ATLANTA – Davey Martinez laughed as he recalled his only game against Randy Johnson.
On May 24, 1998, the first Devil Rays franchise faced the Mariners at the Kingdome, with the big unit on the mound for Seattle. Tampa Bay’s regular lineup featured two Hall of Famers, Fred McGriff and Wade Boggs. Neither played that day because left-handed hitters faced a special challenge against Johnson, as Johnson had the ability to confuse a good hitter with a dominant start for weeks.
The only left-hander in the lineup that day: Martinez, who batted second and then struck out four times.
Some 26 years later, Martinez was thinking about that scenario as he planned his lineup for tonight’s Series opener against Chris Sale, which explains why CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. are starting against the Braves’ left-hander and Cy Young Award favorite.
“It’s funny because when I looked at how good Chris was this year, it reminded me a lot of Randy Johnson, where all the left-handers were sitting,” Martinez said. “He was really good, so there’s going to be a lot of right-handers. Let’s see if we can beat him that way.”
It is only the third time that Abrams and García (arguably the team’s two best everyday players this season) have been on the bench on the same day, the first since May 15.
García has been in top form this month, posting a .391 batting average and a 1.050 OPS so far in August. And in recent weeks he’s gotten a chance to face left-handed pitchers, a significant development from earlier in the season. As tempting as it may have been to put him on the field against Sale tonight, Martinez was concerned that García might lose his motivation in the process.
Abrams, on the other hand, has been in a persistent slump for weeks. In his last 41 games, he has a batting average of a meager .170 and an OPS of .580, far from his All-Star numbers in the first half of the season.
“It’s nice to give him a little break,” Martinez said. “He’ll be ready to go later in the game. But it’s a good time to get some of those right-handers in there.”
The Nationals have two left-handed starters tonight: left fielder James Wood and third baseman José Tena. The only right-handed player on the bench, however, is backup catcher Riley Adams, so they cannot field an all-right-handed lineup with their current personnel.
Wood has done a good job against left-handed pitching over the first two months of his career, posting a .269 batting average with five extra-base hits, a .338 on-base percentage and a .726 OPS in 74 at-bats. This will be his biggest challenge yet.
“He’s got to stay in there and stay in the middle of the field,” Martinez said. “(Sale) is going to get after him. He can’t chase the slider. Same with Tena. They’ve got to get the fastball and not chase the sliders.”
