Is too much made about the lefty-righty thing?

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

I know I'm obsessing about this. But I'm still stuck on why Terry would send Campbell up there with a win-or-go-home game on the line.

I get the lefty-righty thing. But Campbell was batting something like .147, so he's not hitting anyone well. He is, at this point, a Quadruple-A guy at best. I know Duda wasn't on the roster -- which is probably something for another thread -- but aren't the odds better that someone like Kelly Johnson or Conforto or De Aza or even d'Arnaud will get a hit even with a lefty on the mound than Campbell ever will? I'm assuming they carried three catchers so they could use one of them as a pinch-hitter.

It didn't make sense to me to have those guys on the bench and see Campbell then Ty Kelly bat in that situation. (And I know Kelly proved me wrong by getting on base.) But Campbell whiffed weakly.

Am I wrong?

[Gwreck]

If Campbell was the better choice to hit leading off the 8th, why wasn't he starting? I don't think Terry has provided an adequate answer to this.

[seawolf17]

Campbell has proven himself to be mostly worthless, offensively. Giving him a crucial AB late in a game like that was a terrible idea.

[metsmarathon]

against lefty pitchers this year...

campbell has hit 0.325/0.212/0.537 in 40 plate appearances

and

conforto has hit a measly 0.170/0.125/0.295 in 53 plate appearances
d'arnaud has hit a meager 0.266/0.190/0.455 in 64 plate appearances
de aza has hit a meek 0.313/0.268/0.581 in 48 plate appearances

but the kellies, johnson and ty, have hit...

kelly johnson 0.296/0.500/0.796 in 27 plate appearances (for the mets, but 0.273/0.434/0.707 overall in 38 pa)
ty kelly 0.500/0.474/0.974 in 24 plate appearances

so.. yeah... wtf - eric campbell...? i guess you would look to the 0.325 obp as the reason to go with the guy... he did have 5 BBs against lefties, and you're hoping to get on any which way you can. but maybe going with johnson, who may not walk but does seem capable of at least contacting the lefty-thrown ball with ill intent, would have been the better play there...

gosh.. looking at the vs.lefty splits... how did this team even sniff the playoffs!?

[Ceetar]

metsmarathon wrote: gosh.. looking at the vs.lefty splits... how did this team even sniff the playoffs!?

they faced like 3 lefties down the stretch.

They should've played Kelly Johnson more often in general.

Duda also should've been in there.