| Alex Rodriguez | Yankees | -2.29 |
| Ryan Ludwick | Cardinals | -1.79 |
| Jermaine Dye | White Sox | -1.78 |
| Chase Utley | Phillies | -1.77 |
| Adrian Beltre | Mariners | -1.75 |
| Jim Thome | White Sox | -1.64 |
| Garrett Atkins | Rockies | -1.51 |
| Brian McCann | Braves | -1.33 |
| Carlos Delgado | Mets | -1.31 |
| Kevin Millar | Orioles | -1.28 |
If you were wondering, last year he was ranked 17th most clutch player, and the year before he was 11th least clutch. Does that mean that he will be clutch next year? I hope so.
And please don't get misunderstand me, I'm not blaming A-Rod for the Yankees' struggles. I'm just pointing out that according to fangraphs.com he's the least clutch player in all of baseball. But as far as the Yankees are concerned, he's definitely not the only one holding the bat too tightly in big spots, here are some other Yankees' clutch stats:
Jason Giambi: -0.30
Derek Jeter: -0.37
Melky Cabrera: -0.24
Robinson Cano: -0.36
12 Comments:
Interesting if unsurprising stat. Highest paid...least clutch. But we all know he'll come good once we're out of the play-off picture.
Yeah that wouldn't surprise me at all.
this is an absolute garbage stat. it was probably some random algorithmic set of numbers used until a-rod came out on top, so someone can try and argue that "a-rod isnt clutch."
i dont argue that his avg. with RISP sucks, and that is legitamit. but dont make up a stat and have a-rod among players like ludwick, dye, utley, mccann, etc. and try and argue that is a bad thing????
maybe if varitek, melky, sexson, and jeter were in that top 5 with him i'd buy it.
I didn't make up the stat. And I'm surprised you don't get it because it's very clear. You take the guys performance in a normal situation and compare it to how they perform in high-leverage situations. If a player performs better than they normally do in high leverage situations they are more clutch, if the under perform in high leverage situations they are less clutch.
See, a player like Varitek has been awful in every situation this year, so it's not that he's not clutch, it's that he's bad.
Now take A-Rod, when the pressure is on his numbers are nowhere near what they are when he is in low to mid leverage situations.
By the way, do you think A-Rod has been clutch this year?
There's no doubt whatsoever that A-rod has failed to do the job in important situations.
I think that he tightens up and feels he has to do everything, and ends up swinging for the fences as well as chasing pitcher's pitches and balls.
It's hard for me to blame him though, as it's more than just him. We've been hurt by so many factors and so many injuries, that it's prevented this team from having any confidence. I think they went into this season with a very positive feeling, and I think it's been one thing after another to crush their spirits. It shouldn't happen, it really shouldn't, but guys are just crushed.
I'm not blaming him either Pinstripes. That's why I said "And please don't get misunderstand me, I'm not blaming A-Rod for the Yankees' struggles."
I agree with you, they've been demoralized with all the injuries. Although it is the manager's job to keep a team focused on their goal, regardless of the bumps along the way. Joe Torre was great at this.
Yeah, I think that having such an inexperience manager has hurt in that regard. Not to mention that Girardi will make 1 good move, and then 1 ridiculously dumb move to counter-act it.
I don't know if Torre would have done any better with this year's team - I really have no reason to believe so, but I know the team needed a change either way. Unfortunately Girardi turned out to be very clueless in many of the areas that I just assumed he'd be very good at.
And I'm torn between giving Girardi credit for keeping this team in it at all considering the devistation they've suffered, and giving him hell for not making the right moves and costing this team several games.
But back to A-Rod, yeah, I mean... I'm not saying he doesn't deserve a share of the blame, he really has been awful when we really "need" something from him. I'm quite disgusted with the way he's performed, especially lately. The problem though goes much deeper than just his struggles, and other players definitely should be under the microscope this season as well.
I agree with you pretty much - I'm basically just expanding on my comments.
I don't know what stat or way you can define clutch, but I just completely don't understand that stat. So you basically can only be "un-clutch" if you have good stats to begin with.
