This is quite the coincidence.
Ryan McMahon is a talented baseball player, and the New York Yankees are surely pumped to have acquired him from the Colorado Rockies as the MLB trade deadline approaches. Their third-base woes should be solved.
Yankees fans might be even more excited if they knew who McMahon is most comparable to statistically.
You see, Baseball Reference puts together Similarity Scores for every player in Major League Baseball. Essentially, what players are most similar to one another, on paper.
McMahon's last completed season, 2024, factors into the "similar batters through (age) 29" chart provided by Baseball Reference.
The most similar hitter to McMahon through age 29? Graig Nettles.
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Nettles joined the Yankees when he was 28, and he grew into one of the best players in baseball during his time in New York, even leading the American League in WAR in the 1976 season.
A two-way sensation, Nettles was a bit ahead of his time as a power-hitting, walk-taking hitter.
Nettles won two World Series in his career, two Gold Gloves and an ALCS MVP.
If McMahon can deliver anything like that to the Bronx, this will wind up looking like a phenomenal trade.
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Category: Baseball