Girardi’s Peculiar Lineup
June 29, 2008, 9:56 pmThe lineup against Oliver Perez:
Damon, LF
Jeter, SS
A-Rod, 3B
Posada, 1B
Betemit, 2B
Melky, CF
Molina, C
Christian, RF
Rasner, SP
Girardi’s lineup for today’s game was less than stellar on paper and it truly performed that way when facing Oliver Perez and the rest of the Mets. In fact, that lineup made no sense at all. Now, while I understand that all major league players need a day off, what I don’t understand is why Joe Girardi decided to sit Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi AND Robinson Cano, all in one game. Why do that, seriously?
Let’s look at the numbers for a second.
Jason Giambi is hitting .260 with a 1.015 OPS against lefties this year. He has a .500 AVG against Oliver Perez. Robinson Cano is hitting .281 with a .756 OPS against lefties this year. He has a .400 AVG against Oliver Perez. Bobby Abreu is hitting .316 with an .853 OPS against lefties this year. He has a .000 AVG against Oliver Perez (10 AB’s, 4 BB, 5 K’s). So, what have we learned here?
Joe Girardi could have done something differently with the lineup and it’s not merely a hindsight sort of critique. Giambi and a hot-hitting Cano, in particular, have solid numbers against Perez, so why sit both of those guys? Why not sit Abreu, then sit Cano or Giambi on separate days? Isn’t the job of the manager to be somewhat creative with off-days for his players? Shouldn’t a smart manager stagger his off-days instead of sitting 3 of his regular starters in one game (starters with solid numbers against lefties this year)? How do you think Derek Jeter, A-Rod and Damon felt with this lineup? Do you think that they thought they had their best opportunity to win with this configuration? I doubt it (no matter what they may say).
This is another frustrating Joe Girardi move. With the Yankees already in a significant AL East hole, Girardi doesn’t have the flexibility to sit 3 of his best players (in a game where the pitcher hits!). The righty-lefty explanations don’t hold up with the numbers for the season or the history had with starter, Oliver Perez. While the Yankees may have lost this one today, Joe Girardi deserves the most blame (not the hitters), as he did not give his team the chance to win with this strange lineup.
Great post. I looked up the splits after I heard the lineup announced on the pregame show, and I was amazed to see that Cano, Abreu, and Giambi ALL have better numbers against lefties this year than they do righties. Plus, as you pointed out, Cano and Giambi both have good career numbers against Perez. They also happen to be the three hottest hitters in the Yankee lineup right now.
Playing in a NL ballpark and already down Matsui’s bat, it is indefensible that Girardi decided to sit all three of these guys. It was a minor league lineup he put out there. This game was lost by Girardi well before the players even stepped between the lines.
Halfway into the season, there’s no denying Girardi’s managing leaves much to be desired.
Totally. I mean, if Cano had poor numbers against lefties this year or if he had poor numbers against Perez, I would understand the move because his bat is hot and you don’t want to stifle his streak by batting him against a tough lefty. However, that’s not the case at all, so the move was, as you said, indefensible. The Yankees didn’t have a chance with this lineup and Girardi just gave up on the game before it started. What was he thinking?