Power Hitting vs Left-Handed Pitching

Greetings Razzball nation, and welcome to another edition of The Numbers Game. Suffering through a long week at work? Looking for a break? Come along with me on a trip to a little town called Splitsville (disclaimer: not a real place). I guarantee you that we’ll have a delightful time there (satisfaction not guaranteed). At the very least, I have a lukewarm inclination that this post will help to pass the time during your afternoon trip to the can (sure, why not). I’ll take it!

Before we go any further, allow me to eliminate any confusion that the title of this post may have created for some of you. Rather than specifically highlighting left-handed sluggers, we’re looking to identify the MLB hitters who mash left-handed pitching. For those of you who play in leagues that feature daily lineup changes, this post should prove to be relevant for you. For those of you who don’t participate in such a league, sign up for an RCL today!

Now that you’re all signed up and ready to go, let’s get back to the task at hand. Here are the search criteria that were used for this exercise:

2013-2014 MLB seasons

Split vs LHP only

Minimum 150 PA

ISO of at least .200

OPS of at least .800

Just like the majority of the posts in this series, the thought process behind these search requirements is simple: include multiple seasons to reduce the impact of a small sample size while establishing minimum ISO and OPS marks that represent above average production in those categories. I used OPS as a criterion (instead of wOBA) to represent the ability to reach base without compromising the power requirements in any way.

To provide context, here are the MLB averages for hitters in certain key categories during the 2013 and 2014 seasons:

Season	BB%	K%	BB/K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	BABIP
2013	7.90%	19.90%	0.4	0.253	0.318	0.396	0.714	0.143	0.297
2014	7.60%	20.40%	0.37	0.251	0.314	0.386	0.7	0.135	0.299

Since there were 50 players who met the search criteria for this exercise, I split the results up into two tables. Table #1 features the players who produced a .240+ ISO against left-handed pitching across the ’13-’14 seasons, and can be seen here (sorted by ISO):

Name	Team	PA	BB%	K%	BB/K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	BABIP
Josh Donaldson	OAK	383	12.30%	13.10%	0.94	0.307	0.397	0.629	1.026	0.322	0.296
Jose Abreu	CWS	158	12.00%	21.50%	0.56	0.353	0.437	0.662	1.098	0.309	0.409
Justin Upton	ATL	303	18.20%	25.70%	0.71	0.276	0.407	0.581	0.989	0.305	0.318
Giancarlo Stanton	MIA	261	17.20%	18.00%	0.96	0.31	0.429	0.611	1.04	0.301	0.333
Mark Trumbo	– – –	266	8.60%	24.80%	0.35	0.26	0.327	0.554	0.881	0.293	0.289
Miguel Cabrera	DET	340	14.10%	16.20%	0.87	0.332	0.424	0.622	1.046	0.29	0.35
Jose Bautista	TOR	250	15.20%	12.40%	1.23	0.303	0.412	0.591	1.003	0.288	0.284
Steve Pearce	BAL	199	11.60%	13.10%	0.88	0.301	0.392	0.584	0.976	0.283	0.301
Khris Davis	MIL	186	5.40%	25.30%	0.21	0.254	0.306	0.533	0.839	0.278	0.274
Troy Tulowitzki	COL	231	16.00%	12.10%	1.32	0.351	0.463	0.628	1.091	0.277	0.356
Aramis Ramirez	MIL	197	7.10%	17.30%	0.41	0.315	0.376	0.59	0.966	0.275	0.331
Hanley Ramirez	LAD	215	13.00%	17.70%	0.74	0.312	0.405	0.586	0.991	0.274	0.343
Matt Wieters	BAL	200	6.00%	23.00%	0.26	0.277	0.315	0.549	0.864	0.272	0.295
Wilin Rosario	COL	245	4.90%	15.50%	0.32	0.32	0.351	0.589	0.94	0.268	0.328
Scott Van Slyke	LAD	206	13.60%	24.30%	0.56	0.285	0.388	0.552	0.941	0.267	0.333
Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	269	15.60%	16.00%	0.98	0.333	0.434	0.599	1.034	0.266	0.357
John Mayberry	– – –	190	10.00%	14.20%	0.7	0.241	0.316	0.506	0.822	0.265	0.231
Carlos Gomez	MIL	282	7.80%	18.10%	0.43	0.287	0.362	0.55	0.912	0.263	0.31
Evan Gattis	ATL	177	5.10%	20.90%	0.24	0.295	0.328	0.548	0.876	0.253	0.322
Andrew McCutchen	PIT	241	14.50%	11.60%	1.25	0.335	0.436	0.586	1.022	0.251	0.349
Ryan Braun	MIL	232	6.00%	17.20%	0.35	0.31	0.349	0.556	0.905	0.245	0.339
Chris Carter	HOU	335	13.40%	34.90%	0.38	0.238	0.34	0.483	0.823	0.245	0.32
Michael Cuddyer	COL	197	11.70%	17.30%	0.68	0.316	0.396	0.557	0.953	0.241	0.356
Jeff Baker	– – –	253	9.50%	23.30%	0.41	0.317	0.383	0.558	0.941	0.241	0.378

Only 11 players produced a .240+ ISO against MLB pitching in 2013, while just 13 players managed that feat in 2014, so we’ll call these players the elite lefty mashers. Twenty-four players in all met the criteria for this first list. Some thoughts and observations on these qualifiers:

• Not too many surprises near the top of the list. Donaldson, Abreu, Upton, Stanton, Trumbo, Cabrera, and Bautista are some of the most feared sluggers in the game, and each player hits from the right side. No reason why they shouldn’t continue to pummel left-handed pitching going forward.

