Pop quiz: what do these power hitters have in common?

Mark Teixeira

Adrian Gonzalez

Jayson Werth

Albert Pujols

Yoenis Cespedes

Buster Posey

Chase Utley

Mike Napoli

Robinson Cano

Don’t know? I don’t blame you. The answer is that they all have lower slugging percentages than Brett Gardner. Yes, that Brett Gardner, the speedy slap-hitting leadoff hitter for the Yankees. The Gardner whose fantastic glovework was often seen as his main trait, a compliment to his on-base skills and speed. Gardner has now emerged as not only the best player on a team with a massive payroll, but also one of the best in the league.

The most obvious change in Gardner’s game this year is the longball. Prior to the 2014 season, Gardner had a high water mark of eight homers in a single season (2013). This year, he’s hit fifteen so far. Many of those came in a five homer frenzy in the past week that landed him AL Player of the Week honors, but it may be a matter of something finally clicking. (As an aside, he’s added a whopping 1.1 fWAR in that time).

Gardner has always had fantastic bat speed. But ever since returning from his lost 2012 season (elbow injury), there’s been a bit more giddyup in his bat. In 2013, he slashed .273/.344/.416 with the aforementioned 8 homers. To that point, it was the highest slugging percentage of his major league career. This year the progress has taken off even more. Gardner has produced at a remarkable .284/.363/.467 level (coming into Monday’s games), and with those 15 homers it’s good for a 130 wRC+. His 3.5 fWAR puts him in the top 30 among position players in all of baseball.

To be fair, a decent number of Gardner’s fancy new home runs have been laser shots into the right field porch at Yankee Stadium. Yet a fair number of them have found the second deck. With Gardner’s speed, even those that would not be round-trippers in other parks have the potential to be triples. He’s currently in the top ten with six (more than Mike Trout, Carlos Gomez and Andrew McCutchen, tied with Billy Hamilton).

It’s a level of production that isn’t often seen from prototypical leadoff men. Of course, one instance that comes to mind is, of course, current Yankee Jacoby Ellsbury’s torrid 2011 season in Boston. In that year, Ellsbury hit a silly .321/.376/.552 and hit a whopping 32 home runs while leading baseball with 9.1 fWAR. It’s the definition of a statistical outlier. Ellsbury hadn’t produced at nearly that level prior to that season, and hasn’t since. It would be foolish to think he could repeat that performance, as he’s much more of an all-fields spray hitter. Gardner is still that kind of hitter, but it seems he’s finally utilizing the natural power that he’s always had.

Gardner isn’t a Dee Gordon-type leadoff hitter. He’s a bit bulkier, but doesn’t have the traditional power-hitter build. The comparison that immediately comes in terms to mind is Hunter Pence, but without the constant awkward movements and righty bat. As I said earlier, Gardner’s bat speed is phenomenal. He’s 185 pounds of pure wiry muscle, and while the short porch is indeed short, it still counts all the same if you put one out there or put one into McCovey Cove. And when he plays half his games in Yankee Stadium, and even more in Camden Yards, Rogers Centre and Fenway, the short homer plays.

Now comes an interesting quandary for Joe Girardi and the Yankees. They’ve found themselves in possession of one of the best hitters in the league, and have another viable leadoff option in Jacoby Ellsbury. With an offense as hurting for runs as the Yankees, should Gardner bat third in Ellsbury’s place?

The question is complicated by the fact that Ellsbury is mired in a truly awful slump at the moment, and wouldn’t be all that useful as a table-setter with his current level of output. There’s a school of thought that says that if Ellsbury was shuttled back to his more familiar leadoff spot, he could catch fire again. Of course, the reverse could be true of Gardner if he’s placed in a role that he may not be comfortable with. Yet the idea of having men on base when Gardner goes yard rather than a leadoff solo shot has to be a tantalizing one for the Yankees. For now, Gardner was penciled in as the leadoff man for Monday’s game against the Tigers.

However, the fact remains that Gardner has turned into one of the toughest outs in the game. It’s become nearly a nightly event to watch him foul off pitch after pitch after pitch in a two-strike count and make pitchers work. His speed gives him plenty of infield hits. He can bunt for hits. He can stretch a double into a triple. He’s the gritty homegrown, small ball type of player that hasn’t really come out of the Yankees system since, well… Derek Jeter.

And that’s where I’ve been going with all this. As everyone in the solar system knows, this is the year of the Derek Jeter Farewell Tour ™ . When Jeter is gone next season, the only homegrown players currently slated to be on the roster next year are Gardner, Adam Warren, Dellin Betances, David Phelps, Ivan Nova, Francisco Cervelli, and in all likelihood top second base prospect Rob Refsnyder. The only players on that list with any real national notoriety are Gardner and Betances, who could gain even more if he becomes the closer if the Yankees do not re-sign David Robertson. While big free agents like Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann are great for publicity, one would be hard-pressed to call them faces of the franchise. Someone will have to rise to the task, and in all likelihood it will be Gardner.

I’ve been to my fare share of Yankees games this season (yes, pepper me with your accusations of East Coast Bias). Jeter, of course, is getting the loudest cheers. And it’s not Ellsbury and Beltran who are getting the second loudest cheers, it’s Gardner. Being homegrown counts for something in sports, especially baseball. Gardner’s breakout could not have come at a better time, and the media seems to be jumping on board. This is the tweet that the YES Network sent out to hype up Monday’s game. Despite the Season2Remember hashtag, it’s Gardner that gets top billing against Max Scherzer.

Does he have the personality and presence? Perhaps. Gardner is the one who rushes out after a walk-off win to douse the hero of the night with the contents of the Gatorade cooler, so clearly he’s a fun-loving kind of guy. Yet he’s sometimes come across a bit flat in the media. Perhaps that could change if he’s thrust into the spotlight?

Either way, whether it was his enhanced level of play or the possibility of him being the new face of the Yankees, GM Brian Cashman saw fit to break the long-standing rule of no contract extensions when it came to his left fielder. Rather than let Gardner hit the open market in November, Cashman inked him to a four-year extension worth $52 million. He’s shown that he has talent in spades, and if he continues to play at this level could show that his contract is awfully cheap. “If” is the operative word in that sentence, however.

As shown by Ellsbury’s career year, power outbursts happen. It’s no sign of a new trend. Gardner is also having his power outburst at age thirty, and he’ll be thirty-one within a month. This is usually around the time when players start peaking. That’s no reason to immediately dismiss what he’s done, of course. Jose Bautista turned into, well, Jose Bautista, at age 29. Late career renaissances are rare, but Gardner’s pure athleticism leads one to think that it’s possible. It’s also worth noting that he missed nearly an entire season with injury, and may have worked up even more strength on his rehab assignment. That’s just spitballing, of course.

Whether Gardner continues to be a power hitter remains to be seen. If he does, he could be the last great position player from the Yankee farm that remains with the team, before the next wave of prospects arrives in the Bronx. The aforementioned Rob Refsnyder will be here soon, and his minor league numbers are dazzling. The Yankees also have a monster of a hitter in 2013 first round pick Aaron Judge, along with their other first round position player from last year, third baseman Eric Jagielo. With those prospects, along with some other good position players (Greg Bird, Gouske Katoh), some good pitchers (Luis Severino, Ian Clarkin) and a massive swath of international signings from the summer, the Yankee farm is on the rebound. It will be Gardner who leads them when they arrive.

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