Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters – Hitting Left and Right
Jul 27, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a walk-off home run in the eleventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Wieters saved the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night by delivering two critical hits: a single that moved the game-tying run to third in the bottom of the ninth, and a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. He may have saved more than just a game. We may remember this critical win for a long time.
Wieters’ clutch hit in the ninth came off former Orioles closer Jim Johnson – his fourth blown save of the season. Finally a Johnson blown save helps the O’s! But honestly, he has had at least a decent season for the Braves. He came into the game with a 2.11 ERA and record of 2-3 in 48 appearances, along with nine saves.
The hard-hit single by Wieters moved Adam Jones to third where he scored on J.J. Hardy’s sac fly – another clutch moment for Hardy, whose average is not the best, but who seems to make the most of tight situations.
The walk-off homer by Wieters in the 11th was hit off the Braves’ lefty Luis Avilan. It was the fourth walk-off bomb in Matt’s career, this one stroked well out in deep right-center field. Nolan Reimold came just a few feet short of doing the same thing in the previous inning (Reimold had a single, double and walk in five plate appearances in the leadoff position – hopefully beginning a trend.).
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Wieters has definitely had more power in his career when hitting right-handed against lefties. This was his 36th such homer, hitting one in every 22 at-bats from that side. Though he has 60 career homers when batting left-handed, they only occur once in every 34 at-bats. His career average is also 27 points better versus lefties, though over the portions in has played in the past two years (as well as his first two years in MLB) just the opposite was true.
The numbers for Matt Wieters in this regard are very, very odd. Take a look at the chart below. For the middle three years of his seven-year career thus far, he was far better as a right-handed hitter. O’s fans may well recall that just a couple years ago there was a frequent outcry from fans that he should stop switch hitting.
| Year | AB/AVG vs. RHP | AB/AVG vs. LHP |
| 2015 | 89 / .256 | 29 / .172 |
| 2014 | 90 / .325 | 21 / .238 |
| 2013 | 401 / .214 | 178 / .282 |
| 2012 | 442 / .224 | 151 / .323 |
| 2011 | 409 / .237 | 142 / .339 |
| 2010 | 375 / .265 | 127 / .210 |
| 2009 | 235 / .313 | 150 / .248 |
| Career | 2041 / .248 | 799 / .275 |
This mixed bag of numbers is enough to drive a hitting coach crazy. One would hope that the day would come when he hits equally well from both sides of the plate.
Perhaps bigger than the Wieters hits was the great outing by Kevin Gausman, going 7.2 innings of outstanding, scoreless pitching. All his pitches were working, and hopefully this too sets him up for the remainder of the season. It is unfortunate that the “options problems” of so much of the roster has worked against Gausman being able to really settle in as a big league starter.
Other than the homer given up, oddly, by Zach Britton, the Orioles’ pitching was excellent. This was especially true in scoring position situations, as the Braves were 0-for-9 with RISP (and the O’s were 0-for-4).
The welcome home for Nick Markakis was appropriately warm. He’s the same guy – drawing a total of 30 pitches in his at-bats, giving foul ball souvenirs to the crowd.