Cliff Lee's Splits

by dajafi on Jul 29, 2009 2:26 PM EDT

New Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee's career .634 winning percentage looks pretty good on its face--but he's been even better against the National League, with a 12-2 career mark in interleague play. In 22 starts against the NL, Lee has put up a 3.18 ERA, pitching 141.1 innings, allowing 133 hits (including 19 home runs) and 44 walks, and striking out 108.

Naturally, he hasn't worked much against the Phillies' NL East rivals or potential playoff opponents, but what numbers we have look pretty good (all data from Baseball Reference):

vs. Braves: 1 start, 1-0, 2.57, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 7 K

vs. Marlins: 2 starts, 1-0, 4.09, 11 IP, 13 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 HR, 7 BB, 10 K

vs. Mets: NR

vs. Nats: NR

vs. Cubs: 2 starts, 1-0, 2.45, 14.2 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 HR, 6 BB, 8 K

vs. Dodgers: 1 start, 0-0, 1.23, 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 HR, 1 BB, 3 K

vs. Giants: 2 starts, 2-0, 1.20, 15 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 15 K

vs. Cardinals: 2 starts, 2-0 (1 CG/SHO), 1.20, 15 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 11 K

Against potential World Series opponents, Lee has has more mixed results:

vs. Angels: 8 starts, 5-3 (2 CG), 3.32, 57 IP, 55 H, 24 R, 21 ER, 5 HR, 11 BB, 27 K

vs. Red Sox: 9 starts, 2-4, 4.39, 4.39, 55.1 IP, 55 H, 28 R, 27 ER, 6 HR, 23 BB, 50 K

vs. White Sox: 19 starts (21 games), 6-6 (1 CG/SHO), 5.65, 110 IP, 129 H, 71 R, 69 ER, 15 HR, 32 BB, 72 K

vs. Yankees: 9 starts, 4-4, 5.02 52 IP, 62 H, 32 R, 29 ER, 8 HR, 18 BB, 39 K

vs. Rays: 10 starts, 6-2, 2.32, 73.2 IP, 60 H, 21 R, 19 ER, 6 HR, 13 BB, 54 K

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Comments

How are his lefty/righty splits?

by taco pal on Jul 29, 2009 2:40 PM EDT reply actions

not terrible

career vs. RHB: .263/.321/.416
career vs. LHP: .265/.307/.402

This year, he’s been worse vs. righty hitters (.303/.348/.426) but superb against lefties (.216/.236/.275). And his full-season BABIP is .322, suggesting he’s been somewhat hit-unlucky. The good news is that he’s allowed just 10 HR despite having a rep as a fly-ball pitcher; I think I read that his G/F ratio is much better since the start of ’08 than it was earlier.

by dajafi on Jul 29, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

but last year

in his Cy Young year, lefties actually hit him better (.272/.299/.362) than did righties (.245/.279/.343).

So he’s not exactly Kyle Kendrick in this regard.

by dajafi on Jul 29, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting. How’s Jacobs Field as a home run ballpark?

by taco pal on Jul 29, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions

one of the lowest in the league this year, but thats also cuz the indians suck

by LondonPhillie on Jul 29, 2009 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Too bad park effect isn’t calucated like that. It’s isn’t about where most HRs are it. It is a comparative stat to how many HRs are hit at home vs on the road.

The Indians have hit 70 HRs away vs 75 for their opponents and 46 at home vs 45 for their opponents. It’s not about HOW MANY but instead WHERE.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Jul 29, 2009 8:51 PM EDT up reply actions

He’s really improved across the board, but limiting home runs has been a huge factor in his improvement. He’s gone from 1.48 HR/9 in 07 to 0.52 in 08 and 0.60 in 09. Part of that is his newfound ability to throw ground balls: according to Hardball Times he threw 35.3% GB in 2007, 45.9% last year, and 43.1% this year. That’s particularly heartening for me since we have pretty strong infield defense. But part of it is also a really low HR/FB rate that probably isn’t sustainable.

