Oakland A's ‘don't give a damn' that White Sox hit lefties hard

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The Oakland A’s aren’t about to be intimidated by Tim Anderson’s declaration that they haven’t done their homework as they set their playoff rotation.

Bassitt says he “doesn’t give a damn” about those splits stats in a best-of-three series, but really he should give more of a damn. Going down one game in a BO3 puts any team in an unfavorable position as they have to win two in a row to advance. And when a team hits lefties like the White Sox do, opposing managers should take notice.

Over the 60-game season the White Sox slashed .285/.364/.523 against lefties as a team, according to FanGraphs. Those numbers were good for the second/second/first ranks in all of MLB. It’s not like they’re slouches against righties either. The White Sox 96 homers led the A.L., while their .261 average was second only to the Red Sox.

Since every game is so intense during the postseason, you’d think a manager would want to give his team any advantage he can-- even if that means pushing a great lefty starter to Game 2. However, only time will tell to see if the A’s should’ve paid closer to their scouting reports.

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