Davey Martinez went left-hand heavy with Saturday’s lineup trying to get an advantage with Mets’ right-hander Marcus Stroman on the mound. Stroman, 29, started the day with a 0.90 ERA in 20 IP this season, over which left-handed hitters had a combined 152/.243/.242 line so far in 2021, versus a .147/.147/.176 for right-handed hitters. In his career, Stroman’s line vs lefties (.260/.319/.384) was slightly worse as well (.258/.305/.381 for RHB).
“We like the left-handed hitters against Stroman,” Martinez explained. “I think that they fare a little bit better, numbers-wise, so and [Yadiel Hernández] (who was hitting second in the lineup and playing right field) — the other day he hit the ball at 106 MPH, 28°, so any other day but that day it would have been a home run.