There’s an age-old golden rule when it comes to managing or coaching baseball: “Always put your players in a position to succeed.” Apparently Dodgers manager Don Mattingly missed that day during Managing 101 class.

Mattingly is blessed to have two of the best starting pitchers in the game today – reigning NL MVP and three-time NL Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw and former AL Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke. Yet three times this season (so far), the Dodgers skipper did not put these two aces in a position to succeed. In fact, he stacked the deck heavily against them to fail.

But why would Mattingly do so with the best that he has? The answer to this is simple – because he is hung up, absolutely hung up on match-ups when it comes to making out his line-up cards against left-handed pitching.

On April 22 in a game against Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner at AT&T Park with Kershaw on the mound for the Dodgers, Mattingly put out a line-up that had only one left-handed batter in it – Kershaw himself. So hung up on this lefty versus lefty match-up thing that Mattingly parked his three best hitters, Adrian Gonzales, Andre Ethier and Yasmani Grandal, on the bench for no other reason than they are left-handed hitters (except Grandal, who is a switch-hitter) against the left-handed Bumgarner; and the results were predictable – Kershaw and the Dodgers lost 3-2.

In a rematch at Dodger Stadium exactly six days later, Mattingly again sat AGon, Ethier and Grandal against Bumgarner with Kershaw the only left-handed hitter in the Dodgers line-up; and the results were predictable – Kershaw and the Dodgers lost 2-1.

Even though Kershaw allowed only three runs and two runs in his two starts opposite Madison Bumgarner, the Dodgers’ AGon, Ethier and Grandal-less offense gave him only two and one run of support respectively. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But wait, there’s more.

On May 16 in a game against the last-place Colorado Rockies, Mattingly yet again sat his best hitters – all of them – against Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, this time with Zack Greinke and his perfect 5-0 record on the mound for the Dodgers; and the results were predictable – Greinke and the Dodgers lost 7-1 with the possible 2015 NL Cy Young candidate allowing only one of those seven runs.

With Greinke off to a Cy Young-esque season, Mattingly’s decision to sit his three best hitters at the same time against lefties could take the former AL Cy Young award winner out of the competition.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

While it is not all that uncommon for a manager to sit lefties against left-handed pitchers, it is extremely uncommon to sit all three of your best hitters at the same time regardless of which side of the plate they hit from. Is Mattingly not aware that Gonzalez, Ethier and Grandal are hitting .345, .353 and .308 respectively against left-handed pitching this season? This is absolutely ludicrous and the exact opposite of putting your players in a position to succeed. It is a recipe for disaster and the results have borne this out three times now.

It is certainly understandable and perfectly acceptable that AGon, Ethier and Grandal need an occasional day off. But it is unacceptable and irresponsible to the organization (and to the fans) to give all of them the same day off against lefties – especially when they are all feasting against southpaws.

As fate (or luck) would have it, Mattingly gets yet another opportunity to put Kershaw in a position to succeed against Bumgarner when the two aces square off against each other again on Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park. And while it remains to be seen whether or not the Dodgers skipper has learned from his mistakes when he fills out his line-up card on Wednesday morning, chances are that if he again sits all three of his best hitters, the results will be predictable.