Following are graphs and commentary regarding the 2003 season of the New York Yankees. Questions or comments can be sent to me at dave@baseballgraphs.com.
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| Move your mouse over this graph to view the status of each team at the season's midpoint (July 1st). |
![]() Fielding Independent Pitching is based on the following formula: (13*HR+3*BB-2*K)/IP. Defense Efficiency Ratio is (Non-catcher putouts/Batted Balls in Play), adjusted for ballpark. Circle sizes in this graph are proportional to the percent of fieldable balls successfully converted into outs by the fielders. |
The Yankees' Pitching and Fielding
The Yankees had the best pitching in the league and the worst fielding in the league. Period. Luckily for them, pitching is more important then fielding. So they were fourth in the league in Runs Allowed. Even Jeff Weaver's FIP was better than average (1.02). But the DER of balls hit off him was .663. Pitcher? Fielders? Luck? You decide. Mussina's FIP was an excellent 0.05; Rivera's was negative (-0.81) and Clemens, Petitte and Wells were all below 1.00 (0.3, 0.5 and 0.8, respectively) On the field, Posada had decent catching stats, Ventura and Boone were solid at third, and Soriano somehow came out fourth in fielding Win Shares at 2b. But that's about all you can say.
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New York Yankees' Win SharesPlayer Team Pos Hit Field Pitch Sum WS -------- ----- ---- ---- ---- ----- ----- --- J Posada NYY C 20.22 7.53 0.00 27.75 28 J Giambi NYY 1B 26.04 1.63 0.00 27.68 28 A Soriano NYY 2B 20.71 6.67 0.00 27.38 27 H Matsui NYY OF 16.40 2.49 0.00 18.89 19 M Mussina NYY P 0.00 0.00 18.62 18.62 19 D Jeter NYY SS 16.45 1.36 0.00 17.81 18 M Rivera NYY P 0.00 0.00 17.49 17.49 18 R Clemens NYY P 0.00 0.00 15.47 15.47 15 A Pettitte NYY P 0.00 0.00 14.62 14.62 15 N Johnson NYY 1B 13.31 1.18 0.00 14.49 14 D Wells NYY P 0.00 0.00 14.46 14.46 14 B Williams NYY OF 10.29 2.84 0.00 13.13 13 R Ventura NYY 3B 5.81 3.49 0.00 9.31 9 R Mondesi NYY OF 5.65 1.58 0.00 7.23 7 C Hammond NYY P 0.00 0.00 7.04 7.04 7 J Contreras NYY P 0.00 0.00 6.78 6.78 7 A Boone NYY 3B 3.12 2.71 0.00 5.83 6 K Garcia NYY OF 3.68 0.92 0.00 4.60 5 J Rivera NYY OF 3.58 0.69 0.00 4.27 4 A Osuna NYY P 0.00 0.00 3.66 3.66 4 J Flaherty NYY C 1.20 1.73 0.00 2.92 3 T Zeile NYY 3B 1.20 1.39 0.00 2.59 3 R Sierra NYY OF 2.38 0.15 0.00 2.53 3 J Weaver NYY P 0.00 0.00 2.08 2.08 2 E Wilson NYY SS 0.87 1.18 0.00 2.05 2 F Heredia NYY P 0.00 0.00 1.60 1.60 2 J De Paula NYY P 0.00 0.00 1.56 1.56 2 J Nelson NYY P 0.00 0.00 1.52 1.52 2 G White NYY P 0.00 0.00 1.47 1.47 1 A Reyes NYY P 0.00 0.00 1.26 1.26 1 A Benitez NYY P 0.00 0.00 1.20 1.20 1 E Almonte NYY SS 0.86 0.30 0.00 1.16 1 B Claussen NYY P 0.23 0.00 0.89 1.11 1 S Hitchcock NYY P 0.00 0.00 1.01 1.01 1 J Anderson NYY P 0.00 0.00 0.85 0.85 1 C Latham NYY OF 0.32 0.04 0.00 0.36 0 M Hernandez NYY C 0.23 0.12 0.00 0.34 0 D Dellucci NYY OF 0.00 0.26 0.00 0.26 0 D Henson NYY 3B 0.00 0.15 0.00 0.15 0 D Miceli NYY P 0.00 0.00 0.13 0.13 0 B Trammell NYY DH 0.00 0.12 0.00 0.12 0 C Gipson NYY OF 0.02 0.06 0.00 0.09 0 C Pride NYY OF 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.04 0 L Sojo NYY 2B 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.03 0 F Seguignol NYY 1B 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.03 0 J Acevedo NYY P 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 R Choate NYY P 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 J Orosco NYY P 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 B Prinz NYY P 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 |
The Yankees' Individual Players
The Yankees' big three of Giambi, Soriano and Posada were the heart of the team. And it must be remembered that although Jeter can be criticized for his fielding, he is still one of the best offensive shortstops around. Of the top 18 pitchers ranked by Win Shares, five were Yankees. 'Nuff said. Starting in June, the Yanks made a number of moves to improve the team. These included a trade for Ruben Sierra (3 Win Shares), Armando Benitez (1 Win Share on his way to Seattle, in exchange for...) Jeff Nelson (2), Karim Garcia (5) and Aaron Boone (5). Along the way, they traded away several contributors, including Raul Mondesi, Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile. It's not clear that any of this wheeling and dealing helped. Regardless, the Yankees had another great year, punctuated by stretches of outstanding baseball. You can view all American League Win Shares data via the following links:All Players, Top to Bottom Players Ranked by Position Players Fielding WS by Position |
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