03/16: YBCP 07: Johnny Damon
Posted by: James
Johnny Damon
Age: 33 Years Old (Turns 34 in November).
Three-Year History, three-year splits and last year's splits.
Outlook: I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't enamored with the Damon signing. It's not that I really disliked the man (how could I? I don't know him nor have I read his book) but it was very hard to imagine the guy in pinstripes. Now, after going through a full year of Damon on the field and in the clubhouse, it's getting pretty hard to dislike the guy. He plays hard, gets along with his teammates and entertains the fans all while enjoying life. How can you frown at that?
That being said, Damon's first year in pinstripes was an interesting one. As the first in a long line of very good hitters, Damon was expected to get on base and take pitches and (which he did for the most part, to the tune of a .359 OBP and 4.09 pitches per plate appearance). However, what really impressed me was what he did when Yankees started dropping like flies. It was fairly shortly after Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui both went down that Damon admitted that he had a broken bone in his foot (this was on top of shoulder troubles). You can call it brave or call it fool-hardy but rather than missing time (or hitting the DL), Damon stayed in the lineup pretty much every day and boy, did he produce, showing no ill effects from moving away from Fenway Park and rocking 24 HRs (13 at home, all to right field) while maintaining the other skills that netted him $52 million. Actually, when you look at it, his full year numbers would have been even better across the board (.300/.370/.508) if he hadn't had a bit of a swoon in the last few weeks of the year (mostly due to his injuries catching up with him and probably sheer exhaustion). Torre & Damon showed little hesitation about running once Damon got on base and while his CS rate was much higher than in past year, he managed to swipe 25 bags.
It will be hard for Damon to top this performance but after a year's worth of adjustment to NY, Jeter still behind him as protection and with a healthy (leaner) body (and Melky ready, willing and able to rest him), it's hard not to expect more of the same from Johnny.
Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:
Age: 33 Years Old (Turns 34 in November).
Three-Year History, three-year splits and last year's splits.
| SEASON | Team | G | AB | H | 1B | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Red Sox | 150 | 621 | 189 | 128 | 35 | 6 | 20 | 123 | 94 | 76 | 71 | 19 | 8 | .304 |
| 2005 | Red Sox | 148 | 624 | 197 | 146 | 35 | 6 | 10 | 117 | 75 | 53 | 69 | 18 | 1 | .316 |
| 2006 | Yankees | 149 | 593 | 169 | 105 | 35 | 5 | 24 | 115 | 80 | 67 | 85 | 25 | 10 | .285 |
| 2007 | Bill James | 154 | 627 | 179 | 123 | 35 | 4 | 17 | 115 | 75 | 68 | 82 | 22 | 8 | .285 |
| 2007 | CHONE | 575 | 163 | 113 | 29 | 4 | 17 | 102 | 66 | 57 | 76 | 19 | 6 | .283 | |
| 2007 | Marcel | 539 | 159 | 107 | 31 | 5 | 16 | 101 | 72 | 56 | 73 | 18 | 6 | .295 | |
| 2007 | ZiPS | 611 | 177 | 125 | 31 | 4 | 17 | 112 | 88 | 60 | 82 | 16 | 6 | .290 |
| SEASON | Team | BB% | K% | BB/K | OBP | SLG | OPS | ISO | BABIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Red Sox | 10.9 % | 11.4 % | 1.07 | .380 | .477 | .857 | .172 | .319 |
| 2005 | Red Sox | 7.8 % | 11.1 % | 0.77 | .366 | .439 | .805 | .123 | .343 |
| 2006 | Yankees | 10.2 % | 14.3 % | 0.79 | .359 | .482 | .841 | .197 | .300 |
| 2007 | Bill James | 9.8 % | 13.1 % | 0.83 | .358 | .435 | .794 | .150 | .307 |
| 2007 | CHONE | 9.0 % | 13.2 % | 0.75 | .351 | .437 | .788 | .153 | .303 |
| 2007 | Marcel | 9.4 % | 13.5 % | 0.77 | .362 | .460 | .822 | .165 | .318 |
| 2007 | ZiPS | 8.9 % | 13.4 % | 0.73 | .353 | .437 | .790 | .147 | .313 |
Outlook: I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't enamored with the Damon signing. It's not that I really disliked the man (how could I? I don't know him nor have I read his book) but it was very hard to imagine the guy in pinstripes. Now, after going through a full year of Damon on the field and in the clubhouse, it's getting pretty hard to dislike the guy. He plays hard, gets along with his teammates and entertains the fans all while enjoying life. How can you frown at that?
That being said, Damon's first year in pinstripes was an interesting one. As the first in a long line of very good hitters, Damon was expected to get on base and take pitches and (which he did for the most part, to the tune of a .359 OBP and 4.09 pitches per plate appearance). However, what really impressed me was what he did when Yankees started dropping like flies. It was fairly shortly after Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui both went down that Damon admitted that he had a broken bone in his foot (this was on top of shoulder troubles). You can call it brave or call it fool-hardy but rather than missing time (or hitting the DL), Damon stayed in the lineup pretty much every day and boy, did he produce, showing no ill effects from moving away from Fenway Park and rocking 24 HRs (13 at home, all to right field) while maintaining the other skills that netted him $52 million. Actually, when you look at it, his full year numbers would have been even better across the board (.300/.370/.508) if he hadn't had a bit of a swoon in the last few weeks of the year (mostly due to his injuries catching up with him and probably sheer exhaustion). Torre & Damon showed little hesitation about running once Damon got on base and while his CS rate was much higher than in past year, he managed to swipe 25 bags.
It will be hard for Damon to top this performance but after a year's worth of adjustment to NY, Jeter still behind him as protection and with a healthy (leaner) body (and Melky ready, willing and able to rest him), it's hard not to expect more of the same from Johnny.
Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:
| AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|
Deric wrote:
122R
15HR
73RBI
22SB
.302/.360/.437