Brett Gardner Gets It

It’s official, folks, Brett Gardner has beaten out Melky Cabrera for the starting centerfielder job. It was announced yesterday by manager Joe Girardi and despite both players doing well during spring training, Gardner is the man and there will not be a platoon situation. Girardi also said that Cabrera will make the team in a backup capacity.

Here are the stats as of today:

Gardner: .385 BA; 1.121 OPS; 3 HR; 6 RBI; 10 R; 35 Total Bases; 6 BB; 7 K; 5 SB in 52 AB
Cabrera: .340 BA; .908 OPS; 1 HR; 9 RBI; 10 R; 26 Total Bases; 6 BB; 2 K; 2 SB in 53 AB

Obviously, this was a close matchup, but looking at the stats above, choosing Gardner between the two was the right choice. Hopefully, Gardner continues to rake at the plate… no pun intended. Okay, I admit, fully intended. (Sad trombone SFX)