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Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick is enjoying a strong first half, batting .287 with a .348 on-base percentage, .469 slugging percentage and .817 OPS through 74 games.
He has certainly earned his spot in the lineup and is starting on most nights. However, there are still some times where he begins the game on the bench when the opposition is starting a left-handed pitcher.
Historically, Reddick is not a strong batter against left-handed pitchers. He has a career .220/.379/.662 slash line against lefties, as opposed to .262/.458/.780 against right-handers.
He is batting just .152 against left-handers in 2015 and despite the numbers not being in his favor, Reddick isn't happy when he sits against southpaws.
When talking with broadcaster Ray Fosse on the A’s pregame radio show on Thursday, Reddick voiced his displeasure about the situation and seemed to target general manager Billy Beane as the responsible party.
“I have no idea (who makes that decision). It doesn’t come from anywhere in this clubhouse," Reddick said, per CSNBayArea.com. "Everybody knows what situations our general manager puts up there. I couldn’t tell you what the difference is between me starting against one guy and not starting against another guy. … There’s probably so many numbers they could dig into their computers with and try to find one just to keep me out of the lineup.
“I know (manager Bob Melvin is) in there fighting for me. The other day I was supposed to play against (Jorge) De La Rosa, and Bob texts me at around 1:30 and told me he had been ‘trumped,’ was the word he used. I understood right away. I know it’s not Bob. He’s fighting for me to be in there every night. It still frustrates me beyond belief when I don’t play."
Beane declined to comment after CSN Bay Area sent him a text message. Although, Melvin spoke up and said the scenario did not play out as Reddick suggested.
“Sometimes I get ahead of myself because I want our guys always to know ahead of time so they can prepare,” Melvin said. “And I got ahead of myself on that one and I backtracked and I told him you’re not playing now. And maybe to an extent he thought I was so-called trumped.
“I want all my players to think I’m behind them,” Melvin said. “But we make organizational decisions organizationally. And not in just one instance, a lot... At the end of the day, it’s me that writes out the lineup card. No one tells me each and every day what the lineup card’s supposed to look like.”
