為什麼洋基該把法官放在第一棒 - 美國職棒

翻譯Buster Olney的文章：

New Yankees manager Aaron Boone has acknowledged that in the aftermath of the
trade for Giancarlo Stanton, he’s had fun thinking about the different lineup
variations he might consider. The Yankees haven’t completely filled in their
infield, but no matter who is installed at second base and who plays third, B
oone’s lineup will be loaded with power, and hitters who get on base consiste
ntly. The Yankees should have some speed, if not necessarily high stolen-base
capability.

溫總欸Aaron Boone在Stanton來了之後，就開始考慮各種可能的打擊棒次。雖說洋基的內
野人選還懸而未決，但是Boone的打線一定是一堆砲手、一堆有著高上壘率的砲手組成的
。洋基或許會需要一些速度上的加持，不一定是要有著高盜壘能力的球員。

Boone could hit Aaron Judge back-to-back with Stanton, third and fourth, or se
cond and third. He could split them up. Inevitably, as the Yankees go through
hot streaks and slumps, the batting order will change, sometimes dramatically.

Boone可以把法官和Stanton放在接連兩棒，或34、或23。他也可以在他們中間安插一兩位
隊友。不可避免地是，當季中打線遭遇低潮的時候，棒次的調整是早晚的事，有時則是出
人意料的。

But Boone should think about doing something that will seem incredibly unconve
ntional: He should jot down Judge's name in the leadoff spot.

但是Boone應該考慮嘗試一些非傳統的作法：他應該把法官放在第一棒當開路先鋒。

Judge would not look the part, for sure; historically, leadoff hitters have of
ten been smallish, pesky hitters. At 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, Judge is the big
gest position player in baseball history.

法官怎麼看都不像是個開路先鋒。傳統觀念上的開路先鋒總是小小隻的難纏的打者。身為
一個身高6呎7吋、體重282磅的球員，法官是棒球史上最大隻的野手。

But Judge can bat leadoff because he has the primary skill of the best No. 1 h
itters: He gets on base a whole lot. Judge drew 127 walks, easily leading the
American League and breaking Ted Williams' 78-year-old record for a rookie, an
d only Mike Trout had a higher on-base percentage than Judge’s .422.

但是法官可以成為一名開路先鋒，因為他有著一個菁英第一棒打者該有的特質：他的上壘
率極高。上賽季法官被保送127次，輕鬆領先全美聯並且打破了Ted Williams高懸78年的
菜鳥年紀錄。並且只有Mike Trout有著比他的.422更高的上壘率。

Judge also led the AL in strikeouts, with 208, and between his combination of
walks and strikeouts, he averaged 4.41 pitches per plate appearance, the most
in the AL. Managers often prefer to have hitters who see a lot of pitches near
the top of the batting order, so that the batters who follow can watch the op
posing pitcher work and learn -- about what the pitcher is throwing, what he i
s commanding, how he is attacking hitters.

法官也在吞K方面傲視群雄，被K了208次。而法官平均下來每個AB會花掉投手4.41球，這
是美聯最多的。總欸總是喜歡把每個打席看比較多球的球員放在前段棒次。這樣後段棒次
的球員就有更多機會看今天這個敵隊投手的球路以及狀況等等。

Judge, an excellent athlete, is a good if unspectacular baserunner, ranking 78
th among 144 qualified hitters in Fangraphs’ baserunning metric. He’s big, b
ut he’s not a base-clogger.

法官是一個極好的運動員，雖說跑壘方面並不到頂尖。在144名球員當中法官的跑壘能力
是被排在第78位的。雖說他很大隻，但是他在跑壘這方面絕對不礙事。

Judge led the AL in home runs last season, and in prior generations, no manage
r would consider batting a prolific slugger in the leadoff spot. But the Yanke
es, like so many other teams, make decisions built on statistical analysis, an
d there are a lot of numbers that would support the logic of having Judge bat
leadoff -- especially because the Yankees have other hitters capable of genera
ting power in the middle of the lineup.

