When you get a week or two into Spring Training, people start to speculate on what players will make the Opening Day roster. Who will be in Detroit on April 1st when the regular season starts.
Most of the debate centers around players like Bobby Bradley, Jake Bauers, Daniel Johnson, and Bradley Zimmer. However, those four players have one commonality–they are all left-handed hitters.
We know Terry Francona like to use the platoon advantage. And right now, his biggest platoon weapon against southpaws is OF Jordan Luplow, and right now he has not played because of a foot issue.
If he isn’t ready for the opening of the season, then what alternatives does the skipper have?
The starting outfield may be set with Eddie Rosario in left, Oscar Mercado in center, and Josh Naylor in right. If Francona wants to sit either Rosario or Naylor against a tough lefty, what is his alternative?
Could this be where Amed Rosario finds his niche, as a platoon piece vs. left-handed pitching? Against righties, the former Met Rosario is a .257 hitter with a .378 slugging percentage (667 OPS). But against lefties, he’s a beast, with a .300 batting average, slugging .473 and an 812 OPS.
The Mets had plans to play Amad in the outfield, but to date, he has played only shortstop where he is competing with the man he came to Cleveland with, Andres Gimenez. Gimenez is the better defender, and has hit well so far, leading some to believe he is the frontrunner to be the starter there on April 1st.
Another candidate for the outfield is newcomer Harold Ramirez, who also hits right-handed. It will be interesting to see how his at bats get ramped up (or not) as the games progress.
Now, let’s look at first base. As we said before, both Bradley and Bauers swing from the left side, as does Naylor, who can also play there. It would seem that there is not room on the roster for both players (Naylor is a for sure), and it is also doubtful that Francona would want to have four left-handed hitters (E. Rosario, Naylor, Gimenez, and either Bradley or Bauers) in the batting order against a lefty.
So, can a Yu Chang make the squad as someone who can play 1B as a platoon piece? Remember, the other candidate for the utility infield spot, Mike Freeman, also hits from the left side. However, we haven’t seen Chang at first in a spring training game as of yet.
The number of left-handed bats would seem to make it very difficult for Johnson, who has had a good spring so far to make the team unless he becomes a platoon piece in centerfield with Mercado. The same holds true for Zimmer.
And if Luplow gets back out there soon and does get enough at bats to be ready by the end of camp, that reduces one spot on the roster.
It will be interesting to watch how Francona handles things defensively as the exhibition schedule continues. If you see players like Amed Rosario and Chang move around playing different (for them) positions, it shows they are candidates to come north as part of the 26 man roster.
Francona likes to keep extra guys in the bullpen, so versatility is needed among the extra position players. But if you can hit right-handed, you might have an edge to make the squad.
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March 22, 2021 at 12:06AM
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