In a similar fashion to Gary Wallace’s Minor League Players of the Week, NoMaas’ Marshall Seymour is unveiling our new Big League Players of the Month feature. At the conclusion of each month, we’ll select two Yankees (position player & pitcher) who carried the Bombers over the last 30 or 31 days.
Big League Players of the Month (May):
Pitcher:
Phil Hughes, 3.03 ERA/2.73 FIP/3.17 xFIP, 38.2 IP
Hughes picked up right where he started in April and continued his dominance through another month with 39 strikeouts and just 8 walks and 3 homeruns through 6 starts. He was not aided by luck either as his .314 BABIP and 77.3% strand rate were not far from where you’d expect them to be.
The guy who entered the season battling for the 5th rotation spot (kind of) has pitched like the ace so far. Hughes will probably come back to earth somewhat, but he is already showing that he has the ability to be a top starter.
Position Player:
Nick Swisher, .374/.441/.670, 102 PA
Even with bicep troubles which limited his playing time somewhat, Swisher still managed to absolutely crush the ball in May. His .478 wOBA was the best on the team in May by nearly 100 points.
On the season overall, Nick is off to a torrid start (.317/.397/.563), but has been aided by a highly inflated .376 BABIP (.281 career). Given that more balls have been falling in for hits, he has been more apt to swing (44.7% of the time) and his walk rate on the season is down to 9.5% from his career 13.8%. As long as Swisher accumulates the missing free passes when his bat inevitably cools down, he will continue to be a very productive player.
13 Comments
General Kim Jong Il June 1, 2010 22:42
Have both of these players on my fantasy teams =D
(Then again my fantasy teams are stacked with NY players)
DavidRiccio June 2, 2010 09:49
Dave Stewart Oakland A’s authentic jersey for sale. Email me if interested.
Business Suit June 2, 2010 10:36
Apparently he’s been working with Kevin Long on quieting his swing. Maybe he’s being more aggressive on purpose, but with a tweaked approach that leads to higher BABIP/ BA? If he’s gonna hit .300 I don’t mind if he walks less but maintains the same OBP of around .380.
Can’t complain.
Macho Man Randy Savage June 2, 2010 14:55
Good point by Business Suit. He has been swinging at more pitches outside the zone. If it balls cools off though, I hope he starts taking his walks again.
Robinson Cano June 2, 2010 21:03
Ok, I go hit .800 next week. Maybe that be good enough.
Sean June 3, 2010 01:59
The Robby Cano comments will never get old. I laugh every time.
Weak name use pointer outer June 3, 2010 09:32
“Macho Man Randy Savage” not one “oh yeah” or slim jim reference? weak man, weak.
Robinson Cano June 3, 2010 10:03
IsOk NoMaas ignore my 16 game heet streek, I hit 370 and 12 Homeruns IsOk.
Afrika Bambatta June 3, 2010 10:19
Robinson, maybe if you could read English:
http://nomaas.org/2010/05/canos-grand-slam-buries-cleveland/
Joeyjoejoe June 3, 2010 19:17
Did anyone see Kevin Long motioning to Cano about his swing in Wednesday night’s game? Cano coincidentally hit a HR on the next pitch.
Steve June 4, 2010 12:10
This is where someone would post as “2008 Yankee Fan” and say “FIRE KEVIN LONG!!!”
2008 Yankee Fan June 4, 2010 21:47
FIRE KEVIN LONG!!!
I do remember reading about Swisher tweaking his swing to hit better for average. Of course he’s not going to keep up what he’s got going on right now, but still, one can’t help but wonder
DannyManning June 7, 2010 16:17
DavidRiccio,
i remember you!
best regards,
DannyManning