We know that the Mets try to maximize the number of PA that Jerry Blevins gets against lefty batters.
In Wednesday’s game, the Mets brought Hansel Robles in with the bases loaded. He gave up a HR and a BB before getting the third out of the inning. He came out to start the following inning to face Cameron Rupp, who came into the game batting .143 and who was already 0-2. Robles retired Rupp and then was removed for Blevins, who came on to get the final two batters of the inning, who were both lefties.
Why did the Mets feel the need to bring back a shaky Robles?
Which brings us to today’s factoid: In 831 career PA versus RHB, Blevins has held them to a .718 OPS, including a .611 mark last year. Meanwhile, in 346 lifetime PA versus RHB, Robles has a .765 OPS, including a .784 mark last year. Historically, Blevins has performed better against RHB than Robles.
A lot of this has to do with sample bias as Blevins usually is taken out when the tougher righty hitters come to plate.
For example, Blevins has faced Stanton just twice (and both times he was IBB) while Robles has faced him 8 times.
It’s not an apples to apples comparison because the RHB that Blevins faces are of much lower quality than Robles. It doesn’t mean he can’t do it, he just hasn’t been given the chance.
That effect exists, without a doubt. But I disagree that it’s a lot.
And in the particular case I used in the example – it was not for anyone amazing. It was for a run of the mill righty off to a poor start.
I was commenting on the overall numbers you cited and showing why you can’t just compare them at face value.
Also another factor to consider is that Blevins did a lot of his pitching in the power-starved era of 2010-2015 which may explain why his raw OPS is as low as it is.
But we’re measuring OPS and if you look at the league totals for the AL, where Blevins was pitching most of that time, it’s indistinguishable from what was done in the NL in 2016. The year he should have had the biggest advantage was 2014, where he was back in the NL and the league had a .694 OPS. But that year, RHB posted an .821 OPS against him.