法官去年在紅不讓數量上也是無人能敵。按照之前的觀念，沒有哪個總欸會考慮把這個高
產能的球員放在第一棒。但是洋基和其他很多球隊一樣，都是看數據來做事的。而很多數
據都顯示把法官放在第一棒是很有邏輯的。尤其因為在中心棒次還有其他人能夠carry。

Let’s assume, for argument’s sake, that Todd Frazier is re-signed, and Gleyb
er Torres wins the second base job in spring training. This is what the Yankee
s’ lineup could look like:

RF Judge right-handed hitter

LF Brett Gardner left-handed hitter

DH Stanton RH

1B Greg Bird LH

C Gary Sanchez RH

SS Didi Gregorius LH

CF Aaron Hicks switch-hitter

3B Frazier RH

2B Torres RH

現在我們來假設，雖說還有爭議，洋基簽回陶爸，Torres在開幕戰贏得2B先發，洋基的先
發打序看起來應該是這樣的：

1. 法官（R）
2. 園丁（L）
3. PR99（R）
4.鳥哥（L）
5. 374（R）
6. Didi（L）
7. Hicks（S）
8. 陶爸（R）
9. Torres（R）

Gardner could hit second, where his tendency to foul off pitches and take walk
s could stress the starting pitcher even more; Gardner ranked seventh in the A
merican League in pitches per plate appearance, at 4.23, not far behind Judge.
It might be that the opposing pitcher would throw 10 to 12 pitches to Judge a
nd Gardner at the outset of the game, lots of information for Stanton, Bird an
d the other hitters that followed. Or maybe Gardner could hit ninth, breaking
up the line of right-handed batters leading into Judge and discouraging opposi
ng managers from calling on a right-handed reliever for that part of the Yanke
es’ lineup.

園丁可以打第二棒，因為他難纏的特質會讓先發投手更加勞累。園丁平均每AB消耗對方投
手的球數是4.23，排名美聯第7，和法官相去不遠。對方先發投手很有可能在比賽一開始
面對法官&園丁就丟超過10球了，這對於PR99來說已經是非常多的訊息了，跟不用說後面
還有鳥哥、374、Didi等人虎視眈眈。又或者可以把園丁放在最後一棒，讓後段棒次跟前
段棒次不要連續太多右打。這樣才不會讓對方總欸在比賽後段輕易派出右手牛。

Gregorius could hit cleanup, a spot he occupied for 164 at-bats during the reg
ular season and more in the postseason. If Bird progresses as the Yankees anti
cipate, he could bat fourth and be in position to take advantage of the numero
us RBI opportunities in that spot.

Didi也可以扛第4棒，一個他去年花了164個AB的棒次，尤其是在季後賽。如果鳥哥的發揮
如洋基預期的話，他也可以扛下第四棒，一個可以搜刮滿山滿谷RBI的大好位置。

Stanton averaged 3.95 pitches per plate appearance last season, more than aver
age, and Bird averaged 4.26 pitches, which would have ranked among the league
leaders if he had enough plate appearances. Starting pitchers will probably ha
ve a lot of trouble keeping their pitch counts under control early, given the
tendency of the Yankees’ hitters to go into deep counts.

PR99平均每AB消耗對方投手3.95球，這比聯盟平均要高。而鳥哥則是4.26，要是他AB夠多
的話也會在聯盟中名列前茅。對方先發投手很難在比賽前段壓低球數，因為洋基打者都有
著消耗投手大量球數的特質。

And if Judge bats first, there would be the potential for the instant ambush o
f the opposing pitcher, who would be under pressure immediately. If you make a
mistake to Judge, and the Yankees would have a quick run on the board; if you
pitched carefully, he might take a walk and set up the rest of the inning, wi
th Stanton looming in the middle of the order.

而且要是法官打第一棒，那麼對於對方投手來說就有著一開場就必須面臨的壓力了。如果
面對法官犯錯，洋基可能很快就會得分。如果投得太過小心，可能會保送他為一個得分大
局定調，因為後面還有PR99在等著呢。

No wonder Boone was smiling as Stanton stood next to him on a podium the other
day in a Yankees jersey. He’ll have a lot of great options with his batting
order, and leading off Judge could be the best.

所以說在歡迎PR99的記者會那天，溫總欸Boone臉上的笑容很就不那麼令人費解了。他將
會有許多安排棒次的選擇，而把法官放在第一棒或許是最棒的一個選擇！





怎麼放都好可怕......對面投手快陶啊！！！

--