Left-handed Pitcher, what say you?

[daywalkerdad]

Found this on https://643charts.com/the-platoon-advantage-and-handedness-in-college-baseball-and-softball/

The effects mimic baseball, but somewhat less extreme.

There does appear to be some platoon advantage, and obviously the LHP has the platoon advantage more often than a RHP.

The OPS difference is only .020 against right handed batters in a lefty pitcher's favor, but the difference is almost 3x that against left-handed batters.


I don't know, I suspect not, for this to be anything super marketable, particularly as a starter. I could see, just in like in baseball, the benefit to having a LHP that you could bring in for an inning against some big lefties in the opposing lineup though.

Or perhaps there's a certain pitch selection that some lefties have that could make this more extreme. I'm not well versed in all the movements of pitches in softball yet, but something that's maybe breaks in on righties more?

Very interesting. I would have guessed that softball would have been the inverse, lefty pitcher harder for righty batter. This would be due to the hitters view losing the ball behind the hip. My guess would have been wrong. Maybe the view is about the same, or perspective is better.
Wonder if it like the line drive right at you harder to judge than a few steps away. So harder for a rhb to judge rhp as ball at release more direct path to eye?

Lefty’s have an advantage just from not being seen as much.

 

[Tazman]

One of my daughters is a lefty. The data would say she has an advantage against lefties and a disadvantage against righties. What overcomes the disadvantage part is novelty. Hitters just don't see as many from that angle especially good movement pitches. My DD also has a fairly broad array of pitches she can throw effectively along with good speed and that provides even more advantage. She's able to get a lot of of outs on lefty slappers with a hard breaking curve out of the zone and up and in rises to righties and lefties. I don't want to get into the screwball argument but that ties up a lot of righties inside. It's just different enough to cause hitters issues and I think those small differences becomes even bigger advantages against good teams stocked with lefty slappers. I haven't found many hitters that prefer hitting off lefties but I have found many that prefer righties.

 

[Tango]

My DD is a lefty. She doesn't throw hard (55 for HS). But she spots and moves the ball. A good curve ball is a real weapon for a lefty. You get a lot of pop ups from right handed batters (or long foul balls) and strikeouts looking on the outer corner against left handed batters. Throwing hard as a lefty is just as much of an advantage as for right handed pitchers, but you can be a really effective spins and spots pitcher as a lefty.

A kid in our area has a great curve ball and most umpires give her a little off the plate. RH hitters can't touch it. Now she is around 62 and a good change also but they can do anything with the curve that's off the plate.

 

[CoachJD]

Found this on https://643charts.com/the-platoon-advantage-and-handedness-in-college-baseball-and-softball/

The effects mimic baseball, but somewhat less extreme.

There does appear to be some platoon advantage, and obviously the LHP has the platoon advantage more often than a RHP.

The OPS difference is only .020 against right handed batters in a lefty pitcher's favor, but the difference is almost 3x that against left-handed batters.


I don't know, I suspect not, for this to be anything super marketable, particularly as a starter. I could see, just in like in baseball, the benefit to having a LHP that you could bring in for an inning against some big lefties in the opposing lineup though.

Or perhaps there's a certain pitch selection that some lefties have that could make this more extreme. I'm not well versed in all the movements of pitches in softball yet, but something that's maybe breaks in on righties more?

From this study:



The reason you don't see a much higher percentage of LHP compared to overall population like you do in baseball is there is a negligible added incentive to turn a lefty, any lefty, into a pitcher.

At lower levels, the advantage of a left-handed pitcher is probably limited to it being different from what most hitters are used to facing. I imagine they adjust to that fairly quickly though. You just don't get the arm angles and lateral movement in softball that you get in baseball, so it makes sense that there's virtually no advantage for the pitcher.

The study also proves why switch hitting is pointless in softball: If you can bat well lefty, there's no reason to bat righty at all.

