Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 25, 2002
Tino Walks:

I know a lot of people who were sorry to see Tino Martinez leave the Yankees. This was, of course, an emotional reaction, not a logical one. Tino peaked for the Yankees in 1997. He set career highs in AB, Runs, Hits, HR, RBI and Walks in 1997. He then started a steady decline, with a rebound last year. I like Tino, but the Yankees had a chance to replace a declining first baseman with one at the top of his offensive game. I would have done the same thing. At this point, I don't think anyone can argue with the move.

Tino's offensive line is very interesting. As of this morning, he's hitting .197, but with a .316 OBA. He's drawn 12 walks which would put him on pace to match his best years reaching by the base on balls. But his selectivity hasn't been getting him better pitches to hit. He's walked 8 times with men in scoring position, 5 times in that situation with 2 outs, suggesting that teams are pitching around him, rather than Tino becoming more selective. He had a good night last night, so maybe his hitting will start turning around. But if Tino's batting has really declined, I would expect more teams to start pitching to him, and his walks to go down.


Posted by David Pinto at 09:46 AM | Baseball