Is Randy Choate A Dependable Lefty-Specialist?

Yesterday, we expressed our fear that Randy Choate might actually be able to give up a bases-empty grand slam in a 4-run game. Immediately, several commenters came to the defense of Choate, correctly citing his rough April (10.50 ERA) for his ugly 4.42 ERA. One commenter pointed to Choate’s 3.27 FIP as evidence that he has pitched much better than his ERA (click here for an explanation of FIP). FIP can indeed be a better indicator of a pitcher’s performance. And a 3.27 FIP is generally considered good. But is a 3.27 FIP good for Choate? More specifically, is it good for a lefty-specialist that will normally only face batters in which he has a very strong advantage during the matchup? Let’s take a look at how lefty-specialists* in the American League have fared this season (ranked by FIP versus left-handed batters)… As we can see, Choate is far from (...)Read the rest of Is Randy Choate A Dependable Lefty-Specialist? (119 words) © The Professor for Rays Inde...