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August 25, 2017The Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox closed their regular season series on Thursday night with the Indians chasing Chris Sale in the fourth inning and running away with an eventual win, 13-6. With a still significant gap between the Red Sox-Indians and the Houston Astros, the teams seem destined to finish with the second and third best records in the American League. The No. 2 and No. 3 seed face each other in the divisional round of the Major League Baseball playoffs, and the odds are limited that; a) the Yankees would pass the Red Sox or b) the Red Sox or Indians would pass the Astros for the No. 1 seed.
The Red Sox are an interesting matchup for the Indians because their rotation is an outlier- their four best starting pitchers in 2017 are left-handed with lone right-hander Rick Porcello looking more league average than Cy Young Award winner. The Indians have been slightly better against right-handed pitching than left-handed pitching in 2017; wRC+ of 102 and 100 respectively.
One of the question marks for the Red Sox is the health of No. 2 started David Price, though reasonable expectations have him appearing out of the bullpen rather than the rotation. Still, Chris Sale, Drew Pomeranz, and Eduardo Rodriguez make for a talented left-handed trifecta to encounter in the A.L. Division Series. Perhaps further complicating the Indians season is the logjam of long term starting outfielders who may find themselves on the bench in Boston. While Michael Brantley remains a giant question mark merely from a health perspective, he and Jay Bruce, while devastating against right-handed pitching are sub-optimal plays against Boston’s lefty dominant rotation.1
In this case, the ideal lineup for the outfield against left-handed pitching could appear as follows: Austin Jackson(LF), Bradley Zimmer (CF), Brandon Guyer (RF).2
Austin Jackson’s career resurgence rest heavily on his usage as a platoon outfielder who destroys left-handed pitching. Jackson has an OPS of 1.012 against lefties with eight doubles, two triples, and three home runs in 98 plate appearances against southpaws.
Brandon Guyer is of similar importance, though Guyer struggled through an abysmal first half where Guyer appeared lost his second half has looked similar to that of his career. Guyer has posted a .743 OPS in the second half. Guyer is one of the best in baseball over the course of his career against left-handed pitching with a career OPS against of .829. This production against left-handed pitching compares favorably with that of Yoenis Cespedes, Carlos Correa, and Edwin Encarnacion. More room for optimism regarding Guyer is that platoon splits in a single season are messy but considered over a career are more reliable. For his career, Guyer is one of the 30 best hitters in baseball against left-handed pitching.
There is a lot of time left for the Indians and Red Sox to experience injuries, variance, and changes in the standings. However, at this moment the Indians and Red Sox are on a collision course for an October showdown and the two of the Indians most important players may be platoon outfielders.
12 Comments
yes, but the Red Sox just acquired Rajai Davis .. game over ! nahhhh , in all seriousness , good luck to the Indians.
Which gap is bigger?
The defensive drop-off from Zimmer to CF #2 (Jackson? Chiz?)
Or the offensive dropoff (vs LHP) from Brantley/Bruce/Chiz to Zimmer?
A fantastic question that is difficult to answer definitively.
Big thanks to the Tigers for both beating the Yanks & allowing them to throw dumb punches and HBP that might hurt them w/ suspensions moving forward too.
Legs in the air if your vote is Brantley / AJax / Guyer!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f2da7dd75569f7f63c6910207b1379457b7f7c9141687acdac22190fd74d4486.jpg
Also, that would leave you with pretty dynamite options for pinch hitter, defensive replacement, pinch runner (Bruce/Zim/Zim)
Haha.
Really, I think it’ll depend on “which” LHP is on the mound (assuming everyone is healthy). Different pitching profiles for different batting styles and such.
It could be a great playoff series. Both teams have great pitching.
yeah , it got a little ugly in Detroit yesterday … we’re done with them for this year , so we’ll have until next year to see the sequel.
“A little” ugly? This wasn’t a family argument at Thanksgiving about who’s the favorite kid. This was “I’m not your real father” ugly.
The latter.
Brantley and Chis can hit LHP a bit.
LOL !! … yes, it was. I almost wish they were playing again today.