB)
His performance in the minors shouldn’t have a huge impact on Girardi’s decision-making process (as most competent LHP make it to the show more quickly than their RHP counterparts), I can’t help but think that Gardner’s numbers in 2009 should have more of a bearing on his use than his line from 2008 – particularly considering he’s never really shown much in the way of platoon splits.
Steve April 12, 2010 10:12
Then I say Thames and laughed my ass off.
Well, it’s not going to happen on THIS team, but it’s not that crazy a thing to say. Thames has hit 25+ HRs twice in his career despite never breaking 400 ABs.
He won’t get the PT on the Yankees to do it, but Thames has a lot of power. He’s hit 101 HRs in just over 1550 ABs. If he played every day for the Royals or Pirates, there is a pretty good chance he could hit 30 HRs.
He’s a liability in the field, but as a RH bat off the bench, he has a chance to be a decent fit. Right now, the Yankees are still trying to figure out what they have, both with Thames AND with Gardner. Maybe the FO is telling Girardi to play him so they can evaluate in case they are still looking to upgrade??
Who knows, but I certainly don’t think it’s worth being “disgusted” over in the first week of April…
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