Under the hood: the first pitch of an at bat

There are pitchers counts and there are batters counts, but with batters overall hitting .254 at this point of the season, we can see as per usual at .336 that the first of pitch of an at bat is definitely a hitters count.

Batting averages by count

Split	PA	AB	H	HR	BA
First Pitch	11929	11209	3762	504	.336
1-0 Count	7310	7088	2356	305	.332
2-0 Count	2729	2658	889	147	.334
3-0 Count	2208	168	59	16	.351
0-1 Count	9846	9481	2961	261	.312
1-1 Count	9387	9134	3023	306	.331
2-1 Count	5614	5508	1928	270	.350
3-1 Count	4767	2277	793	160	.348
0-2 Count	9371	9210	1404	96	.152
1-2 Count	15776	15539	2598	218	.167
2-2 Count	14868	14670	2652	270	.181
Full Count	13740	9696	2103	251	.217

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/17/2013. 

First pitch hitting stars 

• Miguel Cabrera has 32 hits
• Robinson Cano has 31 hits
• Carlos Gomez has 29 hits
• Anthony Rizzo has 26 hits
• Yadier Molina and Freddie Freeman have 25 each
• Jason Kipnis, 10-18, is hitting .556
• Nelson Cruz, 21-42, Mitch Moreland, 9-18, and Joe Mauer, 6-12, are each hitting .500.
• Michael Young, 22-45, is hitting .489.
• Desmond Jennings, 21-43, and Howie Kendricks, 20-41, are each hitting .488.
• Miguel Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion each have hit nine homers
• Chris Davis has eight homers
• Mark Trumbo and Jose Bautista have seven homers each
• Chris Davis has 16 extra-base hits
• Anthony Rizzo has 15 extra-base hits
• Carlos Gomez has 14 extra-base hits
• Nelson Cruz has 13 extra-base hits
• Freddie Freeman and Edwin Encarnacion have 12 extra-base hits each 

Nine to Know: First pitch pitching stars 

• Batters are hitting .209 against Hiroki Kuroda
• Batters are hitting .222 against Kris Medlen
• Batters are hitting .228 against Travis Wood
• Batters are hitting .235 against Clayton Kershaw
• Batters are hitting .239 against Adam Wainwright
• Batters are hitting .240 against Hyun-jin Ryu
• Batters are hitting .242 against Justin Verlander
• Batters are hitting .245 against Stephen Strasburg
• Batters are hitting .250 against Bartolo Colon and Felix Doubront 

First pitch hitting stiffs 

• Adam Lind is 1-13, .055.
• Matt Joyce is hitting .130, 3-23.
• Alejandro De Aza is hitting .176, 3-17.
• Brandon Phillips is hitting .190, 8-42.
• Chase Headley is hitting .200, 8-40.
• Josh Hamilton and Carlos Gomez have swung and missed on 50 first pitches.
• Chris Davis has swung and missed on 47 first pitches.
• Pedro Alvarez, Ian Desmond and Freddie Freeman have swung and missed on 45 first pitches.
• Dustin Pedroia has taken 203 called first pitch strikes.
• Matt Carpenter has taken 197 called first pitch strikes.
• J.J. Hardy has taken 194 called first pitch strikes.

First pitch pitching stiffs

• Ryan Dempster has a .524 BAA on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .500 against Barry Zito and Rick Porcello on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .463 against Joe Blanton on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .457 against Lucas Harrell on first pitches.
• Matt Harvey has a .450 BAA on his first pitches.
• CC Sabathia has allowed seven first-pitch homers
• Ryan Dempster, Joe Blanton, Jason Marquis, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Ervin Santana have each allowed five homers on their first pitches.
• R.A. Dickey has thrown 232 first pitch balls.
• Jason Marquis has thrown 229 first pitch balls.
• James Shields has thrown 228 first pitch balls.
• Tim Lincecum has thrown 227 first pitch balls.
• Yovani Gallardo has thrown 225 first pitch balls.

First pitches - Team Stats

• The Texas Rangers are hitting .393 on first pitches.
• The Colorado Rockies are hitting .375 on first pitches.
• The St. Louis Cardinals are hitting .371 on first pitches.
• The Cincinnati Reds are hitting .296 on first pitches.
• The San Diegoe Padres are hitting .301 on first pitches.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks are hitting .310 on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .273 against the Oakland A's on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .282 against the Kansas City Royals on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .291 against the LA Dodgers on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .393 against the Seattle Mariners on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .369 against the NY Mets on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .367 against the Milwaukee Brewers on first pitches.

HR Derby Preview: Team Cano

Citi Field's Home Run Apple will get a workout tonight, as some of the game's preeminent power hitters aim for the fences during the 2013 All-Star Home Run Derby (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). Team Robinson Cano (including Yoenis Cespedes, Chris Davis, Prince Fielder) will take on Team David Wright (Pedro Alvarez, Michael Cuddyer and Bryce Harper). Here's a breakdown of dingers hit by Team Cano as you ponder which tally will be higher -- attendance at Citi Field or the number of "backbackback"s belted out by Chris Berman.

