[image title="Yankees Curtis Granderson" size="full" id="14579" align="center" linkto="full" ]
MGL seems to think so, with the excerpt courtesy of Fangraphs:
In fact, having good overall numbers with a horrible split is a POSITIVE and not a negative! If it turns out that he is truly (true-talent wise after accounting for small sample performance) poor against LHB, then you would be able to platoon him, sit him against tough (high splits) lefties, or pinch hit for him against lefties in high leverage situations, which would provide even MORE value to his team than his overall or historical numbers would suggest!
Basically, MGL (who, for those who do not know, is Mitchel Lichtman, a leading sabermatrician) is suggesting that if you have two players with similar overall numbers, you might prefer the one with the drastic splits because you could then shape his impact through the use of a platoon or pinch hitters. While I believe this does make sense in theory, I have a hard time believing that it holds true in practice. As I am sure you expected, let us use Curtis Granderson as our example.
Curtis had terrible numbers against lefties last season, and his career numbers are not particularly pretty either. The suggestion is that you could platoon him or pinch hit for him in important situations. There are a number of issues with this suggestion. The most obvious is that I find it highly unlikely that the Yankees will do any such thing. Granderson is an All-Star player for whom the Yankees traded a number of younger players with plenty of value. It is extremely unlikely that they did so in order to have him share time with Jaime Hoffman or a Rocco Baldelli type. In fact, I would suggest that the Randy Winn signing makes it clear that they are counting on Kevin Long to help Granderson become at least adequate against lefties, as they spent their last bit of money on a player with neutral platoon splits rather than a Baldelli or Johnson to pair with Granderson. As such, a platoon is unlikely.
Furthermore, even pinch hitting for Granderson in big spots is not particularly likely. The only situation that I could see him being lifted for is if a lefty specialist enters in the 8th inning of a close game. I think Joe Girardi would be loathe to remove Grandy in the 7th inning because he would likely have another at-bat, and that at-bat would almost certainly come against a righty (as most clubs do not have two effective lefties that they would trust in important spots). Furthermore, because most closers are right-handed, there would be limited situations whereby a lefty would be on the mound against the Yankees in a game that they trailed in the 9th. Therefore, there is an extremely limited “advantage” than can be garnered through management of Granderson’s platoon split.
Finally, I think MGL glosses over the fact that there is more to the relevant players than their platoon splits. Granderson is a strong defensive player, and any platoon parter is almost certain to represent a loss of quality in the outfield. As such, it would be better to have a player with neutral splits, as this would allow you to keep his plus glove in the game no matter the situation.
I think that any way you slice it, a large platoon split is a negative when discussing a star player. While it may make sense to platoon or pinch hit for the Gabe Gross types of the world, teams with talents such as Granderson and Ryan Howard will just have to grin and bear it. It would be fantastic if the Yankees can help Granderson turn things around against lefties. If they are unable to do so, we can only hope that Joe Girardi has the backbone to do the right thing and pinch hit for Granderson against tough lefties in extremely crucial spots.
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8 Responses to Is Having A Large Platoon Split A Good Thing?
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“It is extremely unlikely that they did so in order to have him share time with Jaime Hoffman or a Rocco Baldelli type.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you basing this on the prevailing thought that being a platoon hitter is a detriment to a team? If so, I am assuming that you rightly figure that the Yankees would not want to ‘waste’ or ‘insult’ Granderson and his abilities by making using him as a platoon hitter; however, if what MGL says is accurate, that very notion is false, thus, the Yankees would not be wasting or insulting Granderson and his abilities, but utilizing them in the greatest possible environment, and, in turn, maximizing his value.
“… any platoon parter is almost certain to represent a loss of quality in the outfield.”
Possible, but is the value of that plate appearance greater than having a better defender in the outfield from the 7th inning onward? Unlike batters and their plate appearances, defenders are not guaranteed a chance to field a ball; thus, you must weigh the value of the high-leveraged PA against the possibility that a catchable ball might be hit into the outfield in the next 2-3 innings.
Based on our previous knowledge, this is a shocking development to acknowledge; however, if the proper data disagrees, then there has to be something to it, no?
Yes. I’m not saying that MGL is wrong. I’m saying that it is irrelevant because the Yankees are not going to platoon him, and that this would hold true for most stars. The Phillies will not platoon Howard with a Ryan Garko, despite the fact that this might maximize value.
Regarding that second point, I’m pretty sure this was just an opinion by MGL- I dont think he did a study that concluded that it was worth it. If he did, it might invalidate all defensive replacements, and we would have heard about it.
OK, I understand. I do wonder if teams choose not to platoon their star players because it is insulting, but not because they don’t believe it would maximize their value.
I think you also need to consider the issue of getting each player into or out of his groove. It’s hard enough to get one player consistently doing well, but then you’re not only asking another player to do that, but to do it on an inconsistent basis. If Grandy is going to sit one day, then play for three, then sit, then play some, how is that going to affect his play? Maybe not at all, but as a college player, I’m going to say that it would affect me. Also, the other player, Baldelli, whomever, is only playing every couple of days, which is even worse. In theory, like communism, this could work, but these are people, not just numbers.
Agreed- I think it is harder for a platoon guy to get out of a slump.
To MGL’s credit, he did add the following later in that same thread:
“There are many reasons why you don’t platoon a player who has a large platoon split:
It is an insult to a very good player
You have to use another roster spot
The player might be very good at defense
If the player is a righty, lack of playing time may reduce his numbers even against LHP
You are not going to platoon Granderson. All you need is to have a decent RH pinch hitter available on the bench, which I assume the Yankees do or will. But it is not like they have to specifically look for someone to fill that role, I don’t think. “
One way that having a player with large splits might be an advantage is that if he is still relatively young he may be more likely to improve overall (by improving from his weak side) than a player with a more balanced split. It seems that many left handed hitters take awhile to figure out left handed pitching so it would not be shocking at this stage if Granderson improved significantly vs. lefties. The example that comes to mind is Paul O’Neill who was a pretty mediocre hitter before he became competent vs. left handed pitching with the Yankees. I think Granderson has similar potential – he already mashes righties, if he can improve to competent against lefties he could go from a very good hitter to an elite hitter at a premium defensive position.
good example, NDR..I hope it does work out that way..can;t platoon this guy, gave away too much to think about him being a 3 quarter of a game player. like bruney for nobody.. he is their to hit Rhers , LHers, underhanders.