Baseball-All-Starlytics: Curtis Granderson: What a difference a year makes

"The Grandy Man can."

Yes, we're all sick of hearing that during Yankee radio casts but the truth is, Curtis Granderson can rake.

Were it not for the beast numbers of Adrian Gonzalez and Jose Bautista, not to mention Asdrubal Cabrera's season, we would be hearing chants of "MVP!, MVP!" at the Stadium

We have written in these pages in praise of Yankee batting coach Kevin Long whose work with Granderson has produced remarkable results. But you really need to see the numbers to appreciate the contrast.

What a difference a year makes

Let's compare Curtis Granderson's 2010 through July 5 to Grandy's 2011 season through July 5.

Granderson to July 5, 2010

Granderson's hot spots look like Caribbean islandsOn the morning of July 6, 2010, Curtis Granderson was hitting .228 with seven homers and 23 RBI. He was slugging .411. He was hitting .192 against lefties with one homer and 22 total bases and 23 strikeouts (more strikeouts than total bases can't be good).

Granderson to July 5, 2011

His Heat Map looks like a view of New England

First look at the difference in the map. He was getting destroyed at this point last year on the outer portion of the plate. High and away (in the strike zone) and low and away were ways of getting him out. That's no longer the case.

Now, look at the difference in his numbers: On the morning of July 6, 2011, Curtis Granderson is hitting .278 (I'm no math genius but I think that's 50 points higher) with 25 homers and 62 RBI. He is slugging .597. He is hitting .260 against lefties with nine homers and 63 total bases and 31 strikeouts (over twice as many total bases as whiffs is very good).

A history making season in the making?

The last Yankee outfielder to hit over 40 homers was Reggie Jackson in 1980 when he hit 41. In fact, and I found this surprising, there really have been relatively few Yankee outfielders with over 40 homers in a season. Babe Ruth did it 10 times, Mickey Mantle four times, Reggie, Roger Maris and Joe DiMaggio did it once each.There have been 26 Yankees, who've played at any position, who have hit over 40 homers and driven in 100+ runs.

Right now, Granderson is en route to being the next, he could be number 27 on this list exhibiting the power of the '27 Yankees.

Swisher Surging

Swisher vs. RHP 2011

On May 12th, New York Yankee Nick Swisher hit his third HR of the season from the left side of the plate.  However, prior to that day he was hitting just .153/.298/.235 in 104 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, compared to .400/.444/.467 from the right side (granted in just 36 PA, and with no HR). 

But since mid-May, Swisher has been on a roll against RHP, hitting .269/.383/.516 with 8 doubles and 5 HRs.

Nick Swisher vs. RHP (Click image to enlarge)

The breakdown: Swisher is crushing the hard stuff, with all 7 of his left-handed HRs coming off fastballs, along with 5 of his 9 doubles....Since May 12th, he has an .825 slugging percentage against fastballs, 4th best in the majors since that date....His 16.0% walk rate ranks 4th in the AL, and his 50 total walks is 8th best in baseball....Swisher's .457 wOBA since the start of June ranks 6th in the AL, and his 28.6% HR/FB rate ranks 4th among all AL left-handed batters in that time (from April through June it was just 5.9%).

Boone Logan vs. Lefties

Boone Logan is the New York Yankees' only lefty reliever in the pen.  Pedro Feliciano is not likely to return very soon, if at all this season. And while Damaso Marte plans to be back after the All-Star break, he too could be gone for the whole season. So Logan is a pretty important part of that bullpen, especially against lefty-heavy lineups like the Red Sox.

Logan had a rough start to the season.  Through his first 14 appearances, he gave up 9 hits to lefties in 29 plate appearances, including two doubles and one home run.  However, he's turned things around as of late, yielding just 4 hits to left-handed batters in his last 26 faced.  Location seems to be a big part of his turnaround.

(Click image to enlarge)

The big difference has been Logan's ability to throw outside to lefties.  Earlier in the season, you can see that he was leaving the ball over the heart of the plate. But since May 15th, he's been able to keep the ball away, and the results have been much improved.

2011 Boone Logan vs. LHB

	P	PA	AVG	BABIP	K%	wOBA
First 14 Games	106	29	.360	.364	6.9%	.413
Last 14 Games	107	26	.269	.286	34.6%	.236

Logan has struck out 11 lefty batters this season, 9 of which have come since mid-May. Since tightening up his location, Lefties have been swinging and missing more against him. Prior to May 15th, opposing LHB were making contact on 81.4% of their swings against Logan. But in the past 6 weeks, that number has dropped to 70.2%.

Opposing batters are also swinging at more of Logan's pitches out of the zone (25.6% to 31.3%). This is one of the many benefits that come with locating on the edges. Batters can not sit on pitches over the middle if Logan constantly locates to the outside of the plate. Instead, they are forced to swing more at those borderline pitches so as to avoid getting caught looking.