Lefty/Righty Doesn't Really Matter

Old-school managers feel a compulsive need to alternate right-handed and left-handed hitters in their lineups. Theoretically, this makes the late innings difficult to navigate for the opposing manager, who must micromanage his bullpen arms to get the match-ups he wants.

Sometimes, this obsession with lefty-righty lineup symmetry goes too far and actually hurts a team's scoring expectancy. The relevant example here lies with Mike Scioscia's Angels. Scioscia's middle-of-the-order bats are Albert Pujols and Mark Trumbo, but both are righties, so for much of the season Scioscia felt compelled to separate the two with switch-hitter Kendrys Morales. This is despite the fact that Trumbo is hitting a Josh Hamilton-like .309/.361/.630 with 26 homers, while Morales' power has disappeared en route to a .423 slugging percentage and 9 home runs. Only recently did Scioscia relent and move Trumbo into his rightful cleanup spot behind Pujols, finally allowing the two righties to hit back-to-back (oh, the humanity!). The improvement won't be enormous, but one would expect the Angels to score more runs with their best hitters now concentrated together in the lineup.

Bobby Valentine of the Red Sox, meanwhile, has none of Scioscia's qualms about putting same-side hitters next to each other. On Monday against the White Sox, he actually had four straight lefties lead off his lineup: Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, David Ortiz, and Adrian Gonzalez. In the bottom of the seventh inning of a 1-1 tie, White Sox manager Robin Ventura pulled his right-handed starter with those four lefties due up next, predictably bringing in a left-handed reliever, Leyson Septimo. And what happened?

Crawford walked. Ortiz walked. Adrian Gonzalez homered. 4-1 Red Sox. They won the game. Sometimes, good hitters are just good hitters, regardless of theoretical platoon disadvantages.

Since lineup construction has a very small impact over the course of a long season, it doesn't matter THAT much whether managers choose to prioritize lefty-righty matchups or just plain production. But as a rule of thumb, bunching your best hitters together in the lineup, regardless of right- or left-handedness, is probably the better way to go.