I just feel that people try and come up with ways to blame A-Rod for our troubles. A-Rod is the most passionate player on this team, the most outspoken, most recently saying how "devastating" the series to the Angels was. He's not letting walk off ground balls go by him (Cano), he's not grounding into the league leading amount of double plays (Jeter). The team as a whole is "un-clutch." You can't expect one player to hit .400 with RISP when the rest of the team is hitting .280, baseball is a cyclic, hot and cold game where you need more than one player to catch fire and it's contagious.
I think our lineup in general is not built for success this season. We never have sequences where we can start a rally. There are just dead spots in the lineup where if we have something going Melky or Jeter will ground into a double play, or it just so happens someone like Sexson or Gardner is batting, or we have 2 outs because no one can hit before them and A-Rod, Abreu or Giambi come up and they can't just be expected to have a bases clearing double or go ahead home run right away.
These things need to start happening with 0 or 1 outs so they can get a little loose and more free swinging, and once that happens they'll catch fire and the rest of the team will start hitting. I agree it is on guys like A-Rod's shoulders to shit or get off the pot, but there's a reason it's up to him and not someone like Jeter.
"I just feel that people try and come up with ways to blame A-Rod for our troubles."
I'm not blaming him for anything. That's why I said this in the post and put it in bold letters:
And please don't get misunderstand me, I'm not blaming A-Rod for the Yankees' struggles.
"A-Rod is the most passionate player on this team,"
I don't think so. Any proof of this?
"the most outspoken,"
Damon is the most outspoken Yankee.
"He's not letting walk off ground balls go by him (Cano), he's not grounding into the league leading amount of double plays (Jeter)."
No he's not, but he is 5 for 26 on the road trip. And he's hit into 5 double plays.
Anyway I totally agree that the lineup, from top to bottom, has been the reason for the struggles.
I also had these Yankees clutch stats in that post:
Jason Giambi: -0.30
Derek Jeter: -0.37
Melky Cabrera: -0.24
Robinson Cano: -0.36
But Greg, even though its not your stat, you found it, read it, and then gave it credence by posting it on your blog. The other posters are right when they say people find ways to diminish A-Rod. The entire "clutch" argument has only been around since Derek Jeter entered the league, and people needed a category to make him seem greater than he really is (of course they embellished even greater by creating the "intangibles" argument, and making runs scored the most important stat on the planet). Facts are that A-Rod is expected to come through everytime he steps up with runners on base. Everytime the Yanks trail by one he is expected to hit a two-run homer even when nobody is on base. I guess its his fault for being one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, and our fault for not apprecciating that.
Anon,
I do believe it's a valid stat, which is why I posted it. Besides yesterday's homer A-Rod has been invisible in the clutch this year. All this stat does is reinforce what I've already known.
Nobody is trying "find ways to diminish A-Rod," all you have to do is look at this splits and his numbers are diminished.
Last season he was great, and that stat reinforces that. But this year he's been awful in big spots. Once again, if you don't believe me and think there is a conspiracy to bring down A-Rod, just go look at his splits.
Oh, and the "clutch" argument has been around for a hundred years, the debate about clutch hitting didn't begin with Jeter and A-Rod.
Arod is not the greatest player in baseball. Why? Because he entered the league so young or he is projected to take down the hr record. So what! Great players understand their role on a team and live up to it (esp. 27 mil.a year players)! They don't consistently make remarks about their teammates revealing their immature inadequacies nor do they swat the ball down when they are frustrated(clearly a sign of immaturity). Arod fans need to understand that to call Arod the best player in baseball you need to understand the game of baseball so in alot of ways you and arod are alot alike. Arod will never understand what it takes to be a team player because he's a selfish spoiled brat just like you Arod fans. He will never take on a leadership role on any team (Mariners, Rangers, or Yankees) and will remain clutchless as long as he doesn't relax and allow his natural talent to flow. None of that will happen though because just like his fans he is a true headcase!!! BTW Yankees will never see another WS ring until he leaves NY! Sad but true!!
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