10 early-season surprising stats [Globe]

I'm not your typical journalist. I love statistics. Databases? I eat those for breakfast.

I compiled 10 of the most surprising statistics in the first month of action, and they are available for your consumption in gallery form at Boston.com. Enjoy. And because I love stats so much, you'll find a few surprising Yankees statistics if you continue reading.

And you thought Curtis Granderson was having a good season

There’s no doubt about it: Curtis Granderson has been this season’s biggest surprise bat for the Yankees. But measuring by WAR, wins above replacement, he’s not even the best center fielder in the game today.

That honor goes to Jacoby Ellsbury, who boasts a 5.3 WAR compared to Granderson’s 4.8. Ellsbury only trails teammate Dustin Pedroia (5.7) and Jose Bautista (7.0) for the league lead in WAR.

For those who have doubts or are unfamiliar with WAR, it’s worth noting the Red Sox are the only team to have more than one hitter with a WAR in baseball’s top 10. And they have three, Adrian Gonzalez (4.7) being the third.

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn sparked the idea for this article after posting one of his own this morning. Below is a quick comparison of Ellsbury and Granderson based on more commonly used statistics (leaders italicized).

Player	HR	RBI	R	SB	AVG	OPS	WAR
Jacoby Ellsbury	16	58	74	31	.320	.893	5.3
Curtis Granderson	27	74	88	19	.265	.926	4.8

Yankees-Blue Jays Series Preview: 2nd half begins

The Yankees begin the second half tied with the Red Sox in the loss column and two behind in the win column. Don’t fret, there’s still plenty of Boston-New York matchups ahead — nine, to be exact.

But first, the Yankees have another AL East foe to handle. The Blue Jays took three of eight games against the Yankees in the first half, and they’re set to begin a four-game series tonight.

On the Hill:
Thursday: Bartolo Colon (6-4, 3.20) vs. Jo-Jo Reyes (4-7, 4.57)
Friday: Freddy Garcia (7-6, 3.13) vs. Brandon Morrow (5-4, 4.60)
Saturday: CC Sabathia (13-4, 2.72) vs. Ricky Romero (7-8, 3.09)
Sunday: Phil Hughes (0-2, 10.57) vs. Carlos Villanueva (5-1, 2.99)

Yankees likely have two undeserving All-Star starters

Every year, the fans miss a few players — and the reason for that usually circles back to New York’s overwhelming fan base. You could even blame mainstream media for not giving enough credit to some of these snubs, but for some players the fans just get it wrong.

Yankees who deserved to make the team (and likely will):
1. Mark Teixeira — Adrian Gonzalez (.352, 16 HR, 71 RBI) is the sure bet starter, but Teixeira (.243, 25 HR, 63 RBI) continues to pump out homers.

Bartolo Colon’s 6th-inning implosion dooms Yanks

Bartolo Colon pitched brilliantly for the first five innings, but then everything fell apart. Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia delivered a three-run double to cap a five-run sixth inning to put the game out of reach.

Scoreboard Says:
Blue Jays 7, Yankees 3
Win: Carlos Villanueva
Loss: Bartolo Colon

Beware of Bautista:
I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. In the first inning, Jose Bautista went yard. Thankfully, that wasn’t the difference in the game.

Blue Jays-Yankees series preview: Beware of Bautista

Despite playing .500 ball in their last 10 games, the Yankees sit atop the AL East, tied with the Rays, holding a slim half-game lead over the Red Sox. Behind Boston lies Toronto, which has won seven of their last 10.

The Yankees have won three of their five meetings against the Blue Jays this season.

On the Hill:
Monday: Carlos Villanueva (1-0, 1.48) vs. Bartolo Colon (2-2, 3.16)
Tuesday: Ricky Romero (4-4, 3.10) vs. CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.06)
Wednesday: Jo-Jo Reyes (0-3, 4.07) vs. Freddy Garcia (2-4, 3.12)

Yankees-Blue Jays Series Preview: 2 at the dome

The Yankees made their first trip over the north border in 2011 for a two-game series with the Blue Jays.

