Work with the Derek Jeter Hurricane in the offseason may have helped its endorser move up in the batting ranks in the real Yankee season. Yankee skipper recently moved the shortstop to the leadoff position from his traditional number two spot. Though Jeter’s numbers won’t be confused with those of the greatest leadoff hitter, his numbers make him a good choice.

This is a guy that might get a few “Boo”s when his face comes up on the LED scoreboards. Others cheer as he lights up the baseball scoreboards with great hit after hit. Love him or hate him, it looks like Jeter will be here for a while.

The only two choices for Girardi to consider as leadoff hitter for the club have surprisingly similar numbers. Jeter and outfielder Johnny Damon both have efficient on-base percentage numbers: Jeter’s number are slightly better than Damon’s with a .387 percentage versus a .354 percentage, respectively. In either case, both hitters excel at getting on base, which is by far the most important trait of a leadoff hitter in the Major League. By comparison Rickey Henderson, often mentioned as the greatest leadoff hitter ever in baseball, finished his epic 23-year career with a career on-base percentage of .401. This number would have been considerably higher if Henderson had ended his career at year eighteen or so.

Joe Girardi may have had to make the determination of who to make the leadoff hitter by choosing who not to have bat in the second position. At first blush, Damon would make the best choice for leadoff since he has about twice as many stolen bases as Jeter during their equal 13 seasons in the league. However, and perhaps more importantly, Jeter is a massive negative as the number two batter since he has hit into over 195 double play outs in his career. Damon on the other hand has only hit into 73, about one third of Jeter’s total over the same period. The last two seasons have seen that number accelerate for Jeter as well, raising doubts for the future. The Yankees have a huge investment in big hitter Mark Teixeira this year, acquired as the number one free agent on the market from the Los Angeles Angels during the offseason, so they have every reason to have runners on base when he steps up to the plate as cleanup.

The Derek Jeter Hurricane may have come in handy for the Yankee. As a leadoff hitter, it will be even more important that he connects with the ball early and often. The supposed benefit of his hitting tool is just that: better tracking of the ball and a quicker swing. Both of those traits are tailor-made to make Jeter the greater leadoff hitter he can possibly be. Although Jeter’s high on base percentage will be valuable, he will have to adapt his general hard hitting from the bloopers, infield grounders and occasional line drives that are the hallmarks of a great leadoff hitter.

Of course, once Alex Rodriguez returns from injury that will make the Yankees that much better at the plate. With the top of the lineup most likely to read Jeter, Damon, Rodriguez and Teixeira at cleanup, the Ynaks will pose a formidable threat to opponents.