Paging Dr. Charles Jeter…
Monday, July 19, 2010 at 10:26 pm by SJK
As the Yankees sit in first place in the AL East with the best record in baseball, a certain old faithful is mired in the worst season of his legendary career. We initially pointed out Jeter's problems back in May, which induced the normal "NoMaas is blasphemous" response.
However, fast forward to mid-July, and Jeter's OPS sits at a shocking .719. His .335 OBP is 50 points below his career mark, and considering he's in a virtual tie for the AL lead in plate appearances, his lack of ability to reach base isn't exactly helping the Yankees at the leadoff spot.
The culprit, as in May, is that Derek continues to swing at lots of pitches outside the strike zone. He's currently swinging at 28.5% of them, by far the highest rate ever documented for him. The good news is that this is down from the 34% he was hacking at in mid-May.
Yet, this increased aggressiveness can be traced into several aspects of his game this year. His pitches per plate appearance is at a career low 3.53. His groundball rate is 10% higher than both his career and 2009 rate. He's hitting less line drives (17.4%) and flyballs (15.9%) than in any other season recorded. Furthermore, by looking at his batted ball rates, you can understand why his power and BABIP have collapsed this season.
What makes all this crazier is that The Captain is in a contract year. In a strange and perverse way, this could be a blessing in disguise for the front office, since a down year could give them a stronger position in contract negotiations additionally influenced by public relations and legacy.
Data Source: Fangraphs
What is wrong with your son, doc?
Tags: jeter
Maybe he needs glasses. Getting old.
Since they’re just taking it from the Jeter Merch Fund anyway and it’s a given he’s coming back, I’d be fine if they did like 2/50 or whatever just to limit the future damage he does to the team.
It’s the hair cut. It is most definitely the hair cut. Bring back the fade and all will be right with the world.
He has been Captain Double Play more than Captain Clutch the last few years as well, and nothing pisses me off more than his ‘aww shucks’ answers and expressions after a tough loss. Its like hes saying ‘well, you can blame us for losing IF YOU WANT TO..’. I could just smack that 1993 hairdo off his head when he does that.
275 15 80, still better than most SS dicks, hows that gimp Nick Johnson’s rehab coming ? You dont like nick johnson you dont understnd baseball !!!!111
The Jeter signal must have went off in the sky. Here they come.
Where am I?
He’s getting older.
He’s either just getting older and aging poorly like most shortstops do… or he might be hiding an injury. Since June 13th, .548 OPS – a putrid .241 SLG.
mister jeter. ju no worry. they also say i suck all de tyme. but i play berry berry good dis year. ju just keep play ing and forget deez juyz day ju could buy and sell.
but seriously, maybe he needs contacts or something… get him to an optomitrist…
Hilarious photoshop.
do you know how many ladies and wives get really really mad when you criticize derek? some take it out on their husbands and boyfriends…like a punch from Nelson Muntz…”that’s for reading NoMaas” she says.
yeah, this has less to do with his eyes and more to do with his pecker. He’s almost married, that has EVERYTHING to do with it.
Look at A-Rod pre- and post- divorce… jus sayin is all
will someone please get him a hypodermic
I’m the best shortstop, and the most exciting ballplayer, in the world, assholes!
In a perfect world, the yankees would trade Montero and Joba to the Rangers for Elvis this off season and let Jeter walk.
A Rod is loose and likes to have his fun now that he is free. It worked out well for him.
Jeter’s not getting older! He’s getting younger!
His hext contract will be backloaded with full tuition to kindergarten.
As players age, they tend to lose a step. Derek Jeter is in his mid-30′s. He came into the big leagues when he was in his early-20′s. Therefore, he is aging. I expect him to continue to age and to lose even more steps.
I can’t wait till bret pedroia gets free, i want him to suck my young man meat
Just watch the damn baseball game. I cant even read this garbage.
I have also charted Jeter’s steps to the batter’s box. During his career he’s avg 12 steps on his eway to the plate. This year he’s at a career low of 9 steps? This is troubling and in a contract year to? I’m worried.
