From
Mark Simon:
Jeter's 17 ground-ball double plays rank fourth in the American League, but they've contributed to his league-leading total of 381 outs made (a stat he's never led the league in during his career).
Overall, Jeter is grounding into double plays in nearly 20 percent of the situations that featured a runner on first base and less than two outs. That would be a career-worst, a number significantly worse than the major-league average of 12 percent (according to Baseball-Reference.com).
But that's what happens when two-thirds of the balls you put into play are ground balls (also the highest rate in the majors).
The problems that Jeter is having with ground-ball double plays can also be tracked back to his issues with right-handed pitching this season. Of his 17 GIDPs, 15 have come against right-handers, matching the most he's ever had in his career.
They've come in his worst season for hitting right-handed pitching (if he maintains his .322 OBP against right-handers, it would be a career-worst by 21 points). It's one in which according to our Inside Edge video scouting data, righties are getting him to hit the ball weakly, regardless of the type of pitch they've thrown (though particularly on changeups and sliders).
This isn't really anything new for Jeter. Here are his GIDP totals for the last three seasons: 2007 - 21, 2008 - 24, 2009 - 18. The only problem is that now he's mixing all those DPs with a .278/.339/.387 triple slash.
