A Perplexing Move By Gardy

Last night Gardy made the decision to sit Jim Thome to play Delmon against Justin Masterson, a right handed pitcher who throws, basically, sidearm. Obviously both Thome and Delmon have r/l splits themselves, but so does Masterson. Let’s take a look:

vs. Righties: .199/.281/.297, 124K, 41BB

vs. Lefties: .301/.400/.462, 83k, 66BB

While he only has 400ish at bats vs. each side, his minor league track record is fairly similar. Yet Gardy chose to play Delmon Young over Jim Thome, who has a career 1.043 OPS against righties. Now, the Twins won the game anyways, but analyzing that decision by whether or no the Twins won, and even how well Delmon did, is the wrong idea. If you get the choice between rolling a 1 or a 2-6 on a die, and you chose 1, it is the wrong decision whether or not you roll a 1.

And, it’s not as if Delmon was in there for defensive purposes. His career UZR/150 in left of -18.6 is slightly worse than Kubel’s -15.4 mark.

Fortunately, the Twins will lineup against Masterson again before the season is over, and Gardy will be able to rectify his mistake