The Lefty Specialist
Some people on the radio this morning and in the papers have been killing Phil Coke for giving up that home run to Mauer last night. Considering that Mauer is hitting .384/.459/.639 no pitcher should hang his head after getting beaten by him, but the argument seems to be that Coke's job is to be a lefty specialist and he failed at his job.
My problem is that the numbers say that is not necessarily the best job description for Coke. There is no denying that Coke is tough on lefties. For his career he has held them to a line of .186/.212/.351. The problem is he has been tougher on righties, holding them to a line of .147/.256/.240. One thing that really jumps out at you with Coke is that while he is more likely to strikeout a lefty batter, 104 faced with 29 K's, he is also more likely to give up a home run to one, 4 lefties have left the park. Against righties, Coke has allowed only one homer in 87 plate appearances.
And that's my problem with Girardi pigeonholing Coke as a lefty specialist, it does not use him effectively because Coke's numbers are spectacular either side of the plate. Now in the current pen, both Robertson and Aceves are actually tougher on lefties than righties (the difference is small but there) yet neither one of them would be used as a "lefty specialist" because they are righties. Coke shouldn't be either, he should be used as one of the best bets in the bullpen to get anybody out.
For now, if Girardi wants to use him against lefties, that's fine. But, he shouldln't use him for a lefty and pull him, chances are he is going to a worse, right-handed, option than Coke. When Marte comes back, that's your lefty specialist because lefties have hit .200/.297/.292 against him in his career while righties have hit .241/.329/.394
The problem is Marte is making $4 million a year and Coke pitches for the league minimum. Will Girardi ignore that and use Marte against a batter or two with Coke pitching more innings? One can only hope so.
