A time to arm yourself, preferably on left side

Baseball Notes

September 04, 2011|By Nick Cafardo

There is no doubt that the need most teams tried to address at both the trade deadline and the roster deadline was lefthanded reliever.

The teams that have them consider it a coup. The ones that don’t feel that a good righthander with a slider or backdoor change-up is just as good.

But, you know something, general managers knock themselves out trying to find “the right one.’’

Giants GM Brian Sabean had that guy in the postseason last year. His name was Javy Lopez. He also had Jeremy Affeldt, a guy who could pitch to multiple batters instead of just one, and in a perfect world, that’s the type of lefty you love to have.

“For me, it has to be a guy who can hold lefties to about a .200 average or it’s not worth it,’’ Sabean said. “Javy did a great job for us last year in the playoffs and during the regular season. There’s no doubt he got some big outs for us. But you have to be able to throw strike one, because you’re going to come in with runners on base against a tough lefthanded hitter, usually one of the best hitters on the other team.’’

If you go by Sabean’s .200 rule, there were 16 lefty relievers that qualified last year (minimum 50 batters faced). The best were the Braves’ Jonny Venters and the Phillies’ Antonio Bastardo, who held lefties to a .127 average.

Rounding out the top 10 were the Marlins’ Randy Choate (.145), Affeldt (.148), the Tigers’ Daniel Schlereth (.160). the Cardinals’ Marc Rzepczynski (.160), Lopez (.163), the Padres’ Josh Spence (.167), the Angels’ Scott Downs (.174), and the Dodgers’ Scott Elbert (.179).

Sabean feels it’s ideal to have two, as he did last season.

The Rangers felt that way, too. They had Darren Oliver and Arthur Rhodes, but Rhodes couldn’t stay healthy, wasn’t used in meaningful situations, and was released.

So the search was on, and they settled on Mike Gonzalez, acquiring him in a trade with Baltimore. Gonzalez had a rough start but in the second half of the season has been effective vs. lefties.

“You’re in a better position if you can balance off lefty vs. lefty,’’ said Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux. “It’s great to have two of them, because we rode Darren Oliver and whipped him good. He did a great job for us, but it’s nice to have someone else who can take the load off him.’’

Maddux is of the opinion that it doesn’t matter, righty or lefty, as long as you can get a key lefty out.

“It doesn’t even have to be late in a game; it can be in the sixth inning in a tough situation,’’ Maddux said. “It makes life easier when you have two, with the other manager knowing that if you’ve used one, there’s still another one left. It can definitely change the thinking of the opposite side, and that can work to your advantage sometimes.’’