Keith Law: Upon Further Review

ESPN's Keith Law explained why Padres manager made a horrible mistake last night in opting for side winding Cla Meredith for starter Justin Germano in the 6th inning with the bases juiced and no outs. Law wanted to see Black go to a "killer lefty" to face Mets left handed struggling slugger Carlos Delgado, Mr. Law also points out that the Friars do not employ a pitcher who fits the description of a killer lefty. Law also states that Cla Meredith was the worst possible pitcher to face a left handed hitter due to the arm slot that he throws from. Let's see what FF feels about Law's thoughts.

I think we all can agree that the Padres had a 6-1 lead at the time of the pitching change. Bud Black, in the 6th inning, was willing to trade outs for a runs. Who in the Padres bullpen would one go to in to get a ground ball? How about Cla Meredith, I hear he throws a heavy sinker. As far as the Padres lack of the killer lefty ~ I think the last time they had that guy in their bullpen was in 1998 when they acquired Randy Meyers ,that sure didn't work out well. The Padres have long been known to have the best relief crew in the game with or without a lefty. Why do you need a lefty to call on when your right handed relievers have the ability to get the southpaws out?
In looking at the roster FF found that only Heath Bell and Trevor Hoffman are better against right handed batters (and these are the 2 best, most reliable arms in MLB's best bullpen). Doug Brocail holds lefties to a .180 clip,Kevin Cameron keeps them to .220, and lefty Justin Hampson holds LH's to just .196. As far as Cla Meredith is concerned, he too has faired better against lefties although the batting average against him is a plump .292.

Clearly, the article was meant to point out the Pads don't have a Billy Wagner type lefty, however in looking at the whole picture we can see that the Padres are doing well with the guys they have. I'm not sure what bothers me more: the lack of research, or the dismissal of the game situation. A ground ball would have been 2 outs and one run. Of course the maneuver did not work last night, but it has worked over the long haul of the season. I do agree with you that Bruce Bochy did perfect the art of mismanaging. I actually wanted to see Black stick with Germano in that situation, but understand he wanted a double play grounder in exchange for a run or 2.