Strike zone? the strike zone is different with every ump, who charts this garbage give me a break. I mean if Jeter gets rung up on a pitch off the outside of the plate and then in the next AB hits the same pitch for a single is that swinging at a strike? it would have been a strike? Take that crap and zone rating and kiss my ass. Get away from the computer for 30 secs and watch a game. Jeters not having a normal year, it’s clear as day. Do we need all these made up pointless stats to figure that out? Maybe nomass, bill james, and theo epstein do but i sure as hell dont.
Its all about the hair man.
To enough stats;
Switching birth control again? May I give you a suggestion?
http://www.pinkapple.com/productphotos/tampax_super_202.jpg
All NoMaas is doing is offering what they believe to be an explaination to Jeter’s troubles with the bat this year. If you disagree with what they are saying, don’t make yourself sound like a baby doing it.
the photoshop made me laugh at my desk.
Who’s Derek Jeter????
Um, hi, he’s 36 years old. Did you expect him to play well forever? All players get old and lose talent.
All players except for Mariano.
But yes, he’s old. The yanks are really in a no-win situation at the end of the season with Jeter.
My wife tried to tell me about some confangled 3/4 of a cup for a cake we was makin’ n’ I beat the shit outta her for usin’ them queer ass numbers.
Like someone else pointed out, he’s on pace for 15 homers and 81 RBI, which are almost exactly his career 162-game averages. Also pay attention to his splits, the disparity between his performance at home vs. away (home OPS: .831/away: .622) and righties vs. lefties (LHP OPS: .886/RHP: .633) point to the probability that his struggles are due more to bad luck than advancing age, though both are almost certainly contributing factors.
I remember hearing similar fretting when the captain was hitting .220 and OPSing .614 at the end of May, 2004. Hitters get in slumps. For all the discussion of regression to the mean that goes on around here (usually pessimistically regarding a certain Mr. Gardner) you’d think someone would have already mentioned that in Jeter’s defense here.
Not sure how regression would apply here if he’s swinging at garbage. Something has clearly changed in his plate approach.
Heh…
Like someone else pointed out, he’s on pace for 15 homers and 81 RBI, which are almost exactly his career 162-game averages.
why does this matter? his OBP is .335. That is a major problem. if he winds up with “81 RBIs”, it will have little to do with how well he hit and everything to do with how well the bottom of the order (Gardner esp) got on base in front of him.
the disparity between his performance at home vs. away (home OPS: .831/away: .622) and righties vs. lefties (LHP OPS: .886/RHP: .633) point to the probability that his struggles are due more to bad luck than advancing age
how does B follow from A?
I remember hearing similar fretting when the captain was hitting .220 and OPSing .614 at the end of May, 2004
That was 6 years ago. If Jeter was 30, no one would be “fretting” right now. Also, it’s not “the end of May”, it’s the end of JULY.
Sometimes when a hitter swings he misses, but sometimes he hits the ball. Sometimes the pitch is low or high or right down the middle. I used to see all different pitches when I played.
Yanks r in 1rst place, thats all that matters. They doing fine with Derek. Yeah hes getting old! I don’t need no stat to tell Me thaT!!! stats dont measure leadership and captain quallitys! fuk nomaaas, fuk stats, and take BIG PISS on ops+++++++++++!!
“That was 6 years ago.”
WATCH THE GAME – FORGET ABOUT NUMBERS!
He still has the same fire in his eyes as he does 6 years ago. But you guys wouldnt know that because Gameday and fangraphs box score doesn’t show there eyes.
O great now I am getting the Joe THunder treatment from you jerk offs.
We are watching the games. He’s not getting hits. Is that simple enough? We’re watching him not get hits or walks while watching the games. The games show him not hitting. On the TV screen.
why does [15 HR/81 RBI] matter?
Because he’s still producing better than every other AL shortstop now that Alex Gonzalez is in Atlanta, who was clearly having a fluke year anyway. OPSing better than every other SS too.
I understand that OBP and OPS are important. I don’t understand completely discounting production stats, which only provide concrete evidence of a player’s ability to put runs on the board (Jeter’s 2010 OPS with RISP is .876, by the by). Teams win games when they outscore the other guys, not by putting together a higher cumulative OPS.
how does [a diagnosis of bad luck rather than age-related decline] follow from [uncharacteristically low road and vs. RHP OPS]?
