A few days ago, I was watching a baseball game on TV. A left-handed batter was really bad against southpaws and it seems that he didn’t have any clues. Nonetheless, another left-handed hitter seems pretty comfortable at hitting against a left-handed pitcher. And, I was just wondering which left-handed batters are good at hitting lefties.
To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.
To date, there are two left-handed batters with a batting average over .300 against left-handed pitchers. Eric Hosmer is currently hitting .277/.334/.395 with 6 home runs and 33 RBI this season. His batting average is .247 against right-handed pitchers, however, he’s doing a better job against lefties, slashing .346/.376/.457. Additionally, Rafael Devers has a batting average of .325 against lefties. Rafael Devers has been hitting very well this season, owning a .325/.382/.580 slash line. Against right-handed pitchers, his batting average is .325 as well. He doesn’t have any troubles against lefties or righties.
Meanwhile, Michael Brantley has a .295 BA against lefties and his batting average against righties is .285. He’s currently on the IL. Moreover, two-time MVP Bryce Harper is on the injured list as well. Before being placed on the IL, he slashed .318/.385/.599 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI. Among those 15 homers, 3 were hit against lefties and he had a batting average of .295 against left-handed pitchers.
At the same time, Jeff McNeil and Nathaniel Lowe each have a batting average over .290 against southpaws. Jeff McNeil hit .251/.319/.360 last season. Nonetheless, he bounces back and now he has a .317/.375/.450 slash line. But, McNeil hasn’t crushed a homer against lefties so far. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Lowe has 11 home runs so far this season and 5 homers were hit against lefties. His OPS is over .900 against lefties, but against righties, his OPS is under .750.
And, 2 other players each have a batting average over .280 against southpaws. Nevertheless, do these players truly make solid contact against lefties?
Yordan Alvarez’s batting average is .253 against lefties and he has 4 home runs. But, his xwOBA is over .450 against southpaws. He can make solid contact against lefties and he already drew 15 walks against lefties. Moreover, Bryce Harper’s xwOBA against lefties is over .400 as well. He does make solid contact. Additionally, Kyle Tucker already crushed 6 home runs against lefties. His batting average is .267 against southpaws and his xwOBA against lefties is over .400. Furthermore, Juan Soto’s xwOBA is .392 when he hits against southpaws and Max Kepler’s xwOBA against lefties is .390. In the meantime, Kyle Schwarber already blasted 7 homers against lefties. His batting average is .202 against southpaws, however, his xwOBA is .387, which shows that he can make good contact.
Hitting is not easy and hitting in the MLB is difficult. Normally, there’s a difference in performance between facing a same-handed pitcher versus an opposite-handed pitcher. Batting on the opposite side usually leads to better outcomes. However, for some left-handed batters, they don’t have huge problems against left-handed pitchers. Nonetheless, Juan Soto’s batting average is under .200 against lefties. But, his xwOBA is nearly .400 against southpaws, perhaps some good results will come.
No comments:
Post a Comment