The Mets signed Curtis Granderson Friday to a four year, $60 million deal. One thing is for sure, he can hit. But there’s only one problem with that. Granderson has played his whole career thus far in the American League, revealing uncertainty when it comes to facing the National League. Let’s take a look at how he has fared against the NL East and where his 43 2012 home runs would have landed in opponents’ ballparks.
Philadelphia Phillies
Arguably the Mets biggest rival in the division, Curtis Granderson has hit Phillies pitchers decently. He has compiled a career .258 against current Philadelphia pitchers with three home runs. Granderson has faced Cliff Lee 42 times and hit safely 12 times, with two doubles and a homer. He has matched up with Jonathan Papelbon 18 times and is 4 for 18 with two home runs against him. Granderson has yet to get hits off Mike Adams and Kyle Kendrick, who he has faced collectively four times. In terms of hitting home runs at Citizens Bank Ballpark, only one of Granderson’s 43 long balls would not have been ruled a homer in Philadelphia.
Miami Marlins
Curtis Granderson has hit fairly well in his career against current Marlins pitchers, hitting .387 against them. Granderson is 6 for 16 against Kevin Slowey with a home run, and 3 for 12 against Henderson Alvarez. It will be interesting to see how Granderson will do against the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year, Jose Fernandez, for the first time. As for hitting in the spacious Marlins Ballpark, seven of his 2012 home runs would not have cleared the fence in Miami. This includes six that went over 350 feet.
Washington Nationals
Curtis Granderson hasn’t faced Stephen Strasburg yet, but he has faced Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, and newcomer Doug Fister. Granderson is 2 for 16 against Gonzalez, but that does include a home run and two runs batted in. Similarly, he is 1 for 6 against Fister with one home run. In total, Granderson is 3 for 31 (.097) against Nationals pitchers with 11 strikeouts. Six of his 2012 home runs would not have cleared the Nationals Park fences.
Atlanta Braves
Granderson is hitting .308 in his career against current Braves pitchers. He is 1 for 6 against Mike Minor, but 2 for 2 against tough reliever Jonny Venters. Granderson has not recorded a hit in four at bats against Craig Kimbrel, Kris Medlen, and Jordan Walden, collectively. Of his 2012 home runs, eight would not have been home runs at Turner Field, the majority of these coming in right-center field. Granderson has not faced the Braves much in his career, so we shall see how it plays out.
Playing in the AL, Curtis Granderson has not had much exposure to National League pitching, with the exception of Cliff Lee (Cleveland, Seattle) and Gio Gonzalez (Oakland). The Mets begin 2014 with a series at home against the Nationals, as they also play the Braves and Marlins at home. The Mets will visit Atlanta and Philidelphia during the course of April as well.
(All of the information used in this post was courtesy of espn.com and hittrackeronline.com)
