Why the Red Sox will be seeing Lefties from here on out

The Red Sox have hit a rough patch having lost three straight, four of five, and six of their last eight games and while they are in first place, they are now a game behind in the loss column to the second-place Rays.

Part of their slump can be attributed to their difficulties against lefty starters.

Here are their numbers for the season

Red Sox v Lefty Starters - 2013

	G	PA	AVG	OBP	SLUG	OPS	K%	AB	H	2B	HR	BB	K
Jose Iglesias (BOS)	25	62	.339	.403	.464	.868	14.5%	56	19	2	1	5	9
Dustin Pedroia (BOS)	40	117	.358	.419	.519	.938	9.4%	106	38	14	1	11	11
David Ortiz (BOS)	31	91	.284	.308	.455	.762	12.1%	88	25	6	3	3	11
Daniel Nava (BOS)	19	52	.283	.365	.435	.800	23.1%	46	13	1	2	6	12
Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS)	37	118	.264	.339	.349	.688	10.2%	106	28	3	2	8	12
Will Middlebrooks (BOS)	21	49	.261	.306	.435	.741	24.5%	46	12	2	2	2	12
Shane Victorino (BOS)	30	92	.253	.286	.368	.654	10.9%	87	22	4	2	3	10
Mike Napoli (BOS)	39	106	.232	.311	.389	.701	29.2%	95	22	6	3	11	31
Stephen Drew (BOS)	23	56	.220	.286	.380	.666	32.1%	50	11	3	1	4	18
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (BOS)	18	44	.195	.250	.244	.494	25.0%	41	8	2	0	3	11
Jonny Gomes (BOS)	40	109	.194	.275	.347	.622	20.2%	98	19	6	3	10	22

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/17/2013

Here are their numbers since the All-Star Break

Only Dustin Pedroia steps it up. Then again, if he didn't that would be a story.

Of particular note are Mike Napoli and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Red Sox versus lefty starters since 2013 All-Star break

	G	PA	AVG	OBP	SLUG	OPS	K%	AB	H	2B	HR	BB	K
Dustin Pedroia (BOS)	11	35	.324	.343	.412	.755	8.6%	34	11	0	1	1	3
David Ortiz (BOS)	10	32	.267	.313	.333	.646	12.5%	30	8	2	0	2	4
Stephen Drew (BOS)	9	25	.261	.320	.348	.668	32.0%	23	6	2	0	1	8
Shane Victorino (BOS)	11	35	.235	.235	.382	.618	5.7%	34	8	2	1	0	2
Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS)	11	39	.222	.282	.417	.699	12.8%	36	8	1	2	2	5
Mike Napoli (BOS)	10	30	.200	.333	.480	.813	30.0%	25	5	1	2	5	9
Jonny Gomes (BOS)	11	33	.188	.212	.438	.650	18.2%	32	6	2	2	1	6
Jose Iglesias (BOS)	12	31	.172	.226	.276	.502	19.4%	29	5	0	1	1	6
Brandon Snyder (BOS)	5	13	.154	.154	.385	.538	23.1%	13	2	0	1	0	3
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (BOS)	8	24	.130	.167	.130	.297	12.5%	23	3	0	0	1	3

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/17/2013

As we go down the stretch, look for opponents to hoard their lefty starters in anticipation of playing Boston.

Comments

A dangerous trend for the Sox here, L-R imbalance has come up before in recent times. It could get worse in Sept: GMs on fading teams can look remarkably lifelike by calling up an extra lefty starter and/or reliever, and citing their upcoming series with Boston. It is a vulnerability that bears watching. I am sure GM Ben Cherington would love to find another RH bat even before Sept 1, either in house or at a reasonable price.

I was mildly confused by your narrative comment on Pedroia ("Only Dustin Pedroia steps it up."); I love him too, but his OPS appears nearly .180 LOWER in table 2 (.755 since the All-Stars, vs. .938 for the season). I might have inferred that Pedey was raking vs LH starters in the first half, and just getting by against them in the late sub-sample. Napoli's numbers as tabulated would seem to be the best match for "steps it up"; his OPS vs. LH starters appears to be HIGHER by .113 in the recent sub-sample (a respectable .813) relative to the season as a whole (.701).

I enjoy your site and appreciate your posts generally. Tell me why I need to put on another pot of coffee for this one.

Anybody think that Xander Bogaerts might be seeing a lot of time against left-handers now that he's been called up?

Salty should never, ever, be played against a lefty. He is a switch-hitter in name only, always has been. I can't help but think he would do better if he just hit left-handed all of the time.