Joe Girardi sees a lineup puzzle. Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera have been removed. Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and probably Brett Gardner have been added.
The puzzle has many pieces, with Girardi saying one key is making sure to intersperse switch-hitters Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher in such a way to avoid a run of too many lefty hitters. Girardi admits a lot of spring will be about determining who hits second, fifth and seventh.
It has been assumed Johnson was obtained to replace Damon as the No. 2 hitter. But when I offered my reasons for placing Granderson second against righties and Johnson second vs. lefties (he is excellent against southpaws), Girardi said he was 1) not locked into a second-place hitter yet and 2) open-minded about having lineup flexibility depending on the identity of the pitcher.
“If we need to tweak it a little, we will,” he said.
So here are the five reasons why Granderson should bat second against righties:
1. The Yankees want Granderson as part of their long-term future, so they are emphasizing getting him comfortable quickly and off to a good start. There is probably no more comfortable place to bat in the majors than behind Derek Jeter and in front of Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Granderson would see a ton of fastballs if Jeter is on base, and even if he is not because nobody is going to want to issue walks in front of Teixeira and A-Rod.
2. You want your first two hitters to reach base as much as possible and avoid eliminating baserunners as much as possible, essentially serving as an RBI delivery system to the Nos. 3-4 hitters. For example, last year Girardi
flip-flopped Jeter and Damon because Jeter, as a hitter with a propensity to hit groundballs, hits into a lot of double plays.
Well Granderson avoids double plays better than Damon and, really, just about anyone. He combines the qualities that lead to few DPs: He is an extreme flyball hitter, lefty, fast and — yes — strikes out often. Granderson had just one DP last year in 631 at-bats. Johnson grounded into 15 double plays in 457 at-bats last year.
3. Johnson has a far superior on-base percentage to Granderson. But Granderson’s career on-base percentage vs. righties is .367. Damon’s on-base percentage last year when the Yankees’ 1-2 punch worked so marvelously was .365.
4. As Damon showed, having power and speed in that No. 2 slot is very valuable. And Granderson had more steals (20-12) than Damon, and more homers (30-24). He is not as shrewd a base stealer as Damon, but hit just 10 homers in cavernous Comerica Park and might be able to provide even more than that with Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch and also the volume of fastballs he would likely receive hitting second in the Yankees’ lineup rather than first in the Tigers’ lineup.
5. Granderson’s weakness against lefties is no myth. He has a .210 career average against southpaws, including .183 last year. So he is going to see the opposition’s lefty specialists out of the bullpen. But if Granderson hits second, the Yankees will often force teams to burn that lefty on just one batter. Foes will not bring the lefty in early since Jeter led the AL in average vs. southpaws last year (.395). The lefty could stay in against Teixeira, especially in The Bronx to try to negate the power to right field. But Teixeira in his career has hit lefties better than righties, and he is followed by a righty masher in A-Rod.
If Granderson is fronted by and/or protected by Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher, it is going to be more comfortable for opposing managers to use a lefty reliever for multiple batters.
joel.sherman@nypost.com