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Nixon criticism after last night's 9th

By Randy Booth

Ryan from Let's Go Tribe is a little peeved about something Sox fans have known for a long time: Trot Nixon can't hit left-handed pitchers.

Trot Nixon should be platooned. And by platooned, I mean benched when the Indians face a left-handed starter. And benched when facing a left-handed reliever in the late innings. I don't care if this is Nixon's only trip to Fenway Park, he needed to be pinch-hit for in the ninth inning. Jason Michaels is on this team for a reason.

Some relevant statistics:

Nixon vs. LHP, career: .214/.308/.324
Okajima vs. LHB, 2007: .094/.216/.094 (small sample size)

The whole idea behind the outfield of platoons is that the Indians could leverage a two players' disparate splits in such a way that the combined at-bats for the position would resemble a pretty good corner outfielder. They've given Nixon almost as many at-bats (40) versus left-handers as Kelly Shoppach has had in total (46). Not surprisingly, Nixon's splits are in line with his career averages.

It really is a mystery why Nixon stayed in the game last night for the game's final out. Jason Michaels and former friend Kelly Shoppach were available to hit last night. Michaels is hitting .265 against lefties, but it's a better than Nixon's .231/.289/.308 line so far this season.

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