Cody Ross: Lefty Masher

Considering that Ryan Sweeney gets jelly-legged against same-handed pitching, Carl Crawford is questionable for the start of the season following wrist surgery and Mike Aviles is expected to be part of a shortstop platoon after Boston shipped incumbent Marco Scutaro to Colorado, the Red Sox were in need of a lefty-mashing outfielder. They found their man in Cody Ross, signing the 31-year-old to a one-year, $3 million deal with plate appearance-based incentives.

After bouncing from Detroit to L.A., Cincinnati to Florida and then to San Francisco, Ross understandably sought some stability and was reportedly looking for a two-year deal this winter. But teams were reluctant to commit multiple years to a guy who doesn't inflict much pain versus the nearly three-quarters of big league pitchers who throw from the right side: Ross has a career .253/.313/.414 line in 1,924 plate appearances against righties.  

Lefties are a different story, though. Ross has raked them for a .282/.349/.563 triple-slash in 759 plate appearances, and most of that slugging comes against pitches thrown above the belt. Take a look at his in-play slugging percentage by pitch location against lefties since 2008:

Cody Ross' in-play slugging percentage against lefties, 2008-2011Ross' lefty lashing should complement Sweeney, who holds his own against right-handers (.296/.352/.402 in 1,319 PA) but struggles to get the ball out of the infield against same-handed pitching (.233/.306/.289 in 362 PA against LHPs). Ross might be a nomad for the rest of his career, shifting from one city to the next as teams seek a guy who creams lefties. Still, there are worse fates than spending the summer making dents in the Green Monster.

Right is wrong for the Red Sox

There is very little good to be written about the right field situation for the Red Sox this season. In fact, the best thing is to start looking at alternatives as written by Nick Cafardo in today's Boston Globe. Nick points out that the days seem to be numbered for the Darnell McDonald and Mike Cameron combo as a right-handed bat alternative platoon to J.D. Drew.

Nick writes, "The Sox will probably do what they never wanted to do — trade a prospect for an established righthanded hitter." The only trouble is that, according to Peter Gammons of MLB Network (on Twitter), the Red Sox cannot add payroll this season.

Here's why the Sox are in this conflicting situation:

J.D. Drew versus lefties 2011

Drew is hitting .200 this season against lefties and has two extra base hits, a triple and a homer resulting in a slugging pct. of .343.

J.D. Drew versus lefties 2011 on the outer portion of the plate

Lefties have thrown Drew 77 pitches on the outer portion of the plateWhen lefties pitch Drew outside, Drew has gone 1-for-15 (a single) with one walk and seven strikeouts.

So what are the alternatives?

Mike Cameron versus lefties 2011

Cameron is hitting .143 against lefties with one double and three homers among his nine hits

Darnell McDonald versus lefties 2011

McDonald is hitting .129 against lefties with one double and one homer among his four hits

But did it need to come to this?

Here is a frame of reference

David Ortiz versus lefties 2011

Big Papi is hitting .346 against lefties this season and slugging .556 with eight doubles and three homers

Here's why Ortiz has been successful against lefties

When pitched to the outer portion of the plate, Ortiz is hitting .343 with 12 hits, 10 of which have gone to left fieldOrtiz has a 1.003 OPS against lefties this season and when they pitch him outside, his OPS rises to 1.037.

In his contract year, Big Papi has made adjustments to save his job, the same adjustments that neither Drew, Cameron, and McDonald have made and that may cost all them their jobs.

David Ortiz Connecting on Fastballs

Pundits have predicted David Ortiz's demise for years now, yet the 35-year-old Red Sox slugger is enjoying a vintage Big Papi season in 2011. After tallying two more hits in Boston's 14-5 drubbing of the San Diego Padres last night, Ortiz is batting .323/.402/.604.

Ortiz has turned the clock back by hitting for mammoth power while also paring his strikeout rate dramatically. He has punched out in just 11.1 percent of his plate appearances this season, compared to 23.9 percent in 2010. The biggest reason that Ortiz has cut his K rate by more than half is that he's connecting on -- and crushing -- fastballs.

Take a look at Ortiz's contact rate against fastballs in 2010 and 2011: 

Ortiz's contact rate on fastballs in 2010 

Ortiz's contact rate on fastballs in 2011

He's making more contact across the board, but the biggest change is that he's connecting far more often on fastballs located in the upper third of the strike zone. Overall, Ortiz has missed 10.9 percent of the fastballs that he has swung at. Last year, Ortiz missed fastballs 22 percent of the time that he pulled the trigger.

Ortiz isn't just putting the bat on the ball against fastballs -- he's annihilating them. Ortiz's .817 slugging percentage versus fastballs dwarfs the .431 major league average for non-pitchers and trails only New York's Curtis Granderson among all MLB hitters. Ortiz slugged .608 against fastballs in 2010.

 David Ortiz may be in his mid-thirties, but he's far from finished. His monstrous year at the plate has pushed the Red Sox to the top of the American League East standings and positions him for a handsome payday in free agency this winter.