Should Jeter continue to hit lead off ?

It seems that every time Derek Jeter is up this season he is swinging on the first pitch. This can be a good idea at times,for a veteran hitter like Jeter will see a fastball most of the times. It is not good to constantly do this if you are a lead off hitter. Jeter is on pace this season to drive in over 90 runs, but is drawing less walks. Jeter currently has 25 walks through 6/26, only one more walk then Jorge Posada and Nick Johnson (24 walks) both of whom have missed time due to injury.

Not only is Jeter walking less but he is seeing less pitches per at bat, seeing less then 3.5 pitches on average. Last season Jeter saw 3.84 pitches per at bat and drew 72 walks.

Now I'm not trying to kill Jeter here, he has been the heart and soul of the Yankees for the past 14 seasons and will continue to be until he retires. But i feel that it is time for him to go back to hitting second. Jeter was always known for being a great two hitter and prior to 2009 he had hit in that spot for most of his career. The move to the second slot in the order makes sense because currently the spot is fluctuating between Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson.

So who would hit first you may ask ? Well i feel that the best choice would be every ones favorite speed-ster Brett Gardner. Gardner would make the perfect lead off and would give even more length to an already mighty line up. Gardner has draw 31 walks already this season in 83 less at bats and sees an average of over 4.5 pitches per game.

The original reason that Jeter was moved to the lead off position last season was so he would not hit into as many double plays and to give Johnny Damon a better chance to drive in runs. If you move Jeter down to second in the line up, you may have to worry about the double plays again but with Gardners speed,hustle and ability to take out the second baseman the chances of a double play are slimmer. With Jeter hitting second it also give Gardner the opportunity to steal more bases. How you may ask if Jeter takes less pitches? Well it is known that Jeter is one of the smartest hitters in baseball so he would know that with a base running threat like Gardy on the bases not to swing as often along with the fact that Jeter is great at putting the ball in play causing for a good hit and run combo. The other benefit is that with both runners on they could attempt the risky double steal.

What bothers me the most is that as the lead off hitter, it is your job to get on base. Jeter has not done that this season. Maybe i am making a little much of this because since Jeter has been the lead off man he has had one of his best seasons, helped lead the Yankees to a World Series victory, and so far this season the Yanks have the best record in the majors. But if Joe Girardi wants to make the most out of his line up the best decision would be to have Gardner lead off and move Jeter to his old two spot.