 

[Gambler Bob]

Can someone figure out the OPS of left handed hitters vs right handed hitters? I don't know how to figure it out accurately with the difference in plate appearances.

I am guessing right handed hitters have a slightly higher OPS than left handed hitters. You could argue that left handed hitters have a lower OPS because all slap hitters are left handed. I would imagine slappers have a lower OPS than regular hitters.

 

[Tazman]

From this study:

View attachment 29324

The reason you don't see a much higher percentage of LHP compared to overall population like you do in baseball is there is a negligible added incentive to turn a lefty, any lefty, into a pitcher.

At lower levels, the advantage of a left-handed pitcher is probably limited to it being different from what most hitters are used to facing. I imagine they adjust to that fairly quickly though. You just don't get the arm angles and lateral movement in softball that you get in baseball, so it makes sense that there's virtually no advantage for the pitcher.

The study also proves why switch hitting is pointless in softball: If you can bat well lefty, there's no reason to bat righty at all.

I don't think that's what it shows. The OPS advantage is significant.

 

[uncdrew]

You will certainly hear different opinions, but I was surprised how little it seemed to matter to the girls I coached. In fact, more than once I heard girls comment that they "hadn't noticed" that a pitcher was left handed AFTER they faced her.
Where I have seen a lefty gain an advantage at higher levels is when they can dominate the inside part of the plate with a hard curveball.

Exactly this. My daughters and players I've coached don't care, and don't even notice. "Oh, she was a lefty?"

I was so trained by baseball to think this was a big deal. I've learned that it's not. A good pitcher is a good pitcher. A good pitch is a good pitch. I'll take the better pitcher, I don't care which side she throws from.

 

[Gambler Bob]

I don't think that's what it shows. The OPS advantage is significant.

After refreshing my brain on statistics I was able to figure out the total OPS for RHH vs LHH in the D1 chart listed in this thread.

LHH= .766 OPS
RHH= .761 OPS

Very little difference in overall OPS between RHH and LHH.

If Pattar was still around, I am sure he could have figured this out much faster than I could.

 

[Tazman]

After refreshing my brain on statistics I was able to figure out the total OPS for RHH vs LHH in the D1 chart listed in this thread.

LHH= .766 OPS
RHH= .761 OPS

Very little difference in overall OPS between RHH and LHH.

If Pattar was still around, I am sure he could have figured this out much faster than I could.

I was referring to the advantage of being a LHP not a LHH. In the data, a RHH has an OPS of 0.778 vs a LHP and 0.758 against a RHP. There is an 0.020 OPS advantage for RHH against lefty pitchers relative to righties. However a LHH is 0.774 vs a RHP but only 0.717 vs a LHP. That's an 0.057 disadvantage for lefty hitters vs lefty pitchers relative to righties. Better teams also have more lefties and you can platoon a bit so that's a significant lefty advantage. My experience matches this where my DD causes a lot of problems for slappers and colleges like the idea of a lefty to deploy on staff. Everything comes down to how you deploy these mismatches on both sides but being able to take away that slapper advantage is important.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

After refreshing my brain on statistics I was able to figure out the total OPS for RHH vs LHH in the D1 chart listed in this thread.

LHH= .766 OPS
RHH= .761 OPS

Very little difference in overall OPS between RHH and LHH.

If Pattar was still around, I am sure he could have figured this out much faster than I could.

Oh, he keeps tabs on everything. Every so often I get a text that says, "What is so and so talking about?" We have a good chuckle, and move on.

I think what neutralizes slappers is good defense. How many old style slappers do you see at the P5 level anymore? Now the lefties can hit for power, too.

If I ask my daughters whether a particular pitcher was lefty or righty, they probably can't remember. What they will remember is if she was good or bad. The ball being released at the hip neutralizes the arm angles you see in baseball. I've said this before; can you imagine facing Randy Johnson as a lefty? Half the batters who faced him soiled themselves in the LH batters box.