Cards/Cubs today (Saturday)
 

I don't follow the Cards that closely, so I'm hoping a fan can help explain to me wtf LaRussa did at the end of this game today. Chris Duncan is the hottest hitter in the league, and he pinch hits for him with Juan E. with the bases loaded in a lefty/righty move? The guy is hitting something like .600 this week. Is he that bad against LHP? And then pitching Isringhausen two innings? Hasn't he been terrible this year when asked to go more than one? Or am I wrong about that?

Re: Cards/Cubs today (Saturday)
 

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I don't follow the Cards that closely, so I'm hoping a fan can help explain to me wtf LaRussa did at the end of this game today. Chris Duncan is the hottest hitter in the league, and he pinch hits for him with Juan E. with the bases loaded in a lefty/righty move? The guy is hitting something like .600 this week. Is he that bad against LHP? And then pitching Isringhausen two innings? Hasn't he been terrible this year when asked to go more than one? Or am I wrong about that?


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The problem with LaRussa is he doesn't understand this little thing called sample size. He frequently puts enourmous stock in completely statistically insignificant numbers such as Duncan's batting average against lefties. Duncan has 27 at-bats against left handed pitchers, yet he's very quick to pull him in favor of a guy that strikes out all the time.

Re: Cards/Cubs today (Saturday)
 

The thing about LaRussa is, he's an idiot. Pinch hitting the hottest hitter in the NL with a strikeout hitter when all you need his a flyball is pretty bad. I don't have a problem with leaving Izzy in for the tenth after he breezed through the ninth.

Re: Cards/Cubs today (Saturday)
 

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I don't have a problem with leaving Izzy in for the tenth after he breezed through the ninth.

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I have a problem every time Izzy has to throw pitches to the opposing team.

Re: Cards/Cubs today (Saturday)
 

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Chris Duncan is the hottest hitter in the league

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Luke Scott says hello.

Re: Cards/Cubs today (Saturday)
 

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Luke Scott says hello.

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Duncan has a 1.506 OPS in his last seven games. Can't get much hotter than that. By comparison Luke Scott's is 1.327. They've both been doing well, but I don't think there is any question that nobody in the league has been hitting the ball better than Duncan in the last week or so.

Re: Cards/Cubs today (Saturday)
 

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The problem with LaRussa is he doesn't understand this little thing called sample size. He frequently puts enourmous stock in completely statistically insignificant numbers such as Duncan's batting average against lefties. Duncan has 27 at-bats against left handed pitchers, yet he's very quick to pull him in favor of a guy that strikes out all the time.

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http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi...emPCL&bp=b

duncan has a .552 OPS against lefties this year. in AAA. given that his overall numbers this year are a substantial upgrade over previous years, i find it hard to believe this is an aberration.

projecting his numbers to a full season of 700 PA, we find that in a situation where you really need a walk or at least for him to hit a fly ball, he is on pace for 28 walks and 252 strikeouts, and his groundball/flyball ratio is over 5:1. against AAA pitching.

as for him being the hottest hitter in the league, it's been proven over and over this doesn't make a difference. it's fine if you want to believe in things that have no factual basis, but don't try to prove anything using that as an excuse.

la russa (surprisingly) made the right move this time, and it didn't pay off. it happens.