The season is about to end and looking at the numbers in detail we can find that something interesting is happening, all National League teams have more plate appearances against left handed pitchers than the top American League team in that category. This trend started before 1987 but the numbers are more extreme now.
Team | League | PA vs LHP |
SF | NL | 2586 |
PHI | NL | 2339 |
PIT | NL | 2259 |
HOU | NL | 2258 |
MON | NL | 2220 |
LAD | NL | 2218 |
NYM | NL | 2191 |
ATL | NL | 2155 |
CHC | NL | 2031 |
SD | NL | 1995 |
FLO | NL | 1989 |
COL | NL | 1927 |
STL | NL | 1923 |
CIN | NL | 1892 |
TEX | AL | 1794 |
DET | AL | 1758 |
CLE | AL | 1745 |
BOS | AL | 1659 |
TOR | AL | 1654 |
MIN | AL | 1647 |
KC | AL | 1611 |
CWS | AL | 1601 |
ML4 | AL | 1579 |
SEA | AL | 1542 |
BAL | AL | 1454 |
OAK | AL | 1387 |
NYY | AL | 1281 |
CAL | AL | 1265 |
On average AL teams face a LHP in 26.03% of their PA. That number rises to 35.48% for NL teams.
Looking at teams in particular, San Francisco batters have faced southpaws nearly 2,600 times, while California has faced less than half that amount, at 1,265. The Giants face a lefty 41.84% of the time while the Angels only 20.84%. This makes sense because San Francisco has the biggest gap in wOBA while facing RHP (.345) compared to LHP (.309). Summers, Parker, and Cotero are certainly a concern versus RHP and in-division rivals are smartly choosing to avoid them where they excel.
It’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues next year or if this season was the peak. The only thing LEFT to do is wait…
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