The New York Yankees return from their road trip on Friday as they host the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. Jordan Montgomery is lined up to start that game for the Bombers. He’s coming off his worst start of the year on Sunday in Baltimore, lasting just three innings while surrendering five runs on six hits. I’m still a Monty believer, as he’s been mostly good this season. However, I think the Yankees should skip his start on Friday and call up Deivi Garcia. This has nothing to do with his last outing. Rather, Friday’s opponent. And the fact of the matter is, the White Sox absolutely mash lefties.
Here are Chicago’s numbers in the 29 games they’ve faced right-handed starting pitching:
.246 BA, .331 OBP/.368 SLG/.699 OPS, 22 HR, 4.17 runs/game, 99 OPS+
Nothing special here. The 99 OPS+ shows us that the White Sox have actually been just under league average when facing a righty starter. Now, let’s contrast that with the numbers in the 11 games against a lefty:
.309 BA, .393 OBP/.533 SLG/.926 OPS, 17 HR, 8.64 runs/game, 162 OPS+
Small sample size? Yeah, definitely a bit. But it’s pretty clear that this lineup mashes lefties. Or, at a minimum, they are currently mashing lefties. Chicago’s OBP jumps 60 points, slugging increases 150 points. Runs per game more than doubles, and their overall production goes from a touch below league average to 62% above it. These splits are no joke.
On top of it all, Garcia is throwing the ball well in Scranton right now. No reason not to give the kid a spot start.
After fanning 16 in 10 innings of work for the @swbrailriders, RHP Deivi García has been named Triple-A Pitcher of the Week 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ZeH0akrMV9
— NYYPlayerDev (@NYYPlayerDev) May 17, 2021
I’m not trying to say righty/lefty matchups are everything. In fact, it’s the reason Garcia pitched just one inning in ALDS Game 2 last October. But sometimes you just need to put your team and players in a better position to succeed. Montgomery and the Yankees would both be better off with Garcia on the mound this weekend. The Yankees haven’t officially announced their weekend rotation yet, so we’ll see how they decide to play it.
Should the Yankees go with Garcia on Friday, or just stick with the rotation as is? Let me know in the comments or @ncostanzo24
