Who Should Be The Centerfielder: Gardner Or Granderson?
l to r: Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson
When Brett Gardner first came up to the big leagues, his primary position was center-field. He played it well in the 2009 run for the World Series even though his role was part-time. In 2010 that all changed when Curtis Granderson came into the picture. Granderson previously was on the Tigers before the Yankees exchanged him for Austin Jackson. Gardner was shifted into left field while Granderson stood in center. But after observing Gardner & Granderson for quite some time, Yankees fans wondered who would be a better CF: Gardner or Granderson?
While both players have been fantastic to the Yankees, it’s hard to choose which one is a better centerfielder. Offense-wise, Curtis Granderson has more power and is able to hit HR’s oppose to Gardner and his “Gardnerian swing” which puts him on base to steal. Granderson’s fast, but Gardner’s faster and in the outfield Gardner is a full force out there. Let’s compare Brett Gardner & Curtis Granderson’s defensive numbers shall we?
Brett Gardner
1.Brett Gardner
There’s no doubt about it, Brett Gardner is special. He’s a good hitter, excellent base-stealer and provides Gold Glove defense. Gardner’s career in CF spans over 4 seasons beginning in 2008. In his career in CF, Gardner has been in 176 games, starting in 123 of them. In 1143.1 innings, Gardner has had 345 put-outs, a remarkable 2 errors & 10 assists. Gardner’s career fielding percentage in CF is .994, which is very impressive. Gardner’s range factor per-game is 2.02 while his range factor in 9 innings is 2.79.
Now let’s compare Curtis Granderson:
2. Curtis Granderson:
Curtis Granderson
Curtis Granderson is the Yankees starting CF, and an excellent one at that. After the Kevin Long adjustment, the Curtis Granderson trade worked out wonders for them, and why wouldn’t it? Granderson’s career in CF is a longer one than Gardner’s, since Granderson had an earlier start than Brett Gardner. Here’s Granderson’s defensive numbers. In 8 seasons, Granderson has played in 913 games, starting in 852 of them. In 7690.1 innings, Granderson had 2293 put-outs, 18 errors & 36 assists. Granderson’s fielding percentage in CF is .992, which is also impressive. Granderson’s range factor per-game is 2.55 while his range factor in 9 innings is 2.73.
Looking at the numbers you can see that’s it’s very hard to compare Gardner & Granderson on the field, but if I were the one who chose who played centerfield, I would choose Gardner for this reason. Brett Gardner finds a direct route to the baseball every time, which makes it easier to make catches while Granderson “zig-zags” to get to the route of the baseball, thus taking him more time to find it and less time to react. It’s not an easy decision on who should be the CF, as both men are equally talented.
So who do you think should be CF for the Yankees? Gardner or Granderson? Be sure to leave your comments in the box below.
Posted on August 18, 2011, in Personal Opinion, Statistical Analysis and tagged Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees. Bookmark the permalink. 23 Comments.
Brian D.
fishjam25
jimmytoucan
Matthew B
Delia E.
Dan H.
Matthew S.
Michael P.
Mike D.
Great article Delia. My preference is to have the fastest guy in centerfield and that is Gardner.
I’d say Gardner…but I don’t know if the Yanks would actually switch them or not.
This is a no-brainer that even Ken OR could get right.
Gardner is by far the better centerfielder.
He is faster and takes much better routes to the ball.
Yankees will not rock the boat though and will keep it the way it is. Remember Yankee LF is vast and Gardner’s speed plays well there too.
Thank you young man, I will pass on the sarcasm!
How you doing big guy?
For once in your life you got it right…this is a great day!
Have a good one T-man!
The feilding disparity is minimal at best and not worth changing. If it assauges Grandersons ego thus allowing him to hit better, I leave it alone, it’s a no brainer
Granderson is a good outfielder, but I believe that Gardner would be a better fit for CF. Gardner’s really fast but he can’t show his full speed in LF when he has the wall blocking him. I do see your point though. Build up Granderson’s ego as an overall player by him having good defense in CF and offense will build him up as a player.