The Red Sox just won their last three games against the Blue Jays, while the Yankees are coming off a series win against the Rangers.

On the Hill:
Tuesday: A.J. Burnett (3-0, 4.67) vs. Kyle Drabek (1-0, 1.93)
Wednesday: Bartolo Colon (0-1, 3.97) vs. Brett Cecil (1-1, 3.97)

Hamilton wins AL MVP, no 1st-place votes for Cano

Josh Hamilton received 22 first-place votes and received his first AL MVP Award today, leaving Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Cano in the dust. Jose Bautista actually claimed one of the first-place votes, but received zero for second place and just four for third.

Cano had this to say about Hamilton (via LoHud):

“I would like to congratulate Josh Hamilton on winning the MVP. He is a great player and deserving of the award. I am very proud of my season and expect nothing less of myself. I will continue to work hard and play hard, and along with my teammates, do everything I can to help the Yankees get to and win the World Series.”

Class act.

I thought Cano would’ve received a few first-place votes. If you line up the numbers, Hamilton’s BA is the only thing that really stands out from the pack.

Player	HR	RBI	BA	OPS
Josh Hamilton	32	100	.359	1.044
Miguel Cabrera	38	126	.328	1.042
Robinson Cano	29	109	.319	.914

Cano also had a Gold Glove to add to his résumé.

Blue Jays-Yankees series preview

The Blue Jays are back and that’s not great news for the Yankees. Toronto is sending the same three starters that took two out of three from the Yankees last week, and Jose Bautista is still crushing homers at a scary rate.

Containing Bautista will be the biggest key for the Yankees this series. He went deep twice in the first game last series, and has added three more to his major-league leading total (43) over his last seven games.

And let’s not forget about Vernon Wells either.

Head to Head:
The Blue Jays lead the season series 7-5, but the Yankees still have six chances to make up the deficit, starting today.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Blue Jays starters	Yankees starters
Fri., 1:05 p.m.	Brandon Morrow (10-6, 4.27)	Ivan Nova (1-0, 1.93)
Sat., 1:05 p.m.	M. Rzepczynski (1-3, 6.03)	J. Vazquez (10-9, 4.86)
Sun., 1:05 p.m.	Brett Cecil (11-7, 3.74)	Phil Hughes (16-6, 4.10)

Lineup Notes: Nick Swisher is out of the lineup today after leaving yesterday with stiffness in his left knee. Unexpectedly, Derek Jeter is getting a “routine” off-day.

Prediction:
The Blue Jays have played the Yankees tough this year, and they’ll be a much tougher task than the Athletics were. At least the Yankees are familiar with the pitchers they’ll face, a factor that usually bodes well for them. I’ll bet the Yankees take the first two of the series, but not the last.

Boom goes Bautista and the Yanks fall, 3-2

The major league home run leader, Jose Bautista, went yard twice and drove in all three Toronto runs in a 3-2 win over the Yankees.

Best of All: Ivan Nova showed off his great stuff once again, probably earning himself another start, but Joe Girardi yanked him after just 73 pitches and 5-1/3 innings. His only blemish was a two-run homer to Bautista.

Robinson Cano had an RBI double and reached base three out of four times. He led off the ninth with a walk, but nobody could advance him.

Worst of All: The Yankees shouldn’t have let Bautista beat them. I don’t understand why teams aren’t pitching around him more. He’s got 40 homers now! At this rate, he’s looking at a 50-plus homer season. How do you let him beat you?

Brett Gardner went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the leadoff spot. Derek Jeter had the night off, but pinch hit in the last inning and made the final out on a pop up in foul territory.

Coming Up: Game 2 of this series is Tuesday between Dustin Moseley and Marc Rzepczynski.