Atlanta Braves: A Tale of 2 Splits
By Ryan Cothran
Atlanta Braves, the left-side of the Platoon System
I wanted to start out this piece by discussing the strongest piece of the Atlanta Braves offense, and that is the left-handed platoon system that the Braves are incorporating.
When the left-handed hitters, Freddie Freeman, A.J. Pierzynski, Nick Markakis, are the best hitters on the team no matter the handedness, it’s easy to understand why the Braves have had a whole lot of success against right-handed pitching. Here are the good numbers against RHP:
against RHP
A.J. Pierzynski– 1.116 OPS
Nick Markakis– .919 OPS
Freddie Freeman– .864 OPS
Kelly Johnson– .876 OPS
Alberto Callaspo– .798 OPS
Ok, so that gives us a catcher, RF, 1b, LF, and 2b/3b that are really finding success against RHP. Now, let’s look at the next tier:
against RHP
Chris Johnson– .745 OPS
Andrelton Simmons– .718 OPS
Still looking good! That’s 7 position players that are finding success (some better than others) against RHP. Now, let’s look at WHY it’s necessary for strict platoons as we finish this list. It’s not pretty:
against RHP
Jonny Gomes: .588 OPS
Cameron Maybin: .365 OPS
Christian Bethancourt: .501 OPS