Robinson Cano

Where he hits 'em: Cano has been pull-happy in 2013, hitting 13 of his 21 homers to right field. He has also hit four shots apiece to center and left field.

Cano's HR spray chart

Hard or soft stuff? He's doing most of his damage against "soft" stuff -- breaking and off-speed pitches. Cano has hit seven homers against sliders, tying Miguel Cabrera for the major league lead. He has four HR off curveballs and three on changeups, giving him a total of 14 HR against soft pitches. Only Cabrera and Chris Davis have more homers against sliders, curves and changeups.

HR sweet spot: Despite his tendency to pull the ball, Cano has hit most of his home runs (13) on pitches thrown on the outer half of the plate. He's also loves stuff thrown at the knees, hitting 16 home runs on pitches thrown in the low half of the strike zone.

Pitch location of Cano's HR

Yoenis Cespedes

Where he hits 'em: Cespedes just about never goes oppo (he has just one HR to right field), but he has plenty of power to right field (8 HR) and center (6 HR).

Cespedes' HR spray chart

Hard or soft stuff? Cespedes likes high-velocity stuff, hitting 11 of his homers against fastballs, cutters and splitters.

HR sweet spot: Like Cano, Cespedes hammers knee-high pitches. Twelve of his HR have come on stuff thrown to the lower half of the zone.

Pitch location of Cespedes' HR

Chris Davis

Where he hits 'em: Everywhere. Davis has 14 homers to the pull side, 12 to center, and nine to left field. His next opposite-field shot will make him the first batter to hit double-digit homers to all fields this season, a feat that only Miggy pulled off in 2012.

Davis' HR spray chart

Hard or soft stuff?  It doesn't seem to matter what pitchers throw to Davis, as he leads all hitters with 20 HR against hard pitches and is tied with Cabrera for top honors against soft stuff (15 HR).

HR sweet spot: As you might expect from a slugger with so many opposite-field and center field homers, Davis is crushing pitches thrown to the outer half of the plate. His 24 outer-half HR lead the majors -- and it's not even close. His closest competition, Raul Ibanez, has 18.

Pitch location of Davis' HR

Prince Fielder

Where he hits 'em: While Fielder has yet to go oppo this season, he has 11 homers to the pull side and five to center field.

Fielder's HR spray chart

Hard or soft stuff? He has gone deep nearly an equal amount against hard pitches (9 HR) and soft stuff (7 HR).

HR sweet spot: Unlike Cano and Cespedes, Fielder is a high-ball hitter. Prince has pounded 10 HR against pitches thrown in the upper half of the strike zone.

Pitch location of Fielder's HR

Who won't be an All-Star for the Yankees?

Spoiler alert:

Just about everyone.

The only Yankees heading  to Queens for the July 16 All-Star game are Robinson Cano and Mariano Rivera.

It is truly amazing to see the lack of qualified Yankees after so many years in which fans feared that the Yankee starting lineup would represent the American League in the mid-season classic.

Position-by-position

• AL catchers are hitting .245, with an OBP of .313 and slugging .406. The three Yankee catchers, Francisco Cervelli, Chris Stewart, and Austin Romine, are hitting .227/.293/.330 and none are worthy of consideration
• First basemen are hitting .263/.338/.451 in the AL and the Yanks are hitting .214/.277/.402. With all due respect, Lyle Overbay is not an All-Star.
• Second basemen are hitting .272 and while Dustin Pedroia is hitting .311, voters prefer Cano's .283 because Robby has 16 homers to Pedey's four.
  
• Third basemen in the AL are also hitting .263. Yankee third sackers Jayson Nix, Kevin Youkilis, Chris Nelson, and David Adams are hitting .246, but they third base slot for New York has produced four homers in 300 PA.
• "All-Star Shortstop" was Derek Jeter's unofficial prefix. This season Yankee shortstops are hitting .205. I don't want to give any other numbers.
• Let's go to the outfield and dream about Mickey Mantle, Bernie Williams and Bobby Murcer.
• AL outfielders are hitting .259/.321/.415. Yankee outfielders are hitting .261 (thank you Brett Gardner)/.311/.399. But, let me remind you that these numbers reflect every person who has played the outfield this season, not just the guys who deserve to be All-Stars.
• The Yankee Designated Hitters this season are hitting .205 (gasp!). Even Robby Cano has only hit .154 as a DH.
• There is one Yankee starting pitcher who could get consideration to go to Citi Field and that is Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda has a 2.98 ERA and is the only Yankee starter with an ERA under 4.09. But Hiroki is only 7-5 and there are too many more successful starters than Hiroki and three of them pitch for Detroit.
• Mariano would be an All-Star this season, if he just showed up, but Rivera is showing up batters and is tied for the major lead league with Jason Grilli and Jim Johnson, with 26 saves. And as hard as I have tried to get him to start, it appears that Mariano will be on the hill in the 9th, no matter what the score, no matter how few people are watching.

So there you go It's Robinson Cano and Mighty Mo As the rest of the Yanks, are just so-so.