Pinch Hitting and the Platoon Advantage
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 8:00 AM PST
in Dodgers History & Records
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PrintThe Dodgers had an up-and-down season pinch hitting in 2009. They started out hot in April, with 13 hits in 28 pinch at-bats, good for a line of .464/.516/.536. Mark Loretta had seven hits in 10 such at-bats in the first month, but after April the bench cooled off, to the tune of .224/.302/.338 over the final five months. On the season, Dodger pinch hitters hit .253/.328/.362, which doesn't look like very good production until you consider National League pinch hitters hit just .230/.320/.362. The Dodgers were an above average pinch hitting, with an sOPS+ of 107, where 100 is average.
Just think what they could have done with a platoon advantage. The Dodgers had the lowest percentage of pinch hit plate appearances with the platoon advantage last year, that is a right-handed batter facing a left-handed pitcher and vice versa.
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National League Pinch Hitters 2009
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| Team | PA vs Opp Hand | PA vs Same Hand | % Advantage |
| Cubs | 225 | 47 | 82.7% |
| Braves | 204 | 45 | 81.9% |
| Pirates | 199 | 48 | 80.6% |
| Phillies | 212 | 59 | 78.2% |
| Brewers | 199 | 59 | 77.1% |
| Giants | 174 | 57 | 75.3% |
| Mets | 198 | 88 | 69.2% |
| D-Backs | 183 | 84 | 68.5% |
| Reds | 167 | 84 | 66.5% |
| Astros | 167 | 98 | 63.02% |
| Padres | 165 | 97 | 62.98% |
| Cardinals | 169 | 111 | 60.4% |
| Rockies | 153 | 103 | 59.8% |
| Marlins | 162 | 116 | 58.3% |
| Nationals | 149 | 110 | 57.5% |
| Dodgers | 144 | 116 | 55.4% |
| NL Totals | 2870 | 1322 | 68.5% |
The Dodger pinch hitters hit .270/.352/.437 with the platoon advantage, and .233/.292/.272 without. The Dodgers spent a large chunk of last season with just a four-man bench, so I have to imagine just having an extra hitter on the bench will lead to more opportunities to have the platoon advantage. Then again, one of either Brian Giles or Doug Mientkiewicz might be the only lefty hitter on the bench, so maybe those opportunities might not arise in a league where almost three-fourths of the pitches are thrown by right-handed arms.
The Dodgers also had the fewest plate appearances by a right-handed batter against a southpaw (24), so perhaps reserve outfielder Reed Johnson -- a career .313/.378/.463 hitter against lefties -- can help in this regard. Or perhaps the extra bench spot can lead to more maneuvering for a key late inning plate appearance. Is this much ado about nothing? Perhaps, but every little advantage helps, especially in what figures to be a close race for the NL West.
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Barry Bloom of MLB.com is bullish on Eric Gagne:
Eric Gagne is working out in Scottsdale and is in terrific shape. Anyone need a reliever? D-backs? He’s looking for an ST slot
I half-jokingly asked if Gagne was in “the best shape of his life,” as we hear often this time of year. Bloom said:
Throwing off the mound. Lost 15 pounds. Working out hard. Looks great to me
and
He says 88-89 right now. I haven’t seen him throw, but have been watching him workout along with Shawn Estes and Russell Martin
One of the pinch hitters should be Mientkiewicz who was doing a good job last year before his belly flop into 2nd.
I guess you are talking about spring training
because he was hurt on 4/16 and only had five plate appearances.
by meercatjohn on Feb 15, 2010 10:45 AM PST up reply actions
He got to carry a .400 average (yes, 2 for 5) into September! :)
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 10:47 AM PST up reply actions
Lucky for him he hit that single
on the play he busted himself up otherwise he’d have been looking at a .250 all summer.
1 for 4 headed into the at bat.
Walk stays the same
Hit, gets his .400
Out, drops to .200
Amazing what one hit does for perception.
