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Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees, 8 PM ET (game 2)

The Yankees should be feeling very motivated to put on a solid show after their fielding gaffes in game 1. The Twins do not have very good numbers against lefthanders and Brad Radke will have to be careful not to groove his pitches. The home team is as a heavy a favourite as there's been so far in the playoffs.



Brad Radke (2002/2003)
versusABHHRTBWKHBPSBCSOBPSLGK pctW pct
right59116919 2701779 664.313.457.129.028
left704 197 25319 31103611 4.316.453.139.042

Radke has one of the tiniest left-right splits you'll ever see, at least over his last 2 years. The Yankees will score runs in proportion to their extra-base hits (Radke walks very few batters). I fear that he may give up some homeruns tonight, with Giambi, Soriano and Posada being the three best candidates to go long.

New York Yankees versus Righthanded Pitchers (2002/2003)
PlayerABH2B3BHRWKSBCSHBPavgobpslg
A Soriano110732267 56240230601222.291.330.528
D Jeter902271433 208816532815.300.372.421
J Giambi795236451671851673321.297.442.609
B Williams76122641 226105116943.297.384.459
J Posada735192421371331973410.261.382.472
H Matsui42812333 1135055201.287.363.460
A Boone895236503 416016741815.264.321.464
N Johnson56815327025991176513.269.390.449
J Rivera1964915041231010.250.293.388

notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.

I was thinking about all the double plays Hideki Matsui has grounded into this year. The best solution with this lineup, I think, would be to bat Matsui 7th behind Soriano. Soriano doesn't walk much and likes to steal bases and so there would be very few opportunities for Matsui to GIDP.


Andy Pettitte (2002/2003)
versusABHHRTBWKHBPSBCSOBPSLGK pctW pct
right103827320 395662073165.309.381.187.060
left326987 1341670240.337.411.203.047

Like most good lefthanded starters, Andy Pettitte is effective against right-handed batters. When he's pitching well, he'll break his cutter in on their fists. On other nights he leaves it out over the plate and it gets hammered.

Minnesota Twins versus Lefthanded Pitchers (2002/2003)
PlayerABH2B3BHRWKSBCSHBPavgobpslg
S Stewart2688517273035544.317.394.474
L Rivas237518 341742652.215.273.325
D Mientkiewicz32086210 124144017.269.364.447
M LeCroy22165120122247011.294.361.511
J Jones3057320151691533.239.284.361
T Hunter3369222 31533661351.274.341.491
C Koskie32979201 841100639.240.340.380
AJ Pierzynski22462122 63371110.277.316.429
C Guzman3789621561852982.254.291.384

notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.

The Twins will likely get 2 or 3 runs by scratching out a few singles. I don't think it will be enough: I have a feeling tonight will not be a night for small ball.

Division Series: Thursday, October 2nd, 2003 | 1 comments | Create New Account
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_Scott Lucas - Thursday, October 02 2003 @ 09:40 PM EDT (#89318) #
Dang, where is everybody? Ah well, good work as always, Robert.
Division Series: Thursday, October 2nd, 2003 | 1 comments | Create New Account
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