by phila on Jul 29, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I guess we should be pulling for Colorado to win the wild card? They have the most lefthanded lineup of all our potential opponents.

by taco pal on Jul 29, 2009 2:44 PM EDT reply actions

They're already chirping on blogs and columns...

about how Manny is going to eat up all these left handers in the post-season. But how did that work out last year? Only thing that concerns me is Lee’s flyball vs. groundout potential. But this trade appears to be grand theft!

by Boundforbeach on Jul 29, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Manny's 1 person

& he’s not on roids anymore

by sports00fan00 on Jul 29, 2009 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

I think

the Phillies know how to pitch to Ramirez. They don’t always stick to the plan, and he’s certainly burned them when location is off. But the approach is solid.

by dajafi on Jul 29, 2009 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Manny’s actually been better against righties the last two years. Career splits are more normal though.

by taco pal on Jul 29, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Manny did eat up everyone in the postseason. The problem was no one else did.

by SJPhillyVT on Jul 29, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

The RIGHT Move!

Ruben is proving he’s no Ed Wade. THIS is the right move for this team. To get a Cy Young winner, and a laefty to boot, without gutting the farm system is a major coup!

by JohnCap523 on Jul 29, 2009 3:05 PM EDT reply actions

In a way, this was an Ed Wade type move. It looks like Ruben blocked off the two best prospects in the system and insisted on keeping them out of a trade until somebody agreed to a trade without them. This is exactly what Wade used to do.

The difference is that Ruben’s going to get something good back in return. Wade would be even more cautious, but would only get stuff like middle relievers back, who would then disappoint us. Then again, there’s a lot more to work with today.

by taco pal on Jul 29, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Manny loves Charlie, Charlie taught him how to hit in Cleveland. Charlie also knows how to pitch to Manny, damage control. Don’t be worried about the Dodgers, the Phillies control their destiny in the NL. With our hitting and now pitching, don’t worry about one man

by CoburnsCuddleBuddy on Jul 29, 2009 3:13 PM EDT reply actions

Funny...

Check out the Blue Jays sister site on SBnation (bluebird banter). They are still talking about getting Drabek, Happ and Brown for Halladay, even after this trade. It’ll never happen, but if it did, it would rock the baseball world to its very foundation…

by Boundforbeach on Jul 29, 2009 3:16 PM EDT reply actions

they have no leverage

we could trade kendrick, bastardo, brown & taylor, if they get no better offer from a team not in their division

by sports00fan00 on Jul 29, 2009 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Halladay now off the market

At least, that’s what this msnbc column reports. Not sure if I believe it or not.

http://bases.newsvine.com/_news/2009/07/29/3088165-blue-jays-gm-were-keeping-halladay-this-year-and-next-year?category=sports

by Boundforbeach on Jul 29, 2009 3:29 PM EDT reply actions

Not sure if I believe it for next year, but I believe it for this year. At this point they’re not going to get much more if they trade him now versus in the offseason.. at least if they trade him in the offseason they’ve got a chance to get a few more teams interested and competing.

by wildcatlh on Jul 29, 2009 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions

.......Quick every Phillies fan to the obsolete ESPN poll

by wrg885 on Jul 29, 2009 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

Wow...

90% of Ohio thinks they got fleeced. That GM must be about as popular as Ed Wade was…

by Boundforbeach on Jul 29, 2009 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Splits

Cliff Lee is definitely a huge upgrade for the Phillies, but keep in mind that he is coming from one of the friendliest pitching parks in all of baseball. Even adjusting his stats to a neutral park, or looking at his road stats, the numbers are still very good. Just not nearly as good as his home or overall stats. The main difference is his HR rate.

2009 Home: 3HR, 75IP
2009 Away: 7HR, 77IP

Last year he actually pitched better at home, so this may be a sampling size problem. Nonetheless, he is going from a pitchers park to a hitters park, so it should be interesting to see if his numbers suffer at all. Could be hard to tell though as the NL is a weaker hitting league than the AL. So the two factors could cancel each other out.

