While the Twins try to piecemeal together their once glorious bullpen that has now been blown to smithereens, there is one player already on the roster who should help make the late innings much less of an adventure.
As the Star Tribune’s Joe Christensen reported that the team is bumping Brian Duensing from the rotation and relocating him back to the bullpen.
If you separate out the data from Duensing’s match-ups against same-sided opponents, you would see a pitcher with a tremendous track record:
Duensing vs Left-Handed Hitters (2009-11)
PAs K% BB% GB% Swg. Str% 2009 90 21.1% 6.7% 60% 24% 2010 153 22.2% 4.6% 53% 28% 2011 187 20.3% 3.2% 55% 23% (via Fangraphs & Inside Edge)
Last season, Duensing held lefties to a .210 batting average against, the 14th-lowest among qualified MLB starters last year. What’s more is that Inside Edge’s video scouts found that lefties had a .103 well-hit average off of him – the best in baseball - meaning that nobody on the left was able to put good wood on the ball.
He absolutely stunned them with his outstanding slider. Against his slider, they had a .036 well-hit average (fourth best in baseball) and routinely beat the ball into the ground (61%) for an easy conversion to an out.
Meanwhile, his peripheral stat line against right-handed opponents paints the picture of a much more ordinary and pedestrian hurler:
Duensing vs Right-Handed Hitters (2009-11)
PAs K% BB% GB% Swg. Str% 2009 269 12.6% 9.3% 44% 17% 2010 382 11.5% 7.3% 52% 14% 2011 524 14.7% 8.8% 41% 18% (via Fangraphs & Inside Edge)
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Original Story:
http://overthebaggy.blogspot.com/2011...
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November 30, 2011
