Platoon Battles

August 27, 2008 3:55pm CDT

Here, as the title suggests, we will examine platoon battles around baseball. We will focus on things such as who is getting more playing time, how the upcoming schedule might favor a platoon mate over the other and which struggling players could be on the verge of becoming part of a platoon. The goal is to help fantasy owners, especially those of you in deeper leagues, identify platoon players who might be of use to fantasy squads.

Boston Red Sox

Center Field: Mark Kotsay and Coco Crisp
Analysis: According to a report by Gordon Edes of Yahoo Sports published late Tuesday night, the Red Sox have acquired Mark Kotsay from the Braves for a yet to be named minor leaguer. The deal, Edes reports, is pending a physical. For our purposes here, we'll go ahead and operate under the assumption that deal will come off without a hitch.

So, what does this mean for the Red Sox outfield? Glad you asked. With J.D. Drew (back) out for at least another week, and possibly longer, we believe manager Terry Francona will go with a platoon of Kotsay and Coco Crisp in center field, with Jacoby Ellsbury manning right field.

Kotsay has been pretty much what the Braves thought and hoped that they were getting when they obtained him from the Athletics in January. He has provided veteran leadership and solid defense while batting .289 with six homers, 37 RBI and a .758 OPS in 318 at-bats. The 32-year-old has spent time on the disabled list this season with back issues of his own after missing most of the 2007 season in Oakland recovering from back surgery.

Crisp has drawn the ire of the folks up in Boston due to his underwhelming performance. The Red Sox undoubtedly thought when they acquired him from the Indians back in January 2006 that they were getting something more than what Crisp has turned out to be. After posting a .297/.344/.446 with 15 homers, 71 RBI and 20 steals in 491 at-bats in 2004 and .300/.345/.465 with 16 homers, 69 RBI and 15 steals in 594 at-bats in 2005, Crisp has failed to top eight homers, a .330 OBP or reach a .400 SLG in his nearly three seasons with the Red Sox. So far this season, he has hit .263/.323/.396 with seven homers, 32 RBI and 16 steals in 293 at-bats.

Going Forward: The idea of Kotsay and Crisp platooning in center field is a pretty good one based on the statistics. While Kotsay has had a tough time against southpaws (.253-1-8 with .616 OPS in 95 AB), Crisp has hit them fairly well (.289-3-13 with six steals and .787 OPS in 76 AB). On the flipside, Kotsay has handled right-handers to the tune of a .305 batting average with five homers, 29 RBI and .818 OPS in 223 at-bats, compared to Crisp's pedestrian .253 batting average, four homers, 19 RBI and .695 OPS in 217 at-bats versus right-handers. Once Drew returns, however, Kotsay figures to be relegated to a reserve role.

Pittsburgh Pirates
Left Field: Nyjer Morgan and Jason Michaels
Analysis: The Pirates have been looking for an answer in right field since trading Xavier Nady to the Yankees last month. They thought they might have an answer in Steve Pearce. However, after watching Pearce struggle through 55 at-bats, the team decided to option him back to Triple-A Indianapolis and try someone else. Now it appears that they will turn to Nyjer Morgan and Jason Michaels in left field, as Brandon Moss shifts over to right field.

Morgan is somewhat intriguing given his speed and stolen base potential. The 28-year-old offers nothing in the power department, but if he can manage to get on base at a solid clip, he could be a pretty good source of cheap stolen bases the rest of the way. The left-handed hitter amassed a .298-1-33 line with 44 steals, 18BB/47K and .349 OBP in 322 at-bats for Triple-A Indianapolis this season. Receiving significant playing time with Pittsburgh last September, Morgan hit .299 with a homer, seven RBI, seven steals, 9BB/19K and .359 OBP in 107 at-bats. He struggled in sporadic playing time during previous stints with the major league club earlier this season, but he's posted a sparkling .423/.500/.500 with three stolen bases in 26 at-bats since being recalled last week. The leadoff spot has been his in every game in which he has started since August 18.

Michaels has had a strange season from a production standpoint. Being a right-handed hitter, he has excelled against left-handed pitching over the years (.287-20-102 with 96BB/139K and .805 OPS in 734 career AB vs. LHP-that includes this season's numbers). However, this season has seen him struggle mightily against southpaws (.182-1-5 with 6BB/18K and .488 OPS in 77 AB) while batting .253-7-41 with 15BB/34K and .763 OPS in 162 at-bats against right-handed pitching.

Going Forward: The Pirates know what they have in Michaels. He's a 32-year-old journeyman who is best utilized in a platoon situation and his production in that role this season may have even brought that into some question. Morgan, who is not without his own flaws, at least has some upside. The Pirates would be wise to use the rest of the season to determine whether or not the speedster has a role on this team and if so, what exactly that role should be. Expect Morgan to be in the lineup against right-handers the rest of the way, most likely batting from the top of the order. NL-only leaguers should add him and those in mixed leagues desperate for stolen bases may want to give him a look, as well.

Tampa Bay Rays
Left Field: Eric Hinske, Justin Ruggiano and Ben Zobrist

Analysis: We discussed this situation here two weeks ago, but events have warranted an update. Justin Ruggiano was expected to see playing time against left-handers, with Eric Hinske starting against right-handers. Well, that plan has not worked, at least on Ruggiano's side of things. The 26-year-old has managed just two hits in 14 at-bats since being recalled from Triple-A Durham earlier this month. Adding to the shame, he has fanned seven times without drawing a walk. That leaves him with a .143/.143/.143 line. That's not very impressive, is it?

Manager Joe Madden doesn't think so either. He has used utilityman Ben Zobrist in left field instead of Ruggiano against the last two southpaws the team has faced. Zobrist, a switch-hitter, has fared better against lefties than he has against right-handers (.269-2-3 with 3BB/6K, 1 SB and .732 OPS in 52 AB vs. LHP and .211-4-9 with 9BB/16K, 2 SB and .723 OPS in 76 AB vs. RHP) this season. He has made the most of his opportunity. In those two starts over the weekend in Ruggiano's stead, he had three hits, including a homer and three RBI.

Hinske's status remains unchanged from two weeks ago. He continues to play left field against right-handed pitching. The veteran is batting .389 with three homers and seven RBI in 36 at-bats since Carl Crawford went on the disabled list.

Going Forward: The right-handed hitting portion of this platoon is very much up in the air at this point. AL-only leaguers who rolled the dice on Ruggiano a couple of weeks ago can probably safely drop him at this point, if they haven't already. His pitiful showing so far this month, in addition to apparently costing him a platoon role in left field, has no doubt hurt his chances of filling in for Rocco Baldelli on occasion when he needs a break.