Tonight's lineup: Pierre in, Ethier out

So much for winning 5 games in a row. Thanks Joe you really know how to kill momentum. Can't wait for Slappy to ground out to second 3 times tonight.

Tony, today on Jim Rome is Burning Mike Scioscia was throwing down stats left and right about how well his team is performing. He even noted the difference in how many runs they averaged before and after the Texieria trade. I'd be willing to bet if you asked Joe if he knew how many runs we averaged as a team he'd be clueless. I'd also be willing to bet that if you asked him who the team averaged more runs per game with leading off he wouldn't know. I know Joe is an "old-school" guy (I hate that term by the way it just means they refuse to change or evolve their managing techniques) but even a simple stat like runs averaged should be known by the teams manager shouldn't it?

Pierre vs. left handed pitching:
AVG: .355
OBP: .388
SLG: .398
OPS: .786
.
Ethier vs. left-handed pitching:
AVG: .195
OBP: .278
SLG: .345
OPS: .623
.
Res ipse loquitur.

Did anyone here take note of the fact that Manny Parra, the Brewers' starting pitcher, is a left-hander?

Pierre vs. left handed pitching (93 at-bats):
AVG: .355
OBP: .388
SLG: .398
OPS: .786
.
Ethier vs. left-handed pitching (87 at-bats):
AVG: .195
OBP: .278
SLG: .345
OPS: .623
.
Res ipse loquitur.

Who cares. Richie Sexson is batting .325 against lefties this year. Would you rather have him then Ethier out there tonight? I didn't think so. We are a better team offensively when Slappys not in the lineup and we are a better team defensively when he's not in the lineup.

I wouldn't get too upset max_power.

If Andre raked lefties this year, we wouldn't have to worry about it. So Pierre does have the edge against LHP's . Ethier will get the majority of the starts going forward, so I can't complain. Pierre is the 4th OF now.

Using only this season's stats opens up the small sample size problem. Against LHP:

Ethier career: .275 / .324 / .406 / .730 in 300 PA
Pierre career: .303 / .347 / .346 / .694 in 1462 PA (Pierre's numbers get slightly worse for 2005-present as Juan declines)

That choice is less clear-cut. But since Torre judges only by what he's actually seen with his own two eyes, using this season's splits only allows one to be as myopic as Joe.