Who’s Seen the Most Left-Handers and What Does It Mean?

Being a lefty myself, I know how odd things can get. I may as well borrow Barry Bonds’ elbow pad when sitting at a table crowded full of righties. Writing in pen equals smearing. EVERY TIME. Don’t even get me started on right-handed scissors or three-ring binders. Living through stuff like this, it makes sense left-handed pitchers often create some interesting situations.

We’re still early enough in the season where strange-looking numbers are easy to find. One that caught my eye is the abnormally high number of plate appearances some batters have against lefties, specifically the Royals and Indians, thanks to their schedules. I’ve picked some players from those clubs whose value in the first two weeks may have shifted thanks to seeing a much higher rate of their plate appearances against lefties than normal. For reference, about 27 percent of total plate appearances last season came against left-handers. Lefty-hitting Robinson Cano led the way with 38 percent of his total plate appearances against lefties. Among right-handed hitters, Brian Dozier led the way with 27 percent.

Michael Bourn – Bats left/58 percent of plate appearances vs. left-handed pitchers in 2015: Bourn’s taken his poor performances from recent years to new depths in 2015 thanks to most of his plate appearances coming against lefties, something that’s shifted him from a league-average hitter to a terrible one over his career. If you believed in a comeback, don’t give up just yet.

Jason Kipnis – L/57 percent: Kipnis is sitting on a .105 vs. L/.429 vs. R batting average split through the first two weeks. His best season (2013) was the only time he didn’t display a normal platoon split in his career. That year he was actually better against lefties thanks to a .390 BABIP (career .296) against them. Since he’s unlikely to run into that type of a BABIP vs. lefties again, it’s wiser to not expect an average around the .284 he put up in 2013.

Lonnie Chisenhall L/54 percent: Chisenhall finally saw extended plate appearances against lefties in 2014, and he succeeded… with help of a .369 BABIP. With more than half of his action this year against lefties his BABIP against them is… .364. Chisenhall’s main problem this season is a .200 BABIP against righties that’s led to an Uggla-esque -9 wRC+. It remains to be seen whether he can keep such a high BABIP against lefties, though it certainly seems unlikely. If he starts to struggle, he might slip back into more of a platoon situation.

Eric Hosmer – L/53 percent: It’s notable his only homer of this season came against a lefty since he hit two against lefties all last year, and has 12 in 776 career plate appearances. The big concern early is Hosmer is swinging at more pitches out of the zone than ever before, causing him to swing and miss at the highest rate of his career. The increase in lefties probably explains most of that as his career BB/K dips substantially when facing them.

Carlos Santana – S/51 percent: Santana has hit for less power, but struck out much less against lefties in his career. The first two weeks have been a mini version of that trend as he’s certainly enjoyed a healthy dose of left-handed pitching to the tune of a .545 BABIP and 182 wRC+.

Brandon Moss L/50 percent: It isn’t news that Moss strikes out more and hits for much less power against lefties, meaning he probably should have been a platoon player in fantasy outfields anyway. He’ll get to show off more of his power as the Indians face more righties, and he makes for a good trade target at this point.

Jose Ramirez S/46 percent: Ramirez is already looking over his shoulder at the impending arrival of Francisco Lindor and this lefty-heavy start isn’t doing him any favors. As a switch hitter, Ramirez doesn’t have a huge platoon split, but he has struck out more and hit for less power against lefties in his brief career. He’s swinging at pitches in the zone at a much lower rate than in 2014, so those Ramirez supporters need to hope he will show a better eye as he faces more righties.

Lorenzo Cain – R/44 percent: This lays some shade on Cain’s hot start. In 2014, he was great against lefties (133 wRC+) and his usual Cain self against righties (102 wRC+). His career splits are much closer, but are also missing the upside of 2014. Cain is a player many have expected to take a big step forward for a while. The lefty-heavy schedule and a .448 BABIP hint that despite all the appearances of the first eight games, it hasn’t happened yet.





Adam McFadden contributes to RotoGraphs when he's not working as a sports editor at MSN. His writing has appeared online for FOX Sports and Sports Illustrated.

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ATrain
8 years ago

Great stuff, insightful, thanks! Maybe you could do one v righties to expose any left handed hitter hot starts or spot opportunities?