Exploring some 2010 Yankee rate stats

One of the great benefits of idling in a perpetual state of infinite boredom is that one has plenty of time to try and reengage his interests. At least, this is what I tell myself. Anyway, I thought it’d be entertaining to take a look at some various Yankees rate stats from the 2010 campaign and then contrast the team collectively with the rest of the American League.

Many of these percentages shouldn’t be entirely surprising as the team collectively posted some fairly robust offensive production. Still, some of the numbers do stand out. For example, in terms of HR% (percentage of all plate appearances a home run was hit), Alex Rodriguez posted the highest percentage on the team yet again. Stats like this help me digest the disgustingly lucrative contract he’s signed to and remember that a declining A-Rod is still desirable over the majority of Major Leaguers.

I wasn’t surprised to see Curtis Granderson vying for the inglorious title of New York “Strikeout King.” What did surprise me was that Jorge Posada was seriously competing for the position (even more so than Swisher). Over Posada’s 16-year career, he’s averaged a 20% strikeout rate which is a bit worse than league average over that time span (17%). Given how prolific Posada's been with the bat over the course of his career, that's pretty impressive (.275/.377/.479, .856 OPS).

My favorite part of this table involves XBH% (percent of all plate appearances ending with an extra base hit). A-Rod, Nick Swisher, and Robinson Cano all accumulated gaudy totals. To put the percents in perspective, consider some of the game’s offensive elite. Albert Pujols had a XBH% of 11.7%, Miguel Cabrera had a 13.0%, and Josh Hamilton had a 13.1%. If Jeter could somehow regain some of his magic and match his career norm (7.20%) in 2011, we’d really be in business.

IP% represents the balls-in-play percentage. Slap-happy Derek Jeter scores highest on this one (which makes sense given his propensity to hit into double plays). For those hoping for a repeat performance from Cano in 2011, the good news is his SO% has always been fairly low (career 11%) and he’s always managed a high IP% (80%). If Robby's plate discipline continues to improve (or even maintains status quo), the sky really is the limit for this kid.

As promised, here’s how the Bombers fared collectively against the rest of the American League. Despite that final month of lackluster play during the regular season, the Yankees still managed the best R/G in the American League (just beating out their AL East rivals, the Red Sox). Scoring 5.3 runs per game will go a long way in keeping you in the game. The good news is, the Yanks should be fairly close to that total once again in 2011.