Rob Neyer: Swisher, not Nady, should be Yankees starting RF

[Morrissey]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4009884&name=Neyer_Rob

Swisher, not Nady, should be Yankees' starting RF

Monday, March 23, 2009 | Feedback | Print Entry

Newsday's Kat O'Brien reports that the Yankees might have locked down their everyday right fielder:

And here in Tampa, the news of the morning is that Joe Girardi said Xavier Nady is the starting right fielder. Said Girardi: "If we were to break today, Nady would be my right fielder."

Girardi said he likes what Nady did for the Yankees last year, thinks he can do even better now that he has adjusted to the league, and looks forward to his production. We'll see both him and Nick Swisher out there, but Nady is the regular starter.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense because -- wait, what?

Xavier Nady's been around for a while and is exceptionally easy to project. Given regular duties in the middle of a good lineup, he'll hit 25 homers and drive in 100 runs. He doesn't draw many walks, and he will reach base roughly 33 percent of the time.

Swisher would also hit 25 to 30 homers and wouldn't drive in as many runs because he'll take his walks but might score more because he'll reach base 35 percent of the time.

According to everything I can find, Swisher's the slightly better fielder. And according to everything I can find, Swisher's the better baserunner. Also -- and here's the nut if you're looking for one -- Swisher's the better hitter against right-handed pitchers, and last time I checked, there were more right-handed pitchers than left-handed pitchers.

Swisher's also (almost exactly) two years younger than Nady, which means he's got a better chance of improving over what he did last year (which, by the way, was a terribly unlucky year for him, coloring all the projections you'll find for him).

So, let's see