The Yankees have been trying to climb out of their early season hole for weeks now, and this week their four-game sweep of the Angels got them back to .500 on the season. New York comes into Friday at 30-30 and three games back of a postseason spot.
One reason the Yankees were able to sweep the Angels was leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury, who has been red hot since returning from a minor hip issue a few weeks back. Ellsbury has gone 30 for 92 (.326) with three doubles, four triples, and two homers in 36 games since returning. He owns a .292/.354/.443 (116 OPS+) batting line on the season overall.
That batting line does not reflect every single way Ellsbury has reached base this year, however. He's developed a knack for hitting into catcher's interferences, meaning when he swings his bat, he hits the catcher's mitt. It happened during the Angels series. Check it out:
That was already the sixth CI of the season for Ellsbury. Is that a lot? Heck yeah. There have been only 19 total CI in 2016. Aaron Hill and C.J. Cron are the only other players with multiple catcher's interferences this season. They each have two.
The crazy thing is Ellsbury has actually hit into eight CI this season. Replays showed umpires flat out missed one a few weeks ago, and, earlier this week, Ellsbury declined a CI because the swing resulted in a base hit. (Teams are allowed to choose the catcher's interference or the result of the play.)
Ellsbury is very quickly approaching the all-time record for CI in a single-season, which is held by Roberto Kelly. Kelly hit into eight CI with the 1992 Yankees. Ellsbury is at six with 102 games remaining, so he's on pace for 16 this season. He's going to shatter the record.
Here is the all-time CI leaderboard, per the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index:
1. Pete Rose - 29
2. Jacoby Ellsbury - 20
3. Dale Berra - 18
4. Julian Javier - 18
t-5. Roberto Kelly, Carl Crawford, Andy Van Slyke - 17
Keep in mind the massive difference in plate appearances between Rose and Ellsbury. Rose averaged 547.9 plate appearances per CI in his career. Ellsbury is at 228.0 plate appearances per CI.
Is Ellsbury hitting the catcher's glove on purpose? He says no and I'm inclined to believe that. Hitting is hard enough as it is. Imagine trying to hit when picking up a CI in the back of your mind too. That's just the way his swing works. He chops down on the ball.
Teams are game-planning for Ellsbury's CI skills though. Rangers catching instructor Hector Ortiz and catcher Brett Nicholas told Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal that they had to make some adjustments when the two teams met last month. From Diamond:
"If you've got a guy that is consistently dropping the head of the bat that way, then we want to be an arm and a half," said Ortiz. "You talk about it, to get away. They move back and they stay away from that."
...
"We use a phrase: He's hitting it out of our glove," Nicholas said. "We feel like we're about to catch it, and then he fouls it off. That's what he's good at. You stick your glove out, he's just trying to foul the ball off right there probably, and he's catching the mitt instead."
The Yankees have been playing better of late thanks in large part to Ellsbury, who has been a difference-maker atop the lineup. He's a quality hitter overall and his knack for CI is basically just a bonus for the offense.
Thanks to his CI surge this year, Ellsbury is now on pace to make history this season. Obscure history, but history nonetheless.
