June 11, 2002
Against Glavine:
Here's Tom Glavine's lines vs. lefties and righties this year:
Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS TBB HBP SO GDP OBP SLG
vs. Left .279 --- 61 --- 17 5 0 1 4 1 0 4 1 7 0 .333 .410
vs. Right .206 --- 296 --- 61 14 0 4 15 4 5 20 2 55 7 .259 .294
Notice that despite lefties hitting Glavine much better than righties, very few lefties get to face him. This isn't unusual for Glavine. His career numbers show the same thing:
Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS TBB SO OBP SLG
vs. Left .259 ---- 2379 --- 616 99 10 37 219 37 21 219 424 .323 .356
vs. Right .249 ---- 9736 --- 2426 436 35 194 930 146 95 867 1565 .311 .361
His first three years in the majors, this wasn't true. But since that time, he's been one of the top pitchers in the game.
I've asked a number of players, including his former catcher Greg Olson, why Glavine is better against righties. Each told me the same thing. He throws a pitch that runs away from righties but right into a lefties wheelhouse. I've also asked them, since this seems to be well known, why managers don't start lefties against him. The answer from all of them was that managers don't want to be second guessed if they lose. Shouldn't it be the job of a manager to maximize the chance of winning? It seems to me the fear to start lefties vs. Glavine will put Tom in the hall of fame.
Just as an example, the Twins have benched lefties Mientkiewicz, Pierzynski and Ortiz tonight, and are being shutout by Glavine through 6.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:12 PM
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Baseball
