what was HAL thinking?

[JEFFFESPERMAN]

Top of the eight inning, tie-game 3-3, with runners on first and secondbase. Joe Smith enters as right-handed specialist to face Kapler who couldn't hit himself out of a wet paper bag against a righty. Kapler is set to "avoid righties" and both Granderson and DeJesus are available to pinch-hit. The game is being played at Kaufmann. Can anyone explain to me why HAL refused to substitute in this situation?

[theClaw]

162 game season is a long one...can't expect HAL to be up for every game... :P

[apolivka]

The "avoid righties" / "avoid lefties" is what HAL uses to help determine who to bring in off the bench to pinch hit. It doesn't always (or even often) seem to come into play when deciding when to pinch hit for somebody already in the starting lineup. You can expect a guy like Kapler to get some 30% of his ABs vs right handed pitching. Batting him low in the order might help HAL guess that he is a good pinch hitting prospect, but YMMV.

It's just one of the things you have to really keep in mind for 7L 8L 9L type platoon guys.

That being said, I think Kapler is usually worth it. Normally the right side of the platoon is a better defender, and you can tell HAL to yank Kepler when you are ahead, so he'll get fewer late inning ABs, which are usually against righties.