• Pearce continues to appear on these lists. Very impressive numbers last season, but can he sustain that production in a full time role in his age 32 season?

• Davis, Van Slyke, Mayberry, and Baker look to be the true platoon specialists who qualified here. Davis and Van Slyke are fairly competent against right-handed pitching as well, while Mayberry and Baker can’t hit RHPs a lick. These are some players to keep in mind when in the lineup against LHPs on short schedule days in daily formats.

Table #2 features the players who produced an ISO between .200 and .239 against left-handed pitching across the ’13-’14 seasons. Those twenty-six qualifiers can be found here:

Name	Team	PA	BB%	K%	BB/K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISO	BABIP
Nolan Arenado	COL	275	7.60%	10.20%	0.75	0.304	0.361	0.543	0.904	0.239	0.3
J.D. Martinez	– – –	228	7.00%	26.30%	0.27	0.271	0.32	0.51	0.83	0.238	0.326
Justin Ruggiano	– – –	240	7.90%	22.50%	0.35	0.27	0.331	0.507	0.838	0.237	0.307
Alfonso Soriano	– – –	302	6.60%	26.80%	0.25	0.279	0.325	0.511	0.835	0.232	0.335
A.J. Pollock	ARI	242	6.60%	13.60%	0.48	0.283	0.332	0.511	0.843	0.229	0.304
Marlon Byrd	– – –	351	4.80%	23.40%	0.21	0.301	0.339	0.528	0.867	0.227	0.351
Mike Trout	LAA	369	17.10%	23.30%	0.73	0.292	0.415	0.518	0.933	0.226	0.36
Joey Votto	CIN	305	14.10%	23.30%	0.61	0.261	0.37	0.486	0.857	0.226	0.305
Nelson Cruz	– – –	279	12.50%	17.60%	0.71	0.299	0.387	0.523	0.91	0.224	0.326
Evan Longoria	TB	382	12.80%	19.10%	0.67	0.287	0.38	0.511	0.89	0.223	0.325
Edwin Encarnacion	TOR	241	14.10%	8.30%	1.7	0.267	0.373	0.49	0.864	0.223	0.256
Jayson Werth	WAS	275	16.00%	18.20%	0.88	0.339	0.444	0.561	1.005	0.222	0.387
Brian Dozier	MIN	355	10.10%	17.20%	0.59	0.29	0.366	0.51	0.876	0.219	0.322
Alex Rios	– – –	293	6.50%	14.30%	0.45	0.319	0.36	0.533	0.893	0.215	0.347
Hunter Pence	SF	381	8.90%	17.10%	0.52	0.296	0.36	0.507	0.867	0.212	0.327
Mike Napoli	BOS	318	16.40%	25.50%	0.64	0.291	0.409	0.502	0.911	0.211	0.378
Jhonny Peralta	– – –	278	12.60%	22.70%	0.56	0.311	0.403	0.521	0.924	0.21	0.391
David Ortiz	BOS	411	8.30%	16.10%	0.52	0.267	0.331	0.477	0.808	0.21	0.277
Derek Norris	OAK	346	12.40%	16.80%	0.74	0.316	0.402	0.525	0.927	0.209	0.352
Adrian Beltre	TEX	330	12.40%	12.40%	1	0.337	0.421	0.544	0.965	0.207	0.356
Adam Jones	BAL	387	7.20%	19.60%	0.37	0.292	0.351	0.499	0.85	0.207	0.332
Victor Martinez	DET	402	7.50%	10.20%	0.73	0.314	0.366	0.52	0.886	0.206	0.316
David Wright	NYM	281	13.90%	12.80%	1.08	0.351	0.441	0.556	0.998	0.205	0.383
Yan Gomes	CLE	272	5.50%	19.10%	0.29	0.329	0.368	0.534	0.902	0.205	0.372
Chris Iannetta	LAA	296	15.50%	18.90%	0.82	0.269	0.385	0.471	0.856	0.202	0.3
Danny Valencia	– – –	226	5.80%	13.70%	0.42	0.344	0.381	0.545	0.926	0.201	0.377

• This list is heavily populated by seasoned veterans, which is just a kind way of saying older players. Soriano (who has since retired), Byrd, Cruz, Werth, Rios, Pence, Napoli, etc. have all seen quite a bit of success against southpaws throughout their careers and continue to do so well into their 30s (except for Soriano).

• Arenado and Pollock are a couple of popular fantasy options this season, and for good reason. The favorable hitting environments that their home ball parks provide them with certainly don’t hurt their fantasy prospects.

• How good is Edwin Encarnacion’s plate discipline against lefties? How does a 1.7 BB/K ratio sound? That’s simply absurd for a power hitter in the pitching-dominant environment during the post-PED era.

• Was ’14 an off season or the beginning of the end for Alex Rios? Even when factoring in his poor results from last year, his production over this two year period is still quite impressive.

• Ruggiano, Norris, Iannetta, and Valencia look to be the short schedule matchup plays to exploit from this list when a LHP is on the mound. Don’t forget about them when you’re scouring the player pool looking for a batty call in your RCL this season.

That about does it for this edition. Is Michael Cuddyer or Aramis Ramirez this year’s zombino? Plan on picking up Mayberry or Ruggiano on short schedule days? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for stopping by.