Just in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a certain $15 million shortstop who isn’t having a real good season.
Derek Jeter: Captain Groundout
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Which might not be worrisome, except a) he didn’t have a real good season last season, either, and 2) he’s got another $36 million coming to him after this season.
Oh, and there’s a iii) politically speaking, it’s almost impossible to bench the guy.
Yes, of course we're talking about Ronny Cedeno.
Not really.
Derek Jeter has 71 at-bats, which include 14 singles and one double. That's it.
And as Aaron Gleeman writes, it’s all about the grounders. Last season, Jeter’s 65.7 ground-ball percentage was the highest of his career, by quite a bit.
This season it’s 72.9 percent. That’s the highest figure in the majors, and it just doesn’t work. If you’re hitting the ball on the ground three-fourths of the time, you essentially can’t play Major League Baseball. In fact, it’s almost impossible to hit that many balls on the ground for an extended period of time, so Jeter almost certainly won’t.
Still, anything above 60 percent is probably too much. Gleeman:
His batting average is going to rise from .219, but if Jeter doesn’t start hitting the ball in the air he’s going to have a very hard time avoiding a sub-.400 slugging percentage for the second straight season after topping .400 in 15 consecutive years. In his 145 most recent games dating back to May of last season Jeter has hit .257 with six homers, 25 doubles, and a .336 slugging percentage.
I thought Jeter was going to bounce back this season. I really did. You have to think the Yankees did, too. But so far this season, we've seen him only get worse.
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