Not much, right?
This batter hit .184 vs righties and .209 vs lefties.
BUT, this batter draws walks. Especially, for some reason vs. lefties.
He draws 84 bases on balls. 64 vs. lefties!
It hasn't made him that great of a hitter. Instead of muttering that he has a .196 batting average, he can puff his chest and tell all who will listen that his OBP is .298....348 vs lefties.
Even a .298 OBP is hardly much to brag about.
This player would still not be somebody we would covet on our fantasy roster.
We would want our pitchers to face guys like this.
Which is good because this fellow is a pitcher.
It is Julio Teheran.
All the stats listed are what he gave up last year.
His .196 BAA is the same BAA that Jake deGrom had last year.
Teheran has actually only given up a .236 BAA over his eight year career.
That's right. Eight years. That long
And he just turned 29 years of age.
It just seems like he should be older.
And with that youngish arm, he just completed his sixth straight year of 30 Starts or more.
BUT, getting back to our profile.
There are those base on balls.
Teheran has been in the top 10 of walks allowed three of the last four years.
I hate bases on balls from my pitchers. (almost as much as my batters taking a walk
)For some reason, Teheran has remained a staple pitcher on most of my teams in the NFBC despite these walks.
There's a reason.
He doesn't walk a batter because of control problems.
He actually has very good control.
As seen by his 20 walks in over 350 plate appearances to RH batters.
There is a reason for that....
Teheran has every confidence that he can put away right handed batters.
He pitches against right handed hitters as if playing Chess with Queens for pawns.
Vs. left handed batters, Teheran becomes the pawn.
Almost fearing lefty swingers, especially good left handed hitters, he pitches around them.
Making them hit his pitch, strike or ball, with a walk being the result of no enticement.
Is it a bad thing?
Sure, 64 bases on balls vs lefties looks hideous compared to just 20 vs. righties.
I've become accustomed to it and even enjoy the show when he faces a lefty.
Christian Yelich has walked eight times vs. Teheran with just 11 hits, two doubles being his only extra base hits.
Teheran plays Yelich like a fiddle.
Unfortunately, his walking lefties doesn't always work.
Teheran has walked Bryce Harper 11 times. Not enough.
Harper hit .450 with eight homers in just 40 at bats against Teheran.
Think about that for a minute. If home runs were the only outcomes ruled as hits, Harper would still be hitting .200 vs Teheran.
Teheran is a hard pitcher to own. Many peaks and valleys.
But the game within the game and his pursuit of getting lefties to hit 'his' pitch is priceless.
By now, you're probably wondering what happens when the immovable object faces vs. the unstoppable force.
Teheran vs. Votto.
Votto has a .500 OBP. That is what keeps him and his backers happy.
But in over 20 at bats vs. Teheran? One RBI.
Votto wins the OBP battle. Teheran wins the war.