Rivaled only by Big Foot and Nessie herself, the search for the elusive “RIGHT HANDED POWER BAT” has eluded Tribe faithful for years. As Justin Upton resurrected the hopes of a rival fanbase and the ghost of Matt Laporta haunted the dreams of Indians fans everywhere, Terry Francona himself said the team "really wanted to try to find a right-handed power bat."
Most of the concern is based around the common complaint of
the Tribe’s performance vs left-handed pitching.
But is this a real concern with the current Tribe core? The Indians actually hit better against
lefties in 2013 and 2015. When looking
at the individual pieces, bopping dingers vs lefties hardly seems the issue.
Career wRC+ | ||
RHP | LHP | |
Lindor | 119 | 144 |
Santana | 118 | 135 |
Gomes | 99 | 116 |
Brantley | 122 | 97 |
Kipnis | 125 | 85 |
*Gomes had a wRC+ of 147 and 155 vs LHP in the 2 years prior to his injury-plagued 2015
So in terms of guys that will be playing every day, there
are certainly some guys who can hit lefties.
Now look at the offseason additions.
Career wRC+ | ||
RHP | LHP | |
Napoli | 116 | 145 |
Davis | 77 | 118 |
Cowgill | 53 | 108 |
And compare that to the guys who played major roles on the 2015 squad (which hit lefties better overall already) who won’t be returning.
Career wRC+ | ||
RHP | LHP | |
Murphy | 111 | 73 |
Moss | 114 | 100 |
Bourn | 95 | 74 |
Raburn | 85 | 122 |
So the Indians have shipped out quite a few of the roster that was focused more on hitting RHP and brought in guys that have traditionally hit better vs LHP. Any weakness against lefties has most likely turned into a bit of a strength for the club.
Looking at the full projected lineups drives the point home –
vs RHP | wRC+ | vs LHP | wRC+ | |
Kipnis | 125 | Napoli | 145 | |
Brantley | 122 | Lindor | 144 | |
Lindor | 119 | Santana | 135 | |
Santana | 118 | Davis | 118 | |
Napoli | 116 | Gomes | 116 | |
Chisenhall | 101 | Cowgill | 108 | |
Gomes | 99 | Brantley | 97 | |
Almonte | 99 | Urshela | 88 | |
Ramirez | 82 | Kipnis | 85 |
But what about right-handed pitching? Brantley is going to miss the first month. Lindor is unlikely to repeat his 2015 season offensively. Considering that in 2015 Napoli had a wRC+ vs RHP of 63, Chisenhall 82, and Almonte is such a big question mark you can see him from space, it’s reasonable to assume a lot of those career numbers vs right-handed pitchers live on the high-end of what we can expect this season. I mean, I love Jose Ramirez more than I love my own family – but Mr. Potato has hardly mashed at the MLB level.
Jose Ramirez is a potato— A.J. (@TheSmithuation_) August 8, 2015
Perhaps where a weakness is starting to emerge is in the
Tribe’s platoons. Traditionally, they
have married a RHH platoon guy to left-handed hitters to make a Frankenstein’s
monster version of a good offensive player (Murphburn, etc.)
And with the additions of Davis, Cowgill, and Napoli – the Indians
certainly have the bench players to come in to face left-handed pitching. But suddenly there appears to be a dark side
of the platoon -
Career wRC+ | ||
RHP | LHP | |
Chiz / Cowgill | 101 | 108 |
Almonte / Davis | 99 | 118 |
JRam / Urshela | 82 | 88 |
That's a third of the lineup that has a best-case scenario of average vs RHP. With the loss of Brantley coupled with Santana, Lindor, Napoli, and Gomes all being better against left-handers, the lineup suddenly looks very pedestrian against right-handed pitching.
Which means after all these years, the thing alluding the lineup at the moment?
A left-handed power bat.
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