From Mark Feinsand (Daily News):
With Eric Hinske’s arrival and the strong play of both Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner, Girardi plans on using all three in addition to Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher during the second half, setting up a crowded group in the outfield.”I told all the outfielders, ‘We have five guys who are playing pretty good,’” Girardi said. “Everyone is going to play; it’s all about winning ball games.”
X-Men Origins: Wolverine buy Mission: Impossible III buy Damon figures to be in the lineup in left field most days, while either Cabrera or Gardner will play center. That leaves Swisher, Hinske and Cabrera to play right field.
Is anyone worried that Girardi will fall in love with Hinske in RF? Swisher has earned the majority of those starts yet I suspect that RF may develop into some sort of platoon with Swisher against lefties (career .249/.393/.426) and Hinske against righties (career .263/.347/.456). Hinske is useful in the OF and he should be used to give Swisher and Damon days off, however, his value is intimately tied to his ability to play third—not RF—when A-Rod needs a day off. Even if his defense isn’t great there, shouldn’t that be his primary role with the club? I thought the Yankees traded for Hinske for that reason, because he was versatile and could play 3B and the OF?
Meanwhile, the always useful Cody Ransom still has a job…
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Melky is garbage in CF with his UZR and UZR/150 turning negative at -1.8 and -3.5 respectively. If Girardi continues to run Melky out in CF he should be fired!
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Agreed – 3b is Hinske’s primary role. Swisher’s been decent and deserves the lion’s share of starts in rf, while Hinske’s main value lies in his versatility and ability to spell A-Rod at 3b. This is not to say, however, that Hinske won’t get 1-2 looks at rf per week, however, as the matchups dictate.
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I would like to think that Girardi is smarter than platooning Hinske with Swisher. We shall see.
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scott l Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Girardi is not a good manager. He leaves a lot to be desired.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Ok, we get the point, you don’t like Girardi.
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scott l Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Be honest do you really like the job he is doing outside of his management of the pen?
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Yes. Let’s see. He manages the pen well, and he manages his bench well. What else is there?
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I thought that ball struck just out of the reach of Hinske’s glove would have been caught by Swisher or Melky. That potentially cost us the game. Our best defensive allignment is with Gardner in Center and Melky or Swisher in Right. The less we see of Hinske out there the better in my opinion. Saving runs is just as important as scoring them.
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Chris H. Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I’m pretty sure that Hinske is a good defensive RF but I just don’t care, really. He’s a useful player, but only if used appropriately. He’s played 4 games for the Yankees and suddenly Girardi is saying he’s going to be playing as much as possible. It’s strange to me that he would say that.
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The other Chris H Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Would you rather him say I hate Eric Hinske and will make sure that he gets no playing time and will personally ask him to retire next week so I don’t have to look at his looking like the brother from King of Queens face ever again? You gotta give the guy some hope to play… I doubt he gets a load of playing time but against right handed pitchers he will play some 3B and some RF and I have no problem with that, he knows how to play and Swisher does better with periodic rest anyway.
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So what it is about Ransom that’s so valuable. Nothing personal but living on the Mendoza line just doesn’t impress. I would much rather see Pena up here.
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Chris H. Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Oh, I was definitely being sarcastic.
Ransom is a terrible player and I too would rather see Pena in there.
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To answer your post heading…No!
Just saw Pena play…the kid is ready for the show NOW! Good-by Cody.
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