David Hunter
It has long been held, even since the 1870s with the advent of players switch hitting, that there lies a natural split for hitters. Namely, that hitters swing the bat more productively against opposite handed pitchers so LHB hit RHP better and RHB hit LHP better.
As a result of this theory, managers such as Casey Stengel and Earl Weaver were known for their platoon systems, often employing multiple players to cover a position and went so far as to incorporate success against certain pitchers on top of the handed splits of the batters.
So I wanted to take a varied segment of the baseball hitting population and see if they indeed had better success hitting opposite handed pitching.
We’ll start with one of my favorite hitters ever in lefty Ken Griffey Jr. He had one of the smoothest swings ever in the game, was a solid fielder, but let’s see how he held up against RHP and LHP.
Career vs. RHP: .291/.382/.554 in 7,816 PA.
Career vs. LHP: .269/.341/.503 in 3,488 PA.
In his career, he hit 22 points better against RHP, the equivalent of 13 more hits given 550 AB.
Baseball-Reference has splits for Babe Ruth going back to 1916, albeit against “starting pitching” only as opposed to including relievers. A true power hitting lefty, let’s see how he fared.
Career vs. RH Starters: .349/.483/.697 in 7,419 PA.
Career vs. LH Starters: .326/.456/.677 in 3,018 PA.
Interestingly, he too hit for a much higher BA (along with getting on base and power) against opposite handed pitching.
Barry Bonds Career vs. RHP: .303/.458/.626 in 8,459 PA.
Barry Bonds Career vs. LHP: .289/.417/.569 in 4,147 PA.
Again a more stark difference when we examine yet another LHB in Ted Williams. What’s more striking is the difference in power or his SLG.
Career vs. RHP: .347/.491/.667 in 4,660 PA.
Career vs. LHP: .304/.430/.486 in 1,455 PA.
Chipper Jones is one of the more prominently known switch hitters (a player who can bat from either side) in MLB History. He was also productive from both sides of the plate, indicating his pure hitting ability.
Career vs. RHP: .303/.405/.541 in 7,686 PA.
Career vs. LHP: .304/.391/.498 in 2,928 PA.
Mark McGwire hit slightly better against LHP with a .266 BA and worked a BB/K rate of 1.07 compared to a .262 BA and BB/K rate of 0.75 against RHP.
Jackie Robinson too hit LHP better despite being a RHB (.316 BA vs. .310) with an OPS of .900, 23 points higher than against RHP.
Edgar Martinez, arguably the most known Designated Hitter alongside David Ortiz, hit a robust .322 against LHP with an OPS that was 65 points higher than against RHP.
Credit to homeruncards.com
Let’s start digging a little deeper and having some real fun with this as everybody knows about the best in the game’s history. How about we start looking at players who are mediocre if not below average, players like Neifi Perez who played through the 2007 Season but was a Switch Hitter.
Neifi Perez vs. RHP: .266/.298/.356 in 3,955 PA.
Neifi Perez vs. LHP: .272/.296/.424 in 1,539 PA.
Interestingly, Neifi hit for a slightly higher batting average but take a gander at the SLG difference. A smart baseball manager could have used him as a lefty mashing 2B/SS platoon player throughout his career.
Rey Ordonez was another light hitting SS who was a throwback to the early days of baseball where he was known more for his fielding prowess (including a sterling defensive Wins Above Replacement of 4.0 in 1999).
He’s an interesting case as he hit right handed but fared better against RHP. He had a better eye against LHP (55 BB vs. 64 K) but hit 3 points higher in BA and SLG’d 23 points higher against righties.
One slugger who should have been (or would have better served his teams) as a platoon candidate is the father of a current major league player. He’s known for his tape-measure home runs but should be as known for his splits.
1B/DH Cecil Fielder Career vs. LHP: .276/.383/.542 (compared to .246/.328/.456).
Many, many baseball players have had long, solid careers as part-time platoon players and ended up sticking in the league for multiple seasons in comparison to if they had been ineffectively utilized by their managers.
Debs Garms who played under Stengel and Frankie Frisch was an extremely notable example of a guy who hammered certain pitching and was properly used in that role.
He had over 3,000 PA against RH SP and hit a robust .297 with a .389 SLG. He had only 382 PA vs. LH SP because he hit a meager .252 with a .297 SLG. A poor manager would likely have trotted him out for 600 PA and received a mediocre .260-.270 BA for his troubles, such as Bill McKechnie in 1937 who gave him 521 PA and Garms hit .213 against LH SP.
Manager Davey Johnson continued the platoon system (and some alterations) with the Baltimore Orioles in 1996 after having been a player under Earl Weaver.
LF Luis Polonia vs. RHP: 200 PA – .241/.281/.283
LF Mark Smith vs. RHP: 42 PA – .278/.381/.389
LF Jeffrey Hammonds vs. LHP: 93 PA – .247/.326/.407 [Hammonds also had 189 PA vs. RHP & hit .213]
LF Mike Devereaux vs. LHP: 156 PA – .244/.333/.422 [Worth noting is Devereaux played all over the OF]
Even heralded Yogi Berra used a platoon system for his managing job with the 1964 New York Yankees who would go on to lose the World Series. Berra, towards the end of his career, was splitting time between C and the OF.
That team also featured C/OF Johnny Blanchard who would hit .247 with a .432 SLG in 169 PA vs. RHP. Elston Howard, despite playing full-time at C, would hit .338 in 214 PA against LHP with a .545 SLG.
Smart fantasy baseball owners have platooned positions for BA/OBP/HRs for years and these platoon splits are precisely why some FB managers have more consistent success than others.
I even went to such extremes including a multiple platoon with Clint Barmes in 2009 opting him at home and largely against RH SP. That season he ‘only’ hit .249 against RH Starters but hit .283 at Coors Field with 13 HR and a .498 SLG.
The same act was pulled with Ken Griffey Jr. upon his return to Seattle except I went more simple and just did a Home/Away but he hit .268 with 13 HR. Worth noting is that he slugged over .100 points better against LHP that year in just 87 PA.
For more, check out Dan Fox’s fantastic article on essence of platooning at Baseball Prospectus.
Credit Bronx Baseball Daily for main image
