Why having sufficient left-handed hitting is essential in October

Brian Cashman should really feel cursed. For years, the New York Yankees normal supervisor has been on a mission to seek out steadiness in his lineup, and simply when he thought he had lastly captured it, it vanished.

The Yankees have fallen on onerous occasions, and it is partially due to accidents and inconsistent manufacturing by left-handed hitters. It is pressured New York to revert again to counting on righties to hold the load at a time when seemingly everybody on the roster not named Aaron Judge has slumped.

“Check out their numbers since Matt Carpenter left the lineup,” one AL scout mentioned. “Sure, Matt Carpenter. If he or Anthony Rizzo and even Andrew Benintendi have been right-handed, we would not be having this dialogue. These gamers are key to the Yankees as a result of they’re lefties.”

The phrase “you may by no means have sufficient left-handed pitching” is commonly heard in MLB entrance workplaces, however the idea extends to the batter’s field as effectively. Each July, executives play musical chairs with the restricted variety of lefties who change into obtainable and the groups which have realized they should add them, principally with one particular factor in thoughts: October.

“These guys have a lot worth, particularly within the playoffs if you’re going through so many elite right-handers,” one govt mentioned. “You may get to the postseason with completely different sorts of lineups, however boy, are some lefty hitters wanted when you’re there.”

Current historical past agrees: Final yr’s two World Collection individuals, the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros, ranked No.1 and No. 2, respectively, amongst all 2021 playoff groups in OPS from left-handed hitters. From the precise facet of the plate, they ranked simply sixth and seventh out of 10 groups.

“I would not say that it is a singular concentrate on left-handed hitting as a lot as ensuring that we’ve steadiness all through the lineup,” Astros GM James Click on mentioned through an e-mail. “Whether or not it is when it comes to handedness or different expertise like velocity, energy, opposite-field hitting.”

That, in fact, is simple to say when your crew employs left-handed mashers, reminiscent of Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker. Cashman’s boppers, then again, have been born right-handed — that means the Yankees have needed to actively purchase lefties.

“The Yankees are a crew who clearly noticed their weak spot on offense and addressed it,” one former govt mentioned. “Some groups are extra aggressive than others. Its simply so onerous to beat if you’re too closely balanced on one facet or the opposite. I feel the Yankees … noticed that and knew they needed to repair it to have a terrific offense.”

They’ve traded for lefties Rizzo, Joey Gallo, Carpenter and most lately, Benintendi in an effort to fill the void. And for some time this season, it appeared they’d lastly discovered that wanted lineup steadiness.

However since Carpenter went down with a wrist harm Aug. 8, the Yankees are second to final within the majors in OPS in opposition to right-handed pitching. Rizzo had slumped (.691 OPS, 7 BB, 23 Ok’s) earlier than lately touchdown on the injured listing and is now out with a again subject. Benintendi (.326 OBP) additionally slowed down earlier than struggling his personal wrist harm that may probably finish his season.

And Rizzo and Benintendi have not been the one lefties to battle. In Carpenter’s absence, the Yankees’ left-handed hitters have batted .198 in comparison with .212 earlier than Aug. 8, whereas righties have hit .221 within the time since Carpenter was injured.

Even when New York manages to carry off the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East title, their lack of left-handed lineup depth might come again to hang-out them within the postseason. One govt identified that he would reasonably be weak in opposition to left-handed pitching than in opposition to righties, just because there are fewer left-handed pitchers and it is loads simpler to discover a harmful right-handed hitter, even simply to fill a part of a platoon.

“Lefties are a commodity,” the manager mentioned of batters. “It is so simple as that. Check out final October.”

The Yankees aren’t the one crew that undergo from an absence of left-handed hitting — and it is a problem that has plagued different franchises through the years.

The 2021 Chicago White Sox are a cautionary story from that postseason about what can occur when a crew enters October with out this key ingredient. They received their division by 13 video games, however then a first-round sequence in opposition to the Astros uncovered them. White Sox right-handed hitters batted .295 off righty pitching within the sequence — although all the hits have been singles. In the meantime, their lefties hit .196 with a simply .667 OPS in 4 video games. Houston received the sequence simply largely as a result of Chicago’s lefties weren’t ok.

Chicago’s inconsistency has carried over to this season because the White Sox have simply 24 house runs from left-handed hitters, rating twenty ninth within the majors. The one crew worse is the Toronto Blue Jays, who’ve simply 15 house runs from lefties.

Each groups are doubling down on their righties to cause them to October after failing to make a deal for one of many loads of lefties that did change groups on the commerce deadline.

“I am undecided how Toronto expects to win a World Collection this yr with that type of manufacturing,” an NL scout who has watched them mentioned. “You have to be so good in different areas of your recreation to beat that.”

In the event that they make it to the postseason, the choice to commerce for Whit Merrifield as a substitute of discovering a left-handed bat means the Blue Jays may very well be at an obstacle in opposition to the groups who did prioritize lineup steadiness on the deadline.

Notably, as a substitute of constructing a splashy transfer for a middle-of-the-order bat like many anticipated beneath new proprietor Steve Cohen, the Mets opted to strike by including two hitters early this commerce season: switch-hitting Daniel Vogelbach and left-handed Tyler Naquin. In the meantime, the Braves made an under-the-radar deal for left-handed hitting Robbie Grossman and the Rays added veteran lefty David Peralta. After which, in fact, there are the Padres, who utterly reshaped their lineup by including Juan Soto and Josh Bell within the largest blockbuster of the summer time.

New York additionally made left-handed hitting a precedence with the acquisitions of Carpenter and Benintendi — expertise the crew hoped would assist them make a deep postseason run. Nevertheless, now tormented by accidents, their October is instantly up within the air. Will the Yankees be capable to navigate a postseason with out constant manufacturing on either side of the plate, or will they and this postseason’s different right-handed heavy contenders find yourself going house due to it? We’re about to seek out out.