Very simple: his home and vs. LHP stats are comparable to his career stats (2010 home OPS: .831/career: .866/2010 LHP: .886/career: .908). Unless you believe righties have suddenly figured out Jeter, or he now gets homesick away from the Bronx, it’s fairly apparent to me that he has been unfortunate against righties and on the road. Half a season is a small sample size.
If Jeter was 30, no one would be “fretting” right now.
Oh no? Jeter was on the cover of the June 7, 2004 edition of Sports Illustrated along with the words “The Slump: Solving the Biggest Mystery in Sports”. People who cared about the Yankees were freaked out, and Yankee haters were salivating at the thought that Jeter had lost it.
Also, it’s not “the end of May”, it’s the end of JULY.
Congratulations on having access to a calendar, but you missed the point entirely. At the end of April, Jeter’s slashes were .330/.354/.521, good for a 135 OPS+. He’s had a rough couple of months. But it’s hard to imagine a player who has been as good for as long as Jeter has could just irreparably fall off a cliff mid-season.
Yeah, personally I don’t understand the hatred of stats. I’m not a huge stat guy, but I mean it is what you make of it. The stats only tell what happened on the field, it’s not like stats make shit up that didn’t happen. You are also free to ignore them.
But it’s hard to imagine a player who has been as good for as long as Jeter has could just irreparably fall off a cliff mid-season.
Mostly agree, but it’s MUCH LESS HARD to imagine if the player is 36 vs. 30. That’s my point.
The fretting in 2004 was unwarranted, no matter what Sports Illustrated had to say. It may be warranted now. 36 year old shortstops simply do not have history on their side.
FWIW, Jeter had a giant platoon split last year as well. It’s just that last year he destroyed lefties and was good against righties, and now he is very good against lefties and terrible against righties.
“Very simple: his home and vs. LHP stats are comparable to his career stats (2010 home OPS: .831/career: .866/2010 LHP: .886/career: .908).”
Except Jeter is has a 71.6 GB% against right handed pitchers and leads all qualified MLB hitters in ground ball percent. That’s not “bad luck”. That’s just bad.
For the record, I am not saying that Jeter cannot bounce back. Jeter is a Hall of Fame talent, and those types of talents can defy typical aging patterns.
I am merely saying that there *IS* some genuine cause for concern here. And if he finishes the season with these types of numbers, I have no idea what the Yankees should do about that.
Teams win games when they outscore the other guys, not by putting together a higher cumulative OPS.
And do you think the Yankees would score more runs if Jeter had a higher OBP or fewer runs??
Do you think if Jeter was hitting with his career OPS and the same # of opportunities he has had, he would have more RBI’s or fewer RBI’s?
If it rains a little today the infield could be a bit wet. This might cause a ball hit on the ground to take on some moisture.
Steve, OPS doesnt win basball games, runs do!! Fundimantels do! fielding the ball, running the bases, clutch Hits! thats how you win the gameS! KoBe Bryaantt!
Just wanted to make a general comment on OBP and its correlation with run production. RBI’s are a fun at the end of the day/how well a team performs as a whole stat, but it generally takes more than one guy to drive in a run(outside of the solo homerun). OBP says a ton about a player’s individual accolades and if you look at the top 5 teams in the AL in terms of OBP, they are also the top 5 teams in runs scored. It is perfectly reasonable to be disappointed in Jeter’s OBP, regardless of how many RBI’s Brett Gardner is helping him be on pace for.
Did someone call me????
And do you think the Yankees would score more runs if Jeter had a higher OBP or fewer runs??
Do you think if Jeter was hitting with his career OPS and the same # of opportunities he has had, he would have more RBI’s or fewer RBI’s?
Obviously he would drive in more runs if his OPS were higher; I’m pretty sure I took pains to acknowledge the importance of OBP and OPS. To arrive at the conclusion that I meant to say his low OBP and OPS are immaterial because his RBI production remains high relative to other AL shortstops requires, I think, a deliberate misreading of what I wrote.
My intention was to temper the falling-sky tone of the original article with some reasons to be upbeat, not only about the prospects of Jeter turning it on in the remainder of the year (his career OPS in the second half is 29 points higher than his first half, incidentally) but also about his production so far. With Gonzalez out of the picture, Jeter leads all AL shortstops in OPS, TB, HR, RBI and runs scored.
See for yourself. Anyone on this list you’d swap one-for-one with Jeter?