Pitchers Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner are both batting eighth for the Dodgers and Giants tonight at Dodger Stadium. It’s the first time either team has batted its starting pitcher anywhere other than ninth in the order this season.
Apparently, the coincidence is quite rare.
For the 1st time in a Giants-Dodgers game both starters will bat 8th. Those pitchers, Bumgarner and Greinke, have combined for 7 HR this yr.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 2, 2015
Greinke and Bumgarner are arguably the two best hitting pitchers in the game today.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he hadn’t considered batting Greinke eighth before today.
“The one bad thing we’ve had with the Clayton (Kershaw)-Bumgarner matchup was that Clayton has to hit off a lefty. Now we’ve got Zack hitting off a lefty, a little better matchup for our pitcher. Seriously. Bumgarner has to hit off the righty instead of getting the lefty. Looking at our guys, the way they were stacked, Zack seemed to fit there, it seemed like it’d be the right guy off Bumgarner.”
Bumgarner has five home runs, a .262 batting average, and nine RBIs in 64 plate appearances this season out of the number-nine slot in the lineup. The Giants number-nine hitter today, shortstop Ehire Adrianza, has a .169 batting average and no home runs in 95 plate appearances this season.
Bochy: “Madison may have looked at me if I didn’t hit him 8th today.” Bumgarner: .262 BA, .525 SLG. #9 hitter Ehire Adrianza: .169/.229.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) September 2, 2015