AC was right!

So yesterday we speculated on why in the world Coop walked Nick Johnson, and the best guess was the righty/lefty splits from Chris Sampson.

Sho nuff:

Cooper said he preferred having Sampson face a righthanded hitter (Ramirez) rather than a lefty (Johnson). In a bizarre twist, he said he wouldn't have done the same thing if the game had been closer.

“Simply, Chris is a guy that keeps the ball down,” Cooper said. “When he's on, his slider's good. His sinker is good. If he stays down, he's good on righthanded hitters.”

Except Sampson hasn't been on, and hasn't fully recovered from his DL stint.

Sampson:
“Am I 100 percent? No. He knows that, and he knew that when I came off the DL. I wanted to be here for the team and do the best possible job I can. I hate asking for a day off, but sometimes I don't have a choice. ... (Cooper) said he's definitely giving me (Tuesday) off and probably (today) and try to let me catch back up.”

Walking Nick Johnson, a research update

It apparently stunned the Marlins' stats department, because the Marlins are just now saying that Cecil Cooper is the only manager to ever walk somebody to get to Hanley Ramirez.

For a lame attempt to justify what in the world Coop could have been thinking, click here.

Hang on, Coop intentionally walked Nick Johnson to get to Hanley Ramirez?

Richard Justice:
Challenging Hanley Ramirez is an unusual way to try to win a baseball game, but maybe Cooper figured that because the logical ways weren’t working, he’d try something completely different.

Coop, on walking Johnson to get to Hanley Ramirez:
“I don’t have a problem with that."

Ramirez:
“That’s the first time I’ve seen it."

Yep. Nick Johnson has been intentionally walked four times this season. But never was he walked to get to the National League leader in batting average. Before last night.

Coop had Sampson intentionally walk Nick Johnson to get to Hanley Ramirez, who leads the NL with a .348 average, 7th in OBP (.412), 9th in SLG (.554), 7th in OPS (.966), 2nd in hits (139), 7th in total bases (221), 3rd in doubles (32), 7th in RBI (75), 5th in OPS+ (154).

This doesn't even take into account the fact that Ramirez is now hitting .421 with RISP (45x107), .406 with runners on 1st and 2nd, and .452 with 2 outs and RISP.

Now Johnson ain't no slouch, either. He's hitting .313 with runners on base, and .329 with runners specifically on 1st, but he's also "only" hitting .286 with 2 outs and RISP.

One other clue might be Sampson's splits among lefties and righties. Against LHBs (a group to which Nick Johnson belongs), Sampson this season is allowing a line of .306/.348/.407. Against RHBs (Hanley Ramirez), Sampson's line is .255/.325/.418. Sampson is a good pitcher, but Ramirez is tagging RHPs to the tune of .363/.429/.613, Johnson? .280/.402/.373.

Johnson is a good hitter, but I just can't figure out why Coop would try to get to Hanley Ramirez, and I think Coop overplayed his hand.