In case you haven’t noticed, and you probably have, Brett Gardner is on fire. Since June 3rd, his batting average has raised from .256 to .285 in only 17 games. He has been keeping the Yankees offense afloat. Let’s take a quick look inside the numbers.
Over the last 17 games:
– He has 25 hits in 66 at bats. Good for a .378 batting average.
-He has reached safely in 16 of them, getting a hit in 15 of them.
– He has 1 home run, 7 RBI’s, and 12 runs scored.
Over the span of those 17 games, the Yankees are only 9-8 and have only scored a total of 62 runs, which averages out to only 3.65 runs/game. Not great. But Brett has scored 12 of those 62 runs, which is nearly 20% of the runs. So, 1 of every 5 Yankees to cross the plate the last 17 games has been Brett Gardner!
What is also surprising is Gardner’s consistency at the plate. He has a higher average against lefties (.287 BA) than he does against righties (.284 BA). This is important late in games, since the lefty vs. lefty match-up is ineffective against him. Also, he is batting .285 at home and .286 on the road. So, the venue also has not played a drastic part in his success.
The Yankees are going to need for Gardner to continue his hot hitting, as the team is struggling to consistently score runs. Hopefully, the rest of the team can start picking up the slack, as scoring 20% of a team’s runs is not a formula for success. But for now, Gardner is proving to be the spark plug we all thought he’d be earlier in the season, when he had his struggles.
