Randy Winn is often cited as a valuable, underrated player. For one, he’s the best defensive right fielder that East Coasters have never heard of, and he puts up unspectacular but solid and consistent numbers from either side of the plate.
But the rationale for playing Winn is diminishing by the game. For one, he’s been a fright from the right side. In 56 PA against left-handed pitching, here’s his line:
.109 / .123 / .145
Small sample size and all that, tut tut, but at this point in the year, in this lineup that needs every boost it can get, there’s no reason to start Winn against lefties.
His defense, you say? His glove is so good in right, it makes up for the deficiencies? If so, why has Bruce Bochy shifted Winn to left field to let Nate Schierholtz play right? We don’t know yet if Nate will prove as adept at tracking down balls in the treacherous winds and odd angles of our hometown right field, but, ahem, have you seen the kid’s arm?
So if Winn’s defense isn’t crucial, and his bat from the right side isn’t helping, at least he should play LF and hit third against right-handers, yes?
Indeed, he is hitting well against righties:
.322 / .382 / .475
That’s production. That’s better than Matt Holliday’s totals in Oakland this year. But here’s another glaring split:
Home .227 / .297 / .336
Away .313 / .353 / .453
Is this because the Giants have faced an unusual amount of lefties at home this year? Nope. With roughly the same number of home and away games, the Giants have faced 11 lefty starters on the road and 7 at home. Winn is simply hitting better on the road.
A quick look at his hitting chart tells us most of his fly-ball outs at home are to medium left and center. In other words, he’s not hit into a ton of rotten luck with 410–foot outs to Death Valley. His batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is lower at home, but it’s hard to tell if it’s a function of luck — ie, hard hit balls right at people — or a lot of weak swings producing lazy flies to left and grounders.
It’s possible there’s a reason for all this we could unlock with more perusal of the stats. Perhaps his hot and cold streaks have simply coincided with homestands and road trips. Perhaps it’s all ridiculous small sample sizes. But for a team that needs every hit, every walk, and every run it can muster, it wouldn’t hurt to bench Randy Winn right now except for road games against left right-handed starters.
