But it’s been shown that it takes thousands of at-bats for platoon splits to stabilize. These splits are barely significant at all. I don’t know all the context into the decision, but it doesn’t seem like Santos was necessarily the wrong play.

Omir Santos minor league career: 1248 at-bats (as far back as minorleaguesplits goes)

Righties: .256/.308/.351
Lefties:  .254/.287/.336

BIG difference there. .36 points in OPS.

Josh Thole’s minor league career: 1314 at-bats

Righties: .284/.375/.378
Lefties: .317/.399/.376

Hope that sets some things straight.

Yes, thank you, Tim. I included the splits to make it apparent that even a lefty-righty reason for the pinch hit was counterproductive, but also should have driven home the simple fact that, regardless of handedness, Thole is simply the better hitter.

This is bizarre.  Regardless of the game-strategy implications, the bigger issue is Manuel having said that he wanted to put Thole in “positions where he can succeed,” where there is no evidence that Thole will have a significantly lower likelihood of success if facing a lefty.  Were I a Mets fan, I would find it distressing that Manuel doesn’t realize this.  And if it’s a matter of confidence, why plant a seed of doubt in the kid’s head that he might have extra trouble vs. major league lefties. 

The other question I have is this: given that Thole is in the lineup to encourage his development (as opposed to being in there because he’s the best guy available, though he might be), why is this Jerry Manuel’s call?  Isn’t he talking to the GM or other folks in player development, and shouldn’t those folks have a word in how he’s used now that he’s in New York?  If I were the GM, I’d sure as heck be telling Manuel to make sure I had a chance to see Thole hitting against some lefties.

Maybe they had that conversation, and Manuel is simply taking responsibility for that decision, I don’t know.  I do see that Thole has a .600 OPS vs. LHP so far (1-5 with a double).