Girardi Needs to Learn How to Make a Lineup...Again

About a month and a half ago, I wrote about Joe Girardi's difficulties with making a lineup. His troubles once again stemmed into Sunday's game against the Mets. 

With Hideki Matsui on the DL, Girardi couldn't afford to sit three of his best hitters (Robinson Cano, Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu), but he did because they are all lefties. Facing left-handed starter Oliver Perez, Girardi completely reconfigured his lineup in order to avoid the lefty-lefty match-ups. In doing so, he decided to play Wilson Betemit instead of Robinson Cano, Jose Molina instead of Jason Giambi and Jason Christian instead of Bobby Abreu.

Girardi seems like he is reading the textbook, but not looking at the numbers or even looking into common sense. Why would he rather have a lifetime minor leaguer with twelve career at bats heading into a game (Christian) over a perennial All-Star (Abreu)? Christian shouldn't be starting unless he is filling in for someone during a day off or an injury.

Girardi clearly neglected to look at the numbers. If he had, he would've seen that Abreu is hitting .316 against lefties this year with an OPS 57 points higher than that against righties. Cano's batting average against lefties (.281) is twenty points higher than Betemit's (.261), as the utility infielder is notoriously known as an anemic hitter from the right side (even though he did hit a long homerun yesterday). Jason Giambi is hitting over .400 against lefties since May 17. 

If Girardi wanted to sit a lefty, it should've been the only one he decided to play. Johnny Damon's batting average against lefty pitchers (.292) is 36 points lower than his average against righties (.328). Consider the fact that he is also nursing a sore left arch and has witnessed his batting average drop since he returned to the lineup a few days ago, he should've gotten a day off. 

Why did Girardi decide to sit all the lefties against Oliver Perez, who had a 5.29 ERA entering the game, and decide to play all the lefties against Johan Santana, who had a 2.93 ERA entering Saturday's game and is known as one of the best pitchers in baseball? Wouldn't it make more sense to sit them on Saturday? There's a better pitcher on the mound - Sunday, there wasn't even a good pitcher on the mound - and you can rest players after a long double-header the previous day.

In the eighth inning, after Oliver Perez threw seven innings of three-hit-ball against a lineup in which Wilson Betemit was hitting fifth, Joe Girardi sent out Jason Giambi to pinch hit and face Pedro Feliciano, another lefty. However, the difference between Feliciano and Perez is that the former is an effective pitcher. Girardi knew that if the Mets had a lead, Feliciano would be in the game. He's their eighth inning guy. Thus, in pinch hitting Giambi, he was stating that he'd rather have his first baseman against a good lefty than a bad one - not exactly the right game strategy to have.

When Girardi sent out that lineup at the beginning of the game, Manuel knew it was because he didn't have confidence in his left-handed hitters. Thus, he pulled a great managerial move and called his bluff, only throwing lefties in the game (Perez, Feliciano and Billy Wagner). You know Scott Schoenweis would have been the next Mets' pitcher out of the bullpen. Girardi got out-managed on Sunday because of a lack of confidence in his players and too much of an allegiance to the baseball textbooks.

- D. Spell