Nice move though!

vr, Xei

by Xeifrank on Jul 29, 2009 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

I presume you mean away.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Jul 29, 2009 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Impressive

I like the trade even more after reading this.

by boknows71 on Jul 29, 2009 4:46 PM EDT reply actions

Hmm. So I thought everyone might like to know that I tuned into Howard Eskin’s show briefly and was shocked, shocked! to find that he’s currently crapping all over the trade, even as he thinks the Phillies gave up “squat” for Lee. Says he’s “disappointed” at the Phillies, that they consistently overvalue their prospects (“which,” he says, “are exactly that, prospects” – whatever that means), that they should have gone all in because “if you’re a good enough organization, you’ll find more of those guys.” Says the Phillies have no history of being able to develop pitchers because their last homegrown pitcher who made two all-star games was Chris Short. Reminisces about Mike Grace, who “was a prospect who started out 7-0 and then won eight more games the rest of his career.” Repeatedly mocks Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ by referring to them as “Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ – oh, I’m sorry, I meant Sandy Koufax and Tom Seaver.” Says Halladay is better than Lee, though his ire seems to be directed less at the fact that the Phillies didn’t get Halladay and more at the fact that the Phillies didn’t trade away Drabek & co.

Actually, on second thought, no one probably cared to hear any of that. Sorry.

by taco pal on Jul 29, 2009 4:53 PM EDT reply actions

Howard Eskin who?

by CoburnsCuddleBuddy on Jul 29, 2009 5:02 PM EDT up reply actions

I am sick of Howard Eskin. I think the king will be dethroned soon. I use to listen to him and even like him but now I listen to Mike Miss at ESPN (not that he is that much better). What I hate is all Eskin does is rip the Phils as being cheap but the Eagles walk on water. What a loser in my opinion. Will attend the party when he is dethroned!

What I like about Mike Miss is that he listens to his callers and is reasonsble. Does not call his calllers all the names in the book.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

by DeanH on Jul 29, 2009 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Mike MIss is a putz

Don't frack with me or you'll get a punch in the kidneys...you've been warned

by jemagee on Jul 29, 2009 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Does he happen to know who cole hamels is?

Call him up – tell him you want to send him some roses

Don't frack with me or you'll get a punch in the kidneys...you've been warned

by jemagee on Jul 29, 2009 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Good to know

That Eskin did not like the trade. I feel even better about it now.

by PhDave on Jul 29, 2009 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

felt the same way. If Conlin unzips on it tomorrow, even better.

by Wet Luzinski on Jul 29, 2009 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Those two guys are similar in dickishness, but the big diff is that Conlin usually is pretty well informed. He’s superbly knowledgeable about baseball; his issue is that sometimes “what he knows” gets in the way of what he doesn’t, if you catch my meaning—new info can be lost on him.

I’ll be very, very surprised if his reaction is anything but strongly positive. They didn’t trade his beloved Michael Taylor, and he’s a big Amaro fan to start with. And Lee, as we know, is pretty damn good.

by dajafi on Jul 29, 2009 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions

if Gillick taught Amaro anything, it should be that Eskin and Conlin are living embodiments of the George Costanza “opposite guy” principle.

by Wet Luzinski on Jul 29, 2009 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s a really outstanding encapsulation of what Conlin’s all about and what’s wrong with him. If anything, I’d say Conlin’s even more of a jerk than Eskin – but Conlin is at least sincere, whereas Eskin is both a jerk and entirely cynical.

Also, if you grew up on superhero cartoons like I did, you often instinctively expect evil people to be in league with each other, and have to be reminded from time to time that real life doesn’t work that way. Eskin and Conlin despise one another.

by taco pal on Jul 29, 2009 10:25 PM EDT up reply actions

by phils11 on Jul 29, 2009 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions

from the looks of things, I got into the car about an hour after the deal was announced. I tuned in and quickly surmised a deal was made, but the overall vibe was of a wake. And Eskin’s court of dyspeptic a-holes were chiming in, like Cliff Lee is some sort of Joe Cowley reincarnate. Had to turn to KYW to hear the particulars, then was immediately relieved.

by Wet Luzinski on Jul 29, 2009 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions