What’s In A Bench?
Building a strong bench isn’t one of the first priorities for a baseball team. Realistically most of the players on a bench won’t get a significant number of at bats, meaning that you should use players who make up for your starter’s weaknesses. As Thom Tsang recently reported, the Toronto Blue Jays have announced that Omar Vizquel has earned a spot on the bench. While Vizquel may be a fantastic mentor, he’s part of the bigger problem of a very flawed Blue Jays bench.
Vizquel isn’t a great option off the bench at this point in his career. His defence isn’t what it used to be, and while he’s never been known for his bat he just missed putting up a 600 OPS last season. While a player with Vizquel’s knowledge and experience is useful on the bench, it forces the team to use superior hitters with the other spots to make up for Vizquel’s inability to hit. Unfortunately, the Jays haven’t done that, and as we’ll see with our next bench player, it’s cause for some concern.
The Jays built their bench around defence, and it’s one of the reasons they acquired backup catcher Jeff Mathis. The glowing reports of his defence haven’t matched the numbers, as Mathis career CS% of 23.6% is decidedly below average. Maybe Mathis is a better pitch framer or plate blocker than I give him credit for, or maybe he knows just what to say to a pitcher in a tough spot. I don’t know. What I do know, is that for two years in a row he’s been below replacement level at -0.8 (in both 2010 and 2011), meaning that a AAA call up would be more productive than Mathis. Even if you don’t like advanced stats, his 174 batting average isn’t exactly inspiring behind the plate. To put it in perspective how bad he is, since 1950 among position players with at least 1000 PA, Mathis is the 16th worst hitter by wOBA. So his defence needs to be among the best in the game to make up for this deficiency, and clearly, that’s not the case.
Why is this a problem? JP Arencibia is likely going to need 30-40 games off, as catchers can’t play everyday. So every 5th or so game when the Jays are forced to use Mathis, it’ll be like having the pitchers spot in the lineup. Actually, it’ll be worse, because Mathis (484 OPS in 2011) got outhit by the average pitcher (607 OPS) last season. So if Arencibia misses any time due to injury, Mathis will potentially be forced into full time play.
Ben Francisco is another member of the Jays bench, and he really doesn’t bring anything to the table. He’s a below average defensive outfielder, meaning it’s unlikely he can be used in right or center. He hits right and left handed hitters equally, meaning he’s not a great candidate for a platoon role. And he’s not a particularly strong hitter for a poor defensive corner outfielder, as for his career he’s been 3% above league average. So he’s not a good defensive replacement in the late innings, he can’t replace Colby Rasmus or Eric Thames against left handed pitching, and he’s not a particularly useful pinch hitter. And if an outfielder gets injured, Travis Snider will likely be called up, so Francisco brings no value to the Jays bench.
As I argued a few weeks ago, the Jays should have DFA Francisco while moving Edwin Encarnacion to the bench. This would have allowed the Jays to evaluate both Thames and Snider in the same lineup, while giving them a strong right handed option to pinch hit or start against a tough lefty. Additionally, it gives the Jays a real first base backup, as the current backup is the starting DH. Which makes absolutely no sense, because if Adam Lind goes down with an injury in a game, the Jays will have to turn their DH into a first baseman, and lose the DH for the rest of the game.
The final member of the bench, Rajai Davis, is probably the most valuable member of Toronto’s reserves. Davis is a fantastic runner, and in a late game situation his speed off the bench will be incredibly valuable. He’s a strong option against left handed pitching, which means the Jays can rotate him in for Thames or Rasmus against a tough southpaw. He’s been a solid defender in the past, so in the late innings they can remove Thames and take advantages of Davis’ range in left.
Because the Jays are using a 7 man bullpen, it forces them to build a smaller bench. If any of their starters get injured for even a short period of time, one of these 4 players will be getting some extended play time. While the Jays aren’t expected to contend for a playoff spot, the bench is a cause for concern, and hopefully as the season goes on they’ll be able to fix this weakness. Because it’s very scary to think that Jeff Mathis, Rajai Davis, Ben Francisco and Omar Vizquel could be in the lineup at any point in this season.
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