MLB Trade Deadline: Philadelphia Phillies Don't Need a Right Handed Bat

Yes, I know the Phillies have struggled badly against left-handed pitching this year. That is no secret and nothing I am going to argue. A collective .238/.309/.357 line is nothing short of poor.

The biggest culprit of that collective stat line has been Ryan Howard. He's faced the most lefties on the team this year, going .238/.301/.320 in 133 plate appearances. Howard also has as many home runs against lefties this year as I do.

Ibanez, whose faced the third most lefties, and shouldn't even be starting in the first place, has been even worse going .224/.252/.408 in 103 plate appearances.

For those who think the Phillies need a good right-handed bat to make the playoffs, that's just wrong. They are going to make the playoffs either way.

So that brings playoff time as when they need this right-handed bat most. The problem is, when looking that far ahead, they really are not in line to face much left-handed pitching.

Currently, the most likely first-round candidates are either the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates or Milwaukee Brewers.

From the Cardinals' possible playoff rotation, only Jaime Garcia is a left-handed pitcher. He's a terrific pitcher, no doubt. In their bullpen, only newly acquired Marc Rzepcynski is a tough left-handed pitcher.

The Milwaukee Brewers three best starters, Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo and Shaun Marcum, are all right-handed. This leaves either left-handed Randy Wolf or left-handed Chris Narveson as their fourth starter in a playoff series. And it's entirely possible neither will start a game at all. Their bullpen currently features no lefties.

Pittsburgh Pirates feature only one lefty in the rotation also. Paul Maholm's career 4.23 xFIP is not impressive, but he's significantly better against lefties. So he has that going for him, which is nice. However, their bullpen features only two lefties, Tony Watson and Joe Beimel. Neither are that impressive, featuring a career 3.93 xFIP and 4.14 xFIP against lefties, respectively. In Watson's case, that sample size is only 39 batters in.

As far as the most likeliest first round opponents go, the Phillies should be perfectly fine facing a plethora of right-handed pitchers.

The next set of possible first round opponents consist of the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Reds currently face an uphill climb at 5.5 games back in the NL Central. Their starting rotation currently features Dontrelle Willis as their only lefty.

I doubt he'd start in the playoffs. If he does, he's a shell of his former self. He still manages to get left-handed hitters out exceptionally, but Rollins, Victorino, Mayberry, and even Francisco would have no problem against him. In the pen, Aroldis Chapman looks to be dominating once again, but their other lefty, Billy Bray, has been one of those rare reverse platoon split players.

Madison Bumgarner will be the lone lefty in the San Francisco Giants playoff rotation, with Barry Zito relegated to the pen, or off the playoff roster completely. In the bullpen, Jeremy Affeldt has not been that much better against lefties than righties, featuring a career 4.01 xFIP and 4.28 xFIP, respectively. However, the split has been larger over the past couple of season. Their other lefty, Javier Lopez, has been tough against left-handed batters the past two years as well.

Three-and-a-half games back of the Giants, the Diamondbacks will most likely feature just one left-handed starter in Joe Saunders. Their only lefty reliever of note is Joe Paterson, who has been somewhat impressive against lefty hitters with a 3.56 xFIP and strong strikeout numbers. However, 67 batters faced is hardly a strong sample size. Zach Duke is another possible lefty, but he probably would not make the playoff roster right now.

As for the last team in the playoff race, the Atlanta Braves, the only way the Phillies will play them is in the NL Championship Series. Even then, their rotation will not feature a left-handed pitcher. Their bullpen will be tough to get through though with Eric O'Flaherty, George Sherrill and Jonny Venters all being tough lefties.

Adding up all of the other playoff contenders starting, playoff rotations, only five of the 28 likeliest starters would be lefties. In the bullpens, only a few teams feature a tough lefty. Certainly the Phillies aren't perfect, but no team in the history of Major League Baseball has been.