Thanks for all the work you did on the previous thread. Perception is a killer.
by meercatjohn on Feb 15, 2010 10:49 AM PST up reply actions
A's catch a break
Remember last month when the A’s essentially “bought” Rosales for $1.3 million in the trade with the Reds (the difference in salaries between Aaron Miles & Willy Taveras)? That was predicated on the fact that the A’s would owe Taveras $4 million, or perhaps $3.6 million since any team that signed him would likely just give Taveras the $400,000 minimum and let Oakland pay the rest.
So, today comes along and Taveras chose the Nationals over the Astros. Now, Jon Heyman is reporting his deal with the Nats is for $4 million. This means the A’s don’t have to pay Taveras a dime. Amazing.
Taveras would get $4 million either way, so it makes no sense that the Nationals would choose to pay an extra $3.6 million for nothing. This doesn’t pass the sniff test.
Bill Ladson of MLB.com, and MASN Sports are reporting this as a minor league deal, which makes a hell of a lot more sense.
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 10:49 AM PST up reply actions
Made no sense the way Heyman reported it
he probably meant his 2010 salary would be 4 Million not that the Nat’s gave him 4 Million.
by meercatjohn on Feb 15, 2010 10:50 AM PST up reply actions
That would have been one of the all-time gaffes. Almost literally burning $3.6 million if it were true.
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 10:53 AM PST up reply actions
I thought I read somewhere recently that pinch hitters are so unproductive that they barely produce more then the pitchers they are pinch hitting for if you went by the historical batting stat’s for said pitcher?
I thought it was something like hitters are essentially 10% worse as pinch hitters compared to their normal production.
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 11:02 AM PST up reply actions
Matthew Carruth of FanGraphs wrote a piece for ESPN last month:
Baseball consultant Tom Tango, now in the employ of the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays, went through historical pinch-hitting situations in his book (appropriately titled “The Book”) and found that, even after accounting for the average pinch-hitter being of lesser ability and facing tougher pitchers in more important situations, pinch-hitters performed at a level roughly 10 percent lower than expected. That’s huge; a 10 percent penalty turns a .300 hitter into a .270 one. That reduction in performance would turn Evan Longoria into Skip Schumaker.
and
Pitchers are notoriously terrible hitters — to the point where nearly any capable major league position player will still be more likely to get a hit, even accounting for the pinch-hitting penalty
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 11:06 AM PST up reply actions
Thanks
I remembered the first quote, not the 2nd. I am surprised the drop is only 10%, as a betting man I would have said 20% before the study came out.
by meercatjohn on Feb 15, 2010 11:34 AM PST up reply actions
I am, but I’m going to spend all day making lesson plans for my students. And doing other course work required for my teaching credential.
Dude, throw in beers for breakfast
and our days are exactly alike.
Who is Karim Garcia? Who is he to challenge me?
by Who Is Karim Garcia? on Feb 15, 2010 11:24 AM PST up reply actions
Ha
My wife is also a teacher and she is taking all day to grade papers.
by meercatjohn on Feb 15, 2010 11:34 AM PST up reply actions
That’s why if I were ever a teacher, I’d probably stick to math (although history would be fun) just so I never had to grade essays. Just cut & dry, right & wrong. :)
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 11:39 AM PST up reply actions
True that
the written work kills her. Especially since she tends to nod off while reading.
by meercatjohn on Feb 15, 2010 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
We get busy at 2 p.m. (when the market closes). I’m usually home around 7.
by silverwidow on Feb 15, 2010 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
Technically me
Finished a story that I didn’t have to go to my first class, no class for my next thanks to furlough days.
Gotta love/hate furlough day
by Julio Nievas on Feb 15, 2010 12:12 PM PST up reply actions
I’m back at work.
The commenter formerly known as El Lay Dave.
by David Young on Feb 15, 2010 12:31 PM PST up reply actions
OT
Anybody know where this fragment of a poem comes from:
"He was my teacher, we dared not fail. …
He harrowed minds with curving question marks …"
That's a pretty good line
I have never heard it before though, so I’m not sure where it came from.
My favorite line about teaching comes from Bob Dylan, in My Back Pages:
In a soldier’s stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I’d become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
by Eric Stephen on Feb 15, 2010 11:52 AM PST up reply actions
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