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Didi Gregorius is coming into his own in 2016

I have a somewhat embarrassing confession to make. When Didi Gregorius was with the Arizona Diamondbacks, I used to call him Cha Cha DeGregorio. If you don’t know who that is, ask your parents about the movie “Grease.” And it wasn’t meant in a derogatory way or as a way to insult him, it’s just that his last name reminded me of DeGregorio. When anyone mentions Dee Gordon, I think of Dee Snider from Twisted Sister. Whenever Darren O’Day comes into a ballgame, I think of the song “Undercover Angel” because a guy named Alan O’Day sang it. It’s how my addled brain works. Anyway, that was the extent of my Didi Gregorius knowledge at the time. I knew that he played for the Diamondbacks and that his name reminded me of a movie character from 1978. And when he was traded to the Yankees, I didn’t think much of the move other than to say, “Cool, it’ll be nice to have a young shortstop again.”

Other people in Yankee fandom, however, lost their damn minds when the trade was made.

“This is the worst move ever!!”
“You’ll regret trading away Shane Greene!”
“Gregorius won’t be able to replace Derek Jeter!”
“You guys (the Yankees FO) are the worst!”

And now, one year, six months and 26 days after that trade, some of those same people are singing a completely different tune. In fact, during Thursday afternoon’s game against the Texas Rangers, Gregorius came up in a big spot in the bottom of the ninth inning with a man on base and no outs in a 1-1 game. Most were hoping to see a repeat of the previous night when Gregorius won the game on a walk-off home run, or at least have a chance to see it. Instead, he sacrificed Headley to second with a bunt and the reaction on Twitter was overwhelming negative.

“He’s our second best hitter! WHY IS HE BUNTING!?”
“What is the heck Girardi thinking?”
“THIS IS THE DUMBEST MOVE EVER!”

“I wanted to give us two chances to drive in a run, to guarantee two chances. He could hit into a line-drive double play — he could hit a rocket to the second baseman and it turns into a double play,” manager Joe Girardi said after the game. “So I just wanted to guarantee that we would have two chances. Yeah, is it a guy that you want swinging most of the time? Sure.”

Fortunately for Girardi, for the Yankees, and for the fans who were having conniption fits all over Twitter and beyond, the move worked out because Headley eventually ended up scoring on a passed ball (Thanks Texas!), and the Yankees won the game. But it also was, in a way, astounding to see how those same people react with such passion—in a positive way—to Gregorius as a player.

Last year, Gregorius had to deal with not only the pressure and stress of coming to New York but also the impossible task of being Derek Jeter’s replacement. And he definitely heard the jeers from a loud portion of the fanbase any time he didn’t get a big hit or come up with a ball last year. But overall, Gregorius did a commendable job coming in and replacing one of the most iconic players in New York Yankees history. And it seems that the pressure of being Jeter’s replacement has lessened and Gregorius has been able to come into his own as a player in 2016.

He started off the season slowly, finishing April with only 15 hits and batting .224/.254/.343, but he improved in May (.287/.316/.394) and had a scorching month of June—he batted .337/.368/.535 with four home runs and 18 RBI. He also hit six doubles and ended the month with 34 hits. Gregorius’ hot month raised his season numbers to .290/.320/.435, with eight home runs and 36 RBI and a .266 TAv and he is projected to finish the rest of season with a .258/.310/.388 line, with six home runs and 28 RBI and a .252 TAv.

I’m going to go out a limb here and say that he does better than the projections are saying. His career high in home runs is nine, which he hit last season, and he’s already up to eight so I’m thinking he could double that home run total by the time this season ends and finish with 18. (If I’m right, someone send me a bottle of wine, thanks.)

I also think he may actually finish with a better average than what’s being projected. Here’s why:

Gregorius swings a lot.

GregoriusSwingRate2016

But, he doesn’t whiff a lot.

GregoriusWhiffRate2016

His vulnerability, if you can even call it that, is against breaking pitches, even though his swing and miss rate is league average (27 percent whiff/swing). But against the fastball and off speed pitches, Gregorius’ swing and miss rates are below league average (11 percent on fastballs and 23 percent on off speed pitches). He’s not going up to the plate and flailing at the ball. Sure, he swings a lot but he’s not missing a lot when he does, and while they’re not all falling for hits, making contact is better than not making contact.

Gregorius has improved in every month this season, so far, and that’s a very good thing. And although June may be a bit of an outlier—because we cannot expect him to continue hitting at that torrid pace—if his numbers regress just a bit back to what he did in May, he will still finish 2016 strong, much like he did last season and that will be a good thing for both the Yankees, and for Gregorius going forward.

Photo: Anthony Gruppuso / USA TODAY Sports

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1 comment on “Didi Gregorius is coming into his own in 2016”

ronb626

Picked Didi in my APBA/BBW league and he again, has to replace Derek Jeter. I got Jeter as a rookie over Garciaparra and never regretted it. Didn’t know Gregorious was going to have a breakout year, obviously, but, am pretty glad that he has. While he doesn’t have to appease the fans, like with the Yankees, he’s made me pretty happy to have him.

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