Needing a lefty???

[stevelabny]

Ok, so I'm wondering.
The Yanks all-right rotation has been getting a lot of publicity as being a bad thing, because you NEED a lefty.
ESPN supposedly put up a stat that no team without a lefty in the rotation has won a World Series in 80 years or so.
But I honestly don't know which other teams have or havent had lefties.
Have there been many? Have any of the teams with no-lefties been any good? My initial thought is NO. which would make this a bogus stat.

Can I get a full set of numbers to back up this "stat"?

[Absolutely Adequate]

I can't give you the stat you're looking for, but I will point out that when Boston played against lefties last year they went 26-27.

If the two teams meet in the playoffs, that could be important.

[Transmogrifier]

Steve, nice to see you, haven't seen you in awhile.

I don't have the stats, but I'm sure someone else will have them.

I think the Yanks will be fine--it won't be the lack of left pitching that will hurt them. IF anything, it'll be their 4-5 starters and their defense. But no matter what, they'll still win 100 games.

The lack of lefty pitching is an issue, though, because of the short right field porch at the Stadium, and especially because of the Sox lefty power hitting. Sox batters rake right handers.

The Sox also have no lefties.

[stevelabny]

i've been around. i dont jump into EVERY thread. i scan them, make comments sometimes. i've been dealing with real life and stuff
im not gonna be a million-post guy. i'll be adding to the question a minute madness when i really sit down and start working on my lists. although now that the cafe is the #1 fantasy baseball spot on google, im deathly afraid my league mates will find all my posts and thoughts.

[ajgnydc722]

true the sox do have no lefties but it doesnt hurt them as bad because of fenway. however look for some high scoring games wen the sox come to yankee stadium because neither has left handers....

[ondeckb]

i've been around. i dont jump into EVERY thread. i scan them, make comments sometimes. i've been dealing with real life and stuff
im not gonna be a million-post guy. i'll be adding to the question a minute madness when i really sit down and start working on my lists. although now that the cafe is the #1 fantasy baseball spot on google, im deathly afraid my league mates will find all my posts and thoughts.

#1 on Google???......WAY TO GO CAFE.....PS...tell all the other owners in your leagues to use Ask Jeeves......

[Mookie4ever]

I can't give you the stat you're looking for, but I will point out that when Boston played against lefties last year they went 26-27.

The Yankees don't do as well against lefties either - this is supposedly why Oakland has stacked up on lefties and got more lefties for the bullpen including their closer (the rich mosaic that is the mind of Billy Beane).

[NZF]

I can't give you the stat you're looking for, but I will point out that when Boston played against lefties last year they went 26-27.

The Yankees don't do as well against lefties either - this is supposedly why Oakland has stacked up on lefties and got more lefties for the bullpen including their closer (the rich mosaic that is the mind of Billy Beane).

Shouldn't Oakland be worrying about countering teams in their own Division?
Don't agree with the Yankees and lefties comment anyway. Maybe if they had a left handed stacked lineup but only 2 come to mind and Giambis career stats certainly don't vindicate that he has ever had a problem hitting left handed pitching.

What does make sense is that Yankee Stadium favours left handed pitchers and without one in their rotation we may have finally found a Ynakee weakness going into the new season!

[drunkenmonkey]

Someone famous in baseball (I can't remember who just now) once said, "you don't have to have left-handing pitching, you just have to have pitchers that can get left-handers out."

I think the lefty/righty thing is overblown. If you've got solid right handed pitching, you should do fine.

[Mookie4ever]

I can't give you the stat you're looking for, but I will point out that when Boston played against lefties last year they went 26-27.

The Yankees don't do as well against lefties either - this is supposedly why Oakland has stacked up on lefties and got more lefties for the bullpen including their closer (the rich mosaic that is the mind of Billy Beane).

Shouldn't Oakland be worrying about countering teams in their own Division?
Don't agree with the Yankees and lefties comment anyway. Maybe if they had a left handed stacked lineup but only 2 come to mind and Giambis career stats certainly don't vindicate that he has ever had a problem hitting left handed pitching.

What does make sense is that Yankee Stadium favours left handed pitchers and without one in their rotation we may have finally found a Ynakee weakness going into the new season!

Billy is assuming that they will make the playoffs and is looking ahead too much.

The theory is (and I got this from an article but it is somewhat interesting), AL playoff teams batted as follows against RHP:

Bos .870 OPS
Minn .792 OPS
NY .816 OPS

and against LHP:

Bos .803 OPS
Minn .730 OPS
NY .791 OPS

So Oakland now has lefty starters Mulder, Zito and Redman, lefty relievers Rincon and Hammond and lefty closer Rhodes. The best lefthanded staff in the majors.

I believe though that those teams batted worse against lefties just because they do not see that many of them. Often the only lefty at bat in a game will be the situational one-at-bat reliever brought in to face one man who can't hit a lefty to save his life. Over the course of a playoff series those numbers are likely to even out.