Yankees Vs. Red Sox: Position by Position

After their series together last weekend, many people still counted the Yankees out for the AL East. One of those people was me, as you’ll find out I tend to be a pretty pessimistic fan since I’m just generally pessimistic when it comes to most aspects of life. It takes a big man to admit that he was wrong, and I’ll admit that I was wrong by pronouncing the AL East over after the Yankees failed to sweep the Red Sox. With the deficit in the AL East now only 2.5 games, the Yankees and Red Sox seem fairly evenly matched. This got me to thinking, how evenly matched? So I decided to do a position by position look into comparing the two teams, this time I’ll compare the hitters and next time will be the starting rotation, bullpen, manager, bench, etc. I originally intended to do one position at a time for the rest of the season, but my brilliant mathematical skills told me that there was only 2 weeks left in the season and not enough time. So let’s get this thing started:

Catchers- I can give you my in-depth analysis on this position but I think I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves.

Jorge Posada- .337, 20, 85, 88, .425

Jason Varitek- .254, 13, 63, 53, .358

As the kids say these days, ‘Nuff said.

Advantage- Yankees

1^st Base- While he may be injured at the moment, Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis has had a breakout season this year, posting a .288, 16, 81 year with his patented .392 OBP that has earned him the nickname “The Greek God of Walks”. The Yankees, on the other hand, have had their 1B position in flux for most of the season, manning Doug Mientkiewicz, Andy Phillips, Wilson Betemit, and Jason Giambi there throughout the season. The lack of one true starting first baseman gives the Red Sox the edge here.

Advantage- Red Sox

2^nd Base- This is perhaps the most interesting position battle between the two teams. After a dreadful start to the season, Red Sox rookie Dustin Pedroia has rebounded enough to put his name into the AL Rookie of the Year discussion with a .320, 7, 49, 79 line. Robinson Cano enjoyed a similar start but also experienced a similar rebound with a .302, 18, 87 line. The extra power and run production gives Cano the edge over Pedroia

Advantage- Yankees

3^rd Base- Mike Lowell has put together his finest season of his career while hitting .329 with 19 HR and 109 RBI’s. If he played any other position, he’d win his matchup, but not the one against Alex Rodriguez and his major league leading 52 home runs.

Advantage- Yankees

Shortstop- After finishing second in the AL MVP voting last season, Derek Jeter has digressed a tad this year while dealing with several nagging injuries. A digressed Jeter is still hitting .319 with 95 runs scored. Julio Lugo may beat Jeter in stolen bases 30-13, but Jeter is statistically superior to Lugo in every other major category and provides invaluable leadership to his team as their captain.

Advantage- Yankees

Left Field- The matchup of the power-hitting, defensively challenged left fielders. Manny has not been Manny this year, as Ramirez has hit only 20 home runs and driven in only 86 runs. This is affected greatly by the fact that Ramirez has not played since August 28^th due to an oblique strain, but he never did seem quite like himself this season, never going on one of his typical extended hot streaks. Hideki Mastui’s 24 home runs and 98 RBI’s are not many more then Ramirez but Matsui also missed time this year with a hamstring problem. This could easily be called a draw, but Manny, the 2004 World Series MVP, gets the benefit of the doubt if he returns healthy for his Hall of Fame pedigree and his ability to deliver in the clutch.

Advantage: Red Sox

Center Field: Coco Crisp, the man people believed would make Red Sox nation forget Johnny Damon, has for the most part disappointed in his two years in Boston, with his stellar defense being his only redeeming quality. Melky Cabrera has usurped the starting center field job from Johnny Damon and his steady hitting and defense makes him a better overall play then Crisp.

Advantage- Yankees

Right Field- At one point in the season, both teams would have been willing to drop their Right Fielders, Bobby Abreu and JD Drew, for next to nothing. The difference now is that Bobby Abreu has went on to post an excellently balanced .287, 16, 98, 111, 24 line while JD Drew has been arguably the biggest bust in baseball with a .261 average and an abysmal 8 home runs. There’s been a lot of talk about Derek Jeter’s lack of power this season, he has 3 more home runs then Drew. A-Rod had nearly twice as many home runs as Drew has… in April.

Advantage- Yankees

Designated Hitter- The Yankees often platoon Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi at DH, with Hideki Matsui seeing some time there as well when he’s not in left field. However, even if you combine both Damon and Giambi, they both fall short of David Ortiz’s numbers. Combined, Damon and Giambi only have 25 home runs to Ortiz’s 31. That’s even comparing it with a disappointing year for Ortiz’s standards. Big Papi wins this one.

Advantage- Red Sox

With the starting lineup finished, the Yankees hold a commanding 6-3 lead over their division rivals. Next time I will conclude this segment with the rest of the team. I intended to start doing a “Prospect Profile” with every column, but given the length of this article it will have to wait until next time.