In yet another decision that just boggles the mind, Mets manager Jerry Manuel played one of his hunches yesterday, and it missed badly.
The situation:
Mets down 2-0, 8th inning, bases loaded, 1 out, lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt on the mound, Daniel Murphy due up.
Mets fans on the edge of their seats.
In 2009 Daniel Murphy is hitting .357 with an OPS of 1.018 against lefty's.
For his career, Murphy has a .371 BA with a 1.080 against lefty's.
But wait, who is that striding to the plate? Oh it's Angel Pagan.
The Angel Pagan who is here only because Carlos Delgado was placed on the DL.
The Angel Pagan who has a lifetime BA of .225 against lefty's.
The Angel Pagan who was out with injury for the better part of the last 2 years and has only 14 minor league at-bats in 2009.
Yes, this is who Jerry pinch hits for Daniel Murphy.
This guy, who is so full of rust he should only be a pinch runner or substitute fielder now is the man Jerry turns to in the biggest situation of the game.
Maybe it's the pitching matchup? Let's look at Jeremy Affeldt's stats:
Affeldt Career:
vs L .255/.341/.419 (.760)
vs R .273/.346/.409 (.754)
Affeldt 2009:
vs L .391/.500/.652 (1.152)
vs R .184/.220/.184 (.404)
OK, so we have a hitter who kills lefty's in Murphy, against a pitcher who is far worse against lefty's than righty's in Affeldt.
Again, every number in the book screams to let Murphy hit.
Shouldn't a manager know these little facts? Is there not a number's guy in the dugout whispering these things to Jerry as the situations arise?
But Jerry goes with his gut, Jerry has a hunch, Jerry watches as Pagan, with his lifetime .225 BA against lefty's, grounds into an inning-ending double play against the pitcher who is better, far better, against righty's.
Jerry supporters will scream that Murphy was no guarantee there...these are the same people that had difficulty with math in school.
Fact: math says you let Murphy hit there. Math, the great equalizer, the objective God of baseball, the one thing every manager must be good at. Math.
Mets fan shake their head and wonder how many more games he's going to blow before serious consideration is given for a change.
Jerry, it's time to go buy a calculator.
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6 comments:
Plus he bunted in the first inning with a man on second and no outs.
The first inning!!!!
"Math is Hard."
Even without the math, Murphy needs to bat there as he is just the better hitter period. What eve crime Ryan Church perpitrated Murphy must have been an acompliss as he's been burried on the bench
Ryan Church needs to start against every righty...period....Jerry has pretty much messed him up now, and there is zero confidence in Church's eyes when he sits and pinch hits.
Jerry is messing with guy's heads...can you imagine what Murphy was thinking when he was PH for Angel Pagan in that situation?
I'm just tired of this act.
This move was indefensible. He's costing this team wins. Fire him, sooner rather than later.
Did someone say Bobby V? Well i did, he's the perfect fit for this team, especially, because of his work in japan that puts a great emphasis on the fundamentals of baseball which it looks like the Mets may be lacking.
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