Derek Jeter, the man whom everyone thought was in the midst of drastic decline, has proven that age does not matter! The 37 year old captain (soon to be 38) appears to have aged in reverse this off-season. Not only have we, the fans, seen this, but another Yankee has seen it as well. Alex Rodriguez was quoted the other day saying:
It’s like 1999 again. Three hits every day. You even see it in batting practice. The ball is just jumping off his bat.
The reason why Rodriguez is referring to 1999 is because in Derek Jeter’s 17 full seasons with the Yankees, 1999 was by far his best season from an offensive standpoint. He hit a career high in quite a few categories, including:
Batting Avg. | .349 |
Home Runs | 24 |
Hits | 219 |
Runs | 134 |
RBIs | 102 |
When comparing Derek Jeter’s start of 2012 to the start of 1999, the numbers are eerily similar through the first 17 games of the season. Jeter is currently leading MLB in total hits, and multi-hit games. As we have seen this year, Jeter looks confident, comfortable, and strong at the plate. We haven’t seen THIS Derek Jeter since 2009 when he put up another MVP-like season. Below is a comparison of Jeter’s stats through the first 17 games in 1999 vs. 2012.
Stat | 1999 | 2012 |
Hits | 27 | 32 |
Batting Avg. | .415 | .416 |
On-Base % | .525 | .439 |
Slugging % | .862 | .649 |
RBI | 14 | 13 |
Runs | 20 | 14 |
While listening to an interview with Derek recently, he credits all of his recent success at the plate to his injury last year. It allowed him to go down to Tampa and fine tune his mechanics which were tampered with early in the 2011 season.I am not trying to jump the gun here, but statistically speaking, if Jeter can keep up this type of production for a few more years, Yankee fans can soon be preparing to witness hit #4,000.
Here’s are some fun stats to ponder over… since Jeter returned from the DL last season, he is hitting .349 in 86 games, with 8 HRs, 59 runs, and 54 RBIs. Not too shabby for a guy supposedly in his decline.
I am interested to hear your thoughts on The Captain’s comeback. Do you think he has what it takes to make a serious run at 4,000 hits? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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