Who Needs Lefties, Part Two

In my last post, I looked at teams that used only two lefthanded pitchers in a season. In response to a comment on that post, I figured it would be worthwhile to look at teams that didn't use any lefties. If you go back to the early days of professional baseball, it would be easier to list teams that did use a lefty - the 1876 NL had no confirmed lefthanders (three clubs had pitchers of unknown handedness). Teams remained lefty-averse (or at least didn't employ memorably-handed hurlers) through the early 1890s.

Only four teams since 1900 have gone through an entire season without a single lefthander:

• 1901 Boston Beaneaters (69-69) - used five pitchers in 140 games.
• 1903 New York Giants (84-55) - used seven pitchers in 142 games.
• 1918 Philadelphia Phillies (55-68) - used eleven pitchers in 125 games.
  
• 1934 Chicago White Sox (53-99) - used fourteen pitchers in 153 games.

But does it really matter how many lefties you have if you never use them anyway? Here are the teams since 1954 with the fewest batters faced by lefthanders:

• 1974 Montreal Expos (79-82) - 81 BF by Balor Moore and Terry Enyart
• 2006 Arizona Diamondbacks (76-86) - 113 BF by Randy Choate, Doug Slaten, and Terry Mulholland
• 2000 Kansas City Royals (77-85) - 240 BF by Jose Rosado, Scott Mullen, Paul Spoljaric, and Tim Byrdak
• 1993 Los Angeles Dodgers (81-81) - 275 BF by Omar Daal and Steve Wilson
• 1983 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73) - 276 BF by Dave Geisel and Stan Clarke
• 1954 Baltimore Orioles (54-100) - 287 BF by Bob Kuzava, Billy O'Dell, Dave Koslo, Dick Littlefield, and Jay Heard
• 2001 Milwaukee Brewers (68-94) - 287 BF by Ray King, Lance Painter, and Valerio de los Santos
• 1957 Boston Red Sox (82-72) - 294 BF by Dean Stone, Frank Baumann, and Jack Spring
• 1996 Chicago Cubs (76-86) - 320 BF by Bob Patterson and Larry Casian
• 2000 Houston Astros (72-90) - 343 BF by Billy Wagner, Yorkis Perez, and Wayne Franklin
• 1996 New York Mets (71-91) - 350 BF by John Franco, Bob MacDonald, and Pedro Martinez

Note: the 1994 Los Angeles Dodgers (206 BF), 1994 Oakland Athletics (314 BF), 1981 Cincinnati Reds (344 BF), and 1994 Cleveland Indians (346 PA) played in strike-shortened seasons.

With six games left to play, the 2009 Cardinals duo of Trever Miller and Dennys Reyes has faced a combined 335 batters.

This year's Cardinals and a couple other teams above spoil my ending a bit, but it sure looks to me like the answer to "Who needs lefties?" is "winning teams."

Who Needs Lefties?

With just seventeen games to go this season, the St. Louis Cardinals have used only two lefthanded pitchers, Trever Miller and Dennys Reyes. Miller and Reyes are the only lefties on their current roster, so it is unlikely a third lefty will make an appearance for the club.

Since expansion in 1961, only nineteen other teams have made it through a season with only two lefthanders:

• 1961 Baltimore Orioles: Steve Barber & Billy Hoeft
• 1965 Boston Red Sox: Dennis Bennett & Arnold Earley
• 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers: Jim Brewer & Claude Osteen
• 1971 Montreal Expos: Dan McGinn & John O'Donoghue
• 1974 Montreal Expos: Terry Enyart & Balor Moore
• 1976 Oakland Athletics: Vida Blue & Paul Lindblad
• 1977 Houston Astros: Floyd Bannister & Joe Sambito
• 1981 Cincinnati Reds: Charlie Liebrandt & Joe Price
• 1982 Chicago Cubs: Willie Hernandez & Ken Kravec
• 1982 Toronto Blue Jays: Jerry Garvin & Dave Geisel
• 1983 Cincinnati Reds: Joe Price & Bill Scherrer
• 1983 Toronto Blue Jays: Stan Clarke & Dave Geisel
• 1984 Chicago Cubs: Ron Meridith & Steve Trout
• 1993 Los Angeles Dodgers: Omar Daal & Steve Wilson
• 1996 Chicago Cubs: Larry Casian & Bob Patterson
• 2004 Anaheim Angels: Dusty Bergman & Jarrod Washburn
  
• 2006 LAnaheim Angels: J.C. Romero & Joe Saunders
  
• 2007 LAnaheim Angels: Darren Oliver & Joe Saunders
• 2008 LAnaheim Angels: Darren Oliver & Joe Saunders

With Brian Fuentes newly installed as closer, it took the Angels until the second game of the 2009 season to have three different lefties pitch.

The 1947 Philadelphia Athletics were the last team to use only one lefty. Lou Brissie started all of one game that year, allowing five runs in seven innings.

SO > TB, Minimum 200 AB

This post details one of my personal favorite "teams." It's weird, comparing strikeouts to total bases, but whatever. I guess it springs out of the generalization that strikeouts are okay if you trade them for power. These players just couldn't break even.

The full list since 1901 can be found by following the above link. Andruw Jones and Tony Pena Jr. were new additions last season. The following players have a chance to join them in 2009:

Chris Davis, 128 K, 126 TB, 303 AB
Bill Hall, 95 K, 94 TB, 270 AB
Kelly Shoppach, 90 K, 91 TB, 235 AB
Koyie Hill, 67 K, 71 TB, 212 AB
Jeff Mathis, 64 K, 64 K, 198 AB

Jeff Mathis had as many strikeouts as total bases in 2008 as well. At least he's consistent.