Let Kim Hit Against Lefties

[Can_of_corn]

Actually Reimold wasn't pretty decent last year. He had -0.1 WAR because he was absolutely atrocious defensively. And he's been a below replacement player since his great rookie season which was seven years ago.

First off he was at .5 fWAR last year.

Secondly I think replacement level is pretty OK for #23-25 when they are making less than 2M.

Not sure why folks have such expectations for end of the bench guys.

[weams]

0-14 eh? Remind me how he started this spring training.

Oh, so you assume that he will crush!. Fantastic.

[Redskins Rick]

First off he was at .5 fWAR last year.

Secondly I think replacement level is pretty OK for #23-25 when they are making less than 2M.

Not sure why folks have such expectations for end of the bench guys.

AMEN, and I agree.

[DirtyBird]

First off he was at .5 fWAR last year.

Secondly I think replacement level is pretty OK for #23-25 when they are making less than 2M.

Not sure why folks have such expectations for end of the bench guys.

End of bench guys should be above average in something, anything. Reimold isn't.

[Can_of_corn]

End of bench guys should be above average in something, anything. Reimold isn't.

No, they should be able to pass for major league players in poor lighting.

What plus tool does Flaherty have?

[Frobby]

I would not be against giving Kim more opportunities against lefties. Even Pedro Alvarez, who has a long track record of not hitting lefties well, has had more PA vs. LHP than Kim has.

[DrungoHazewood]

No, they should be able to pass for major league players in poor lighting.

What plus tool does Flaherty have?

The ability to fill in semi-competently at seven positions when called upon. That's a near necessity when your bench is Caleb Joseph, Nolan Reimold and Ryan Flaherty.

[DrungoHazewood]

End of bench guys should be above average in something, anything. Reimold isn't.

I think the role of 4th/5th outfielder has changed as benches have shrunk. Used to be you could keep a plus-plus runner/fielder who'd hit .202 because you had him AND Jim Dwyer AND Benny Ayala, who couldn't really field or run.

Plus, it's easier to construct a roster where everyone has plus ability or tool in theory than in reality.

[Redskins Rick]

I think the role of 4th/5th outfielder has changed as benches have shrunk. Used to be you could keep a plus-plus runner/fielder who'd hit .202 because you had him AND Jim Dwyer AND Benny Ayala, who couldn't really field or run.

Plus, it's easier to construct a roster where everyone has plus ability or tool in theory than in reality.

Larger pens has impacted the bench depth for sure.

[Machado13]

I was critical of Kim before season and it was mainly due to what appeared to be dicey defense.

He's hit well and deserves to play every day.

[DrungoHazewood]

I think WAR hurt bench guys that don't play regularly.

Just like "home runs" and "singles" are hurt by not playing as much.

[TradeAngelos]

What were Kim's splits in Korea? The KBO page doesn't have them, bb-ref only has a tiny fraction of 2009.

A typical platoon split for lefties is about 0.035 points of wOBA. Kim currently sits at .367. So a typical LvL split for him would be about .330. If your prior is that he doesn't hit MLB lefties that well, maybe it's more like .310 or .320. In the absence of better information I'd expect his performance against lefties to be somewhere between the current production of JJ Hardy and Chris Davis.

It was mentioned...somewhere (I'll try to find it)....that in his last 2 years in KBO he actually hit lefties better than righties, by a not insignificant margin.

Kim should be in the lineup every day, Reimold or any other alternative is almost worthless. It is just a hole at the bottom of the lineup. And the field isn't much better.

[sportsfan8703]

No, they should be able to pass for major league players in poor lighting.

What plus tool does Flaherty have?

He's a plus defender at 3rd base. I agree that bench players aren't going to blow you away. But Reimold has been living off one hot streak all season.

OPS by month

April/March- 33 PA 1.136 OPS

May- 54 PA .703 OPS

June- 43 PA .592 OPS

July- 39 PA .488 OPS

August- 19 PA .330 OPS

He's 3 for his last 40 AB's. It's a shame Rickard and Pearce are hurt.

[DrungoHazewood]

It was mentioned...somewhere (I'll try to find it)....that in his last 2 years in KBO he actually hit lefties better than righties, by a not insignificant margin.

Kim should be in the lineup every day, Reimold or any other alternative is almost worthless. It is just a hole at the bottom of the lineup. And the field isn't much better.

Just keep in mind that even several years of platoon splits are less accurate for projections than simply using a generic 0.035 wOBA split. Takes a lot of data to stabilize. Reverse splits almost never hold up over the long term, 95+% of all players have handedness splits that go the typical way.

[weams]

It was mentioned...somewhere (I'll try to find it)....that in his last 2 years in KBO he actually hit lefties better than righties, by a not insignificant margin.

Kim should be in the lineup every day, Reimold or any other alternative is almost worthless. It is just a hole at the bottom of the lineup. And the field isn't much better.

It was the KBO. And they threw 87 mph.