New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner had a huge month at the perfect time.
If a New York Yankees fan had a crystal ball during 2019 spring training and could see that one of the team’s outfielders slugged 10 home runs and 20 RBIs in September to close the book on a 100+ win regular season, they probably wouldn’t be all that surprised.
Many fans would speculate that Aaron Judge got hot at the right time.
Or maybe Giancarlo Stanton broke Maris’ team home run record.
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Heck, plenty of Yankees fans might suspect Aaron Hicks lived up to the seven-year contract he signed last offseason, or that rookie Clint Frazier made a name for himself, before guessing the actual player.
This team’s September hero has been none other than the always pesky, but now powerful Brett Gardner. In a season of precarious health issues up and down the Yankees’ roster, the 11-year stalwart in the Yankees Stadium outfield has been one of the few players to be present consistently in the Bleacher Creature’s roll call.
Gardner capped off what has been his strongest offensive regular season showing (according to wRC+) with the most longballs he has hit in a single month in his career. To match his 10 home runs and 20 RBIs, the lefty slashed .268/.322/.671 over the month. While his batting average and on-base percentage reflect career norms, his slugging percentage in September leapt a dramatic .270 points over his career mark of .401.
Just as pitchers like teammate CC Sabathia have reinvented themselves after their primary weapon of attack receded with age, Gardner has changed his approach at the plate to make up for his drop in stolen bases. Now with a career high 28 home runs and 74 RBIs, at age 36, Gardner is as threatening as ever at the dish.
Gardner notched as many hits (22) as games played in September — 13 of which came as extra-base knocks. He also crossed the plate 16 times and has shifted over to center field with ease to fill in for the injured Hicks.
Perhaps the sudden uptick in power can be attributed to Gardner getting out in front and pulling the ball rather than spraying line drives the other way. Gardner has pulled 36.2% of his career hits, and while that represents the greatest concentration of his knocks since his debut in 2008, he has pulled 46.5% of hits in 2019 and 55.4% of hits this month.
According to Fangraphs — all but two of the lefty Gardner’s home runs in 2019 have been over the right field wall.
On the other hand, Gardner’s peak performance could best be explained by a sentiment no metric can cover.
“I’ve had more fun playing baseball this year than I ever have,” Gardner said after the New York Yankees clinched its first AL East title since 2012. “It’s been a fun seven months.”