Friday, October 15, 2004
Lefty Not Always Right Answer
One issue that has been brought up since I posted yesterday was that of a left-handed relief pitcher such as Oakland lefty Chris Hammond who will be a free agent.
I think a lefty reliever might help the Angels pen, but I don't see it as a necessity. If Percival skips town and everybody else slides up one spot, they should add another arm, southpaw or otherwise. It's ridiculously unfair to say that David Ortiz's season-ending walkoff homerun is an indicator of a glaring need for the Angels. For the last three years, Anaheim has had arguably the best bullpen in baseball and in that time they have not needed a left-hander to achieve that distinction. Washburn making one bad pitch doesn't change that. Of course, this begs the question "Would a regular left-handed reliever have made the same mistake as a left-handed starter making a rare relief appearance?" Who the hell knows. Maybe Scioscia needed somebody like Chris Hammond out of the bullpen in that situation. Maybe he would have been just as well to use Percival. Maybe Washburn was poised for some lights-out relief work but just missed his spot and hung one pitch. We'll never know.
Hypothetically, you'd like your manager to have as many viable strategic options as possible. If the Angels have already secured the priorities I listed yesterday and can afford to get a good lefty reliever, I say sure, do it. But don't lose sight of the bigger issues and don't think one bad pitch means you have to start adding this guy or that guy. For my money, I'd bet Troy Percival or even Washburn's second pitch could have gotten Ortiz out just as well as Chris Hammond could have.
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I think a lefty reliever might help the Angels pen, but I don't see it as a necessity. If Percival skips town and everybody else slides up one spot, they should add another arm, southpaw or otherwise. It's ridiculously unfair to say that David Ortiz's season-ending walkoff homerun is an indicator of a glaring need for the Angels. For the last three years, Anaheim has had arguably the best bullpen in baseball and in that time they have not needed a left-hander to achieve that distinction. Washburn making one bad pitch doesn't change that. Of course, this begs the question "Would a regular left-handed reliever have made the same mistake as a left-handed starter making a rare relief appearance?" Who the hell knows. Maybe Scioscia needed somebody like Chris Hammond out of the bullpen in that situation. Maybe he would have been just as well to use Percival. Maybe Washburn was poised for some lights-out relief work but just missed his spot and hung one pitch. We'll never know.
Hypothetically, you'd like your manager to have as many viable strategic options as possible. If the Angels have already secured the priorities I listed yesterday and can afford to get a good lefty reliever, I say sure, do it. But don't lose sight of the bigger issues and don't think one bad pitch means you have to start adding this guy or that guy. For my money, I'd bet Troy Percival or even Washburn's second pitch could have gotten Ortiz out just as well as Chris Hammond could have.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 6:20 PM 
