Seth Smith Deal: The Door's Wide Open For A's Young Pitching Prospects
With a career OPS of .833, Smith immediately becomes the best hitter on the A’s. His 2011 OBP of .348 and SLG of .483 outpaced all A’s regulars in both categories last season. The main difference in Smith’s performance at home and on the road over his career has been in his home run hitting proficiency, hitting 1 home run every 20 at bats at Coors Field compared to 1 home run every 34 at bats everywhere else. He has a career OPS a whopping 293 points higher against right-handers than against left-handers. Here again, the biggest difference can be found in his power potential, hitting 1 home run every 23 at bats against right-handed pitchers compared to 1 home run every 53 at bats against left-handed pitchers. Behind Colon and McCarthy are five pitchers who, combined, have less than 150 innings of major league experience: Tyson Ross with 75 1/3, Graham Godfrey with 25, Tom Milone with 26, Brad Peacock with 12, and Jarrod Parker with 5 2/3.



