Has Brett Gardner Really Been That Much Better?

A lot of us here on Pinstripe Alley were worried about the left field situation coming into this season. Johnny Damon, Matt Holliday, and Jason Bay dominated discussion all throughout the offseason, until we finally came to grips with the fact that Brett Gardner would be our everyday left fielder.

We had our worries, and honestly, some of them were not too outlandish. Would he get exposed as an everyday player? Does he have the stamina to play and stay healthy for a full season, since his previous career high game total at the Major League level was only 108 in 2009, and a fair share of those games were as a defensive replacement.

It is fair to say that GGBG has played passed our expectations thus far. But has he really been that much better this year than last year? Lets take a closer look after the jump.

In 2009 as a part-time player, receiving 284 plate appearances, Gardner played pretty well. His slash line was .270/.345/.379, stealing 26 bases while driving in 23 runs. He scored 48 runs, collecting 67 hits, walking 26 times, and getting hit by a pitch 3 times. 

Baseball-Reference labeled him an average centerfielder (his total zone fielding runs above average was 0), but FanGraphs suggests he played great defense (20.5 UZR/150, although remember this is a small sample size.)

In 2010, as the Yankees every day left fielder, receiving 282 plate appearances, it seems that Gardy has truly shined. Before todays game, which was a fantastic one for GGBG, his slash line was .311/.393/.406. He had stolen 24 bases, driven in 23 runs, scored 49 runs, collected 76 hits, walked 31 times, and hit by a pitch 3 times.

Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs suggests he has played pretty good defense in left field. Baseball-Reference says that his total zone fielding runs above average is +11 so far, and his UZR/150 is + 8.3 right now.

Whats the difference in his slash line looking so much better this year (2009: .270/.345/.379 vs. 2010: .311/.393/.406)? In basically the same amount of plate appearances, he has collected 9 more hits and walked 5 more times. Coming into today, he actually had 2 less extra base hits this year than last year. Thats the difference. Only 9 hits and 5 walks has increased everything. Even his WAR has increased from a 1.6 in 2009 to a 2.9 already in 2010 

He has basically scored the same amount of runs and stolen the same amount of bases. He has driven in the same amount of runs. He's even been hit by a pitch the same amount of times. Those 14 extra times reaching base has really changed how we view him as a player. 

This reminds me a lot of Bull Durham. To finish this post off, here's a quote from the movie that will probably surprise you. It makes you realize that success in baseball is really hard, and the difference between all stars and a guy hitting .250 really isn't that much, and that a lot of it has to do with luck.

Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It's 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points, okay? There's 6 months in a season, that's about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week - just one - a gorp... you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes... you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week... and you're in Yankee Stadium.
-- Crash Davis