It’s been well documented, David Ortiz doesn’t hit left-handed pitching very well anymore. Though Terry Francona may feel like sitting Papi against lefties would ruin his timing, rhythm, whatever, the reality is that a platoon situation would probably benefit the team the most. First, because it would eliminate the outs that are more likely to come when Ortiz faces lefties. The second reason would be to find more at-bats for Mike Cameron and Jed Lowrie, at least to start the season.
Chip Buck did a great job breaking down the problem earlier this month. However, his conclusions, unfortunately, were not aligned with what is likely to happen when the regular season starts. However, it’s not because the Sox don’t have the major league pieces to fill the platoon, it’s more because they just plain don’t want to sit their former superstar.
Mike Cameron is a career .250/.340/.447 hitter, but his career line against lefties is .272/.376/.509. Cameron hasn’t posted an OPS under .500 or an ISO under .200 vs lefties since 2006 and his AB/HR rate against lefties is a very good 19.1. Getting Cameron some at-bats at DH to go along with mixing in some innings in right field might help keep him healthy and his legs fresh for the entire 2011 campaign.
The other option involves Jed Lowrie, who needs to get a good number of at-bats this season. Marco Scutaro has already been labeled the starting shortstop, so Lowrie might not get many at-bats there, at least early on. How about getting Lowrie some at-bats playing third base? Wait! Youkilis is set at third! Well, yes, but wouldn’t some time away from the hot corner actually be a good thing for Youk, especially when Lowrie would be a fine replacement defensively?
On days the Sox face a lefty, they could start Cameron in right, Lowrie at third and Youk at DH.
Lowrie doesn’t have an extensive major league background at this point in his career, but what he has shown against lefties has been very good. In 197 career plate appearances, Lowrie has hit .324/.403/.541 with a .353 BABIP that could possibly be inflating the numbers a bit. Lowrie has hit seven home runs against lefties in 170 at-bats compared to his six home runs in 329 career at-bats against right-handed pitching.
David Ortiz had 185 at-bats against left-handed pitching in 2010. In those at-bats he hit .222/.275/.324 with only two home runs. Based on what we know of Mike Cameron and Jed Lowrie, how could using them in a platoon with Papi not be a good thing?
If Tito doesn’t take advantage of his right-handed options/depth and use a platoon with Ortiz from day one, he won’t be putting forth the best possible lineup on a daily basis. How much that would cost the Sox is yet to be seen, but I just don’t see the upside in letting Papi face lefties.