Giants Rout The Atlanta Braves – The Decisions and The Reasons
By Fred Owens
May 16, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves second baseman Jace Peterson (8) connects for a grand slam during the second inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Decision 2 – pinch hit for Jace Peterson
At first glance this is more by the book baseball from Gonzalez. The Giants bring in the lefty and he counters with his lefty killer pinch hitter Gomes. The problem wasn’t the strategy it came from a superficial look at the numbers. This year Affeldt has a huge reverse split.
| Split | PA | AB | H | HR | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| vs RHB | 44 | 38 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 3 | .289 | .386 | .395 | .781 |
| vs LHB | 26 | 23 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .348 | .423 | .565 | .988 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/29/2015.
Add to that Gomes history against Affeldt – 5 PA, a walk, 2 strikeouts and two hits both coming in 2010. Since then Gomes bat has slowed down while Affeldt has continued to be a solid reliever. Peterson is only slashing .217/.250/.217/.467 against LHP this year but is .303/.359/.455/.814 with RISP. Given Affeldt’s reverse split and Peterson’s ability to put the bat on the ball and make things happen this has to be considered a bad choice.
While other decision may not have changed the outcome they would certainly have been more defensible than the choices he made in the top of the inning. The bottom of the innings was worse for Gonzalez.
Click Next to continue.