Mar 11, 2008

Hitting lefties

The Yanks didn't fare well against southpaws last year (.055 OPS points lower vs. lefties than righties). With that in mind, I believe Morgan Ensberg will make the team as a solid right-handed hitter (especially against lefties), utility-infielder, and last but not least because of his scorching spring (hitting an even .400).

Against Scott Kazmir or Erik Bedard, we might see a lineup like this (with each hitter's corresponding OPS against lefties):

CF Damon (.749)
SS Jeter (.908)
3b Arod (.976)
DH Posada (.886)
RF Duncan (.984)
1b Ensberg (.936)
LF Matsui (.810) - gets the nod over Melky who struggles (.680) against lefties
2b Cano (.756)
C Molina (.750)

So it basically comes down to Ensberg and Molina vs. Abreu and Giambi:
Abreu (.766) and Molina (.750) are roughly even against southpaws, while Ensberg (.936) is considerably better than Giambi (.855).

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