As A Tiger fan and a Brett Gardner fan also, I just wish we had recieved him instead of Austin Jackson in the trade. After watching Granderson in Center here in spacious Comerica Park, there’s no question that Gardner would be the Tiger Centerfielder. As it is we settle for Jackson who patrols it fairly well, but gee a lead off man would sure have been nice.
I can see why you would want Brett Gardner for a CF for the Tigers. He’s a great lead-off hitter, has been in the top 3 of SB’s last year, great OBP. But Austin Jackson isnt’ a bad lead off hitter himself. The only thing Jackson needs to work on is his strikeout ratio. Other than that, you have a pretty good CF.
I can see why you want Gardner over Jackson. But like Delia said Jackson is not a throw away. If he works on his K’s he will be fine.
The better CF in my mind is Granderson. gardner may not be able to have a lot of space in LF, but I like that he can track balls quickly down the line and possibly take 1-2 runs off the board a game. This was a cause for concern last month when Grandy kept losing the ball, but he is still an above average CF
I don’t think there is much doubt that Gardner is the better defensive CF. The question in my mind is how would Granderson handle LF after playing CF is whole career.
Curtis already has trouble seeing the ball of the bat, gets less than good jumps and takes poor routes to balls. This is at a position he is comfortable with. If he moves to LF, would he have more problems since he is not used to the angle of the bat? Grandy’s strength as an OF is his speed and athleticism. In LF, this may be less important with less ground to cover.
Presently, the Yanks have a legit Gold Glove LF and a slightly above average CF.
If you swap them, you may wind up with a probable Gold Glove CF and maybe only an average LF.
In any event, any change would have to occur in the off-season and then take a look at things in Spring training before making it permanent.
Actually, Granderson started 3 games in LF for the Detroit Tigers in 2005 & 2007. The sample number is too small to see if Granderson could play LF as well as Gardner but Granderson could be used as a back-up LF if the Yankees really needed it.
It’s still good “food for thought” though.
TWASP has to agree with Thomas above.
Anybody who uses the word “assauges” must know what he’s talking about.
Sorry everyone but if McGuire can’t be in the HOF either can Aroid.
Boli- boli – bo boli-banana-fana-fo foli.
Twasp…
You knew I wouldn’t let that pass, I’m sure!
A-Rod used for one year in 2003, no one has come forward to say (with proof) that it …ain’t so!
Mac admitted using for years…a bit different, don’t you know!
Ken, good to hear from you….I always look forward to your comments regardless of how uninformed they are. Your efforts to keep up are praise worthy.
Aroid = liar. A fact.
Aroid = cheater. A fact
PS – he admitted to using for more than one year in Texas.
PSS- if you think those 54 hrs in 2007 were Boli-less – Patrick has a Yankee website he wants to sell you.
Stay thirsty, my friend,
Twasp…
Just for the record, A-Rod has been tested more then twice a year after coming to the Yankees in 2004. Check your facts.
One difference between us is, you don’t like a Yankee player and use derogatory and faulty remarks to show him as a lesser player.
I, on the other hand, point out my like of Jeter but, tell it as it is with facts and point out…I hope to be wrong. No one should play too long, if it isn’t this year, it will be next. Although I still think this is one of the hot times I said he may have but, will end up around .270-.280…with bad range at SS getting worse.
May I have to eat those words at the end of the year…please!
The end of it, done!
Have a good one!
Bond’s head got so big from steroids he was asked to walk in parades. http://www.gositges.com/photo-big-heads.jpg
Ken, TWASP loves Aroid. Love watching him play. Glad he is on the Yankees.
PS – there are ways to beat the drug test (ask Cansenco). There are drugs that there are no valid tests for.
Aroid=Cheater
Jeter=Class
Watch this Ken:
http://www.faniq.com/blog/Video-Alex-Rodriguez-Says-He-Never-Did-Steroids-In-December-of-2007-On-60-Minutes-Blog-19019
Ken –
Here are some facta:
There is only one SS in the AL with a higher batting avg than Jeter
There are only 2 shortstops in the AL with a higher OBP than Jeter
Should you really be ranting about “staying on too long” when a player is playing that well?
Sounds like you are just too stubborn to admit that you were wrong about him.
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