Casey McGehee vs left handers

[reillymcshane]

Had a question specifically about Casey's struggles this year vs. lefthanders. I noticed that .179 against them in 2011. In 2010 he hit .316 and in 2009 it was .303.

 

If he was hitting closer to what he did 09-10 he'd probably be OPSing around .750 - not great, but much better than his .650ish performance this year.

 

His performance even makes him a bad platoon guy with someone like Green or Gamel.

 

I wanted to know if anyone has noted what has happened with regard to his failures against lefties? Have they simply figured him out? Are his mechanics just totally screwed up? What? We've talked about this with regard to McGehee - but I didn't see it specifically with his batting against lefties.

 

The sudden drop against lefties doesn't jibe with McGehee's history - which might mean he's a strong rebound candidate next year (at least when it comes to hitting lefties). Of course, if lefties have suddenly found a hole in McGehee's swing, and he can't fix it, he's screwed.

 

I was curious what others have noticed about his approach this year against lefties.

 

Thanks.

[DuWayne Steurer]

It's a small enough sample that I'd have to say it's a ..........small sample problem. At least at this point. There's nothing to suggest he should do so poorly against lefties, so I'd guess it's just bad luck to some degree.

[markedman5]

He is not hitting nearly as many balls hard so its not luck. They are either pitching him differently, he has changed his approach or he is missing pitches that he used to hit hard.

 

He could revert to form next year but this season has been a disaster.

[1992casey]

I think reilly's acknowledging the sample size when he says that Casey might be a strong rebound candidate vs. lefties. He's looking for a good set of eyes that might suggest otherwise.

 

markedman5 addresses Casey's hitting in general, but doesn't specifically address the possibility that lefty pitchers may have found some sort of advantage.

[reillymcshane]

I think reilly's acknowledging the sample size when he says that Casey might be a strong rebound candidate vs. lefties. He's looking for a good set of eyes that might suggest otherwise.

 

markedman5 addresses Casey's hitting in general, but doesn't specifically address the possibility that lefty pitchers may have found some sort of advantage.

you said it better than i could have. thanks.

[Raw Biz]

Not sure if this is true at all but to me, it seems like all pitchers have been throwing McGehee away this year and he's just trying to pull everything. Last year he used to go to the opposite field a lot (and with power) but that doesn't really seem to be the case this year. Because of that, I think it's a mechanical/mental issue. But even if he does fix it, I still think his best days are behind him and he would be best used next year as a platoon-mate with Green/Gamel at 3B/1B (assuming he gets his stroke against lefties back).

[sheetswannabe]

Casey should get lasik, who knows? Couldn't hurt.

[Invader3K]

Casey should get lasik, who knows? Couldn't hurt.

It did wonders for Bill Hall.

[sbrylski]

Casey has a .213 BABIP against left-handed pitchers this year, despite a 19.1% line drive rate, which is actually better than his 15.9% mark against right-handed pitchers. So it's safe to say he's a clear bounce-back guy against left-handed pitchers next year, and overall.

 

If we expand the sample of his hit rate to his entire career, he's hitting .267 against left-handed pitchers in just 367 at-bats, compared to .272 against right-handed pitchers. His BABIP against left-handed pitchers is 16 points lower, despite a line drive percentage 2.1% higher. He also has a better BB/K rate against left-handed pitchers.

 

Conclusion: Casey is definitely not a textbook lefty-killer, but he appears somewhere between as good and mildly better against left-handed pitching than right-handed, despite his record.

 

Perfect platoon candidates would fall further towards the lefty-killer side of the spectrum because you don't have to pay for the player's production against right-handed pitching that you're not using, but that wouldn't prevent me from platooning Casey, at least partially, if Green or Gamel can provide more production.

[umphrey]

Not splits related, but 2 things I've never seen anyone do as much as Casey has this year: take pitches right down the middle and argue/disagree with obvious called strikes

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

Everybody is getting Casey out by pitching him outside. I don't think that he is trying to pull everything, I think that he stands too far from the plate. He can't tell what is a strike and what isn't. It seems on some nights that he would need Alfonso Soriano's bat to reach the outside pitch if he could tell. Lefties or righties probably see no reason to pitch him inside when he stands so far off of the plate. That makes those splits almost meaningless.

[reillymcshane]

Casey has a .213 BABIP against left-handed pitchers this year, despite a 19.1% line drive rate, which is actually better than his 15.9% mark against right-handed pitchers. So it's safe to say he's a clear bounce-back guy against left-handed pitchers next year, and overall.

 

If we expand the sample of his hit rate to his entire career, he's hitting .267 against left-handed pitchers in just 367 at-bats, compared to .272 against right-handed pitchers. His BABIP against left-handed pitchers is 16 points lower, despite a line drive percentage 2.1% higher. He also has a better BB/K rate against left-handed pitchers.

 

Conclusion: Casey is definitely not a textbook lefty-killer, but he appears somewhere between as good and mildly better against left-handed pitching than right-handed, despite his record.

 

Perfect platoon candidates would fall further towards the lefty-killer side of the spectrum because you don't have to pay for the player's production against right-handed pitching that you're not using, but that wouldn't prevent me from platooning Casey, at least partially, if Green or Gamel can provide more production.

Thanks for the info. This is interesting stuff.

[jmeks23]

Honestly guys, just watch him. The hitting against LHP might indeed be flukey, but he has just been awful this year. He's slow, and his bat has slowed. He makes terrible contact, resulting in TONS of groundballs. That's why the BABIP is so low, not because of bad luck, because of weakly hit groundballs that he himself forces. His power is almost non-existent save for one game and he had one pretty good month with hitting and clutch hitting. And even that didn't improve his terrible season statistics by that much. And I know that having a better defensive SS would benefit McGehee (as it did in '09 and '10) but watching him play defense this year is just agonizing. He makes most of the routine plays (as in hit right at him) but he and Yuni combine for a ton of hits on the left side. They just can't get to almost every ball hit that way if it's not hit right at them. The defensive positioning has helped McGehee a bit this year, but at the end of the day he still just sucks.

 

I personally didn't think McGehee was a perennial .290/20HR/100RBI but even I didn't imagine THIS much of a drop off. My biggest fears came true with the guy, and management is too in love with what he has done to realize what he is doing.

 

And once Weeks went down, it really exposed how weak the Brewers are 5-9. Lucroy has lost all power and plate discipline, Betancourt had a good month but is back to being Betancourt, McGehee is as described, and normally whoever has filled in 2B just hasn't produced much of anything.

[Never Outhustled]

If we're going to use a platoon next year, I'd rather it be a lefty killer like Jeff Baker than McGehee.

[FVBrewerFan]

Yea, he's not trying to pull everything. Just watch his ABs, he very often tries to take it to RF. It's just that he usually hits those foul. He never did have a quick bat, so if it is even a little slower, that would make a huge difference. I think it's as simple as that. Whether it's something mechanical CAUSING hes swing to be slower, that I do not know. He also seems to guess wrong more often than the average hitter, especially with two strikes. I said SEEMS, no way to prove that or disprove it. All I know is I have this image I can't get out of my head of him standing at the plate with a confused look as he watches strike 3 travel across the middle of the plate.

[yoshii8]

In todays jsonline poll it asks who should be the brewers everyday 3b, and Taylor Green is ahead 81% to Mcgehee's 19% after 1700 votes. I like Casey, but I think having him play less would be better for the Brewers.