Lefty vs Righty Pitchers

If you throw strikes, get batters out it matters not what arm you throw with-- if you throw upper 80's to low 90's does it really matter what arm is used?

TRhit

There are 3-5 right batters for evry lefty, anyways that mean 2 to 3 lefties in any line-up. May be there are 1 every 3-5 righties pitchers. Usually, I don't know why, lefties (Pitchers, golfers, etc...) are littler wilders than righties. Then it is real nice to have a lefty pitcher with good control, and better yet if he can throw 90 or over.
Don't know why also lefties pitchers has more effectiveness against righties hitters, than righties pitchers against lefties hitters. So, to have a good lefty pitcher is a real priority in any good baseball team.
(I hope you guys, understand what I am trying to say)

"Peace is, the respect for the other people's rights".
Benito Juarez

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If you throw strikes, get batters out it matters not what arm you throw with-- if you throw upper 80's to low 90's does it really matter what arm is used?

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Made me think of a local player who had done well.....with both arms. I think his SAT was around 1500.

Matt Brunig-Harvard

There are more RHP's than LHP's therefore there may be something to say for seeing a LHP every fourth game makes a difference. Batters have to get used to picking up the ball from a different release point. Also, lefties seem to have a little more natural movement on the ball. I don't know if it has anything to do with the way they grip the ball or not. Have you ever looked at a left-handers glove and the way it "folds" over? It's different that a right-handers glove. I have a LHP and it seems to me that they are just naturally a little quirky. At least mine is.

Dad04,

That's incredible about Brunnig! I see where he is listed as a switch-hitter and switch-pitcher.
I just wonder does he change arms and throw left one pitch, right two pitches.etc and does he have a multi-hand glove?

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

He warms up one particular arm per outing. He does not switch arms in a game. He threw well over 100 innings his Sr. spring season and lost the State Finals.

His dad taught him to pitch with both arms. I don't know why though. He is a little stronger from the right side, just mid 80's from the left.

He was home schooled.

Dad04,

Which is his dominate arm?

How do the fastballs, curveballs compare?

Did he go to showcases and pitch from both sides? If so, what were the comments?

Did it benefit him in baseball in the long run?

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

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Originally posted by Dad04:

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If you throw strikes, get batters out it matters not what arm you throw with-- if you throw upper 80's to low 90's does it really matter what arm is used?

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Made me think of a local player who had done well.....with both arms. I think his SAT was around 1500.

http://gocrimson.ocsn.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/brunnig_matt00.html

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That is amazing!!!! Not only that, but he got into Harvard too!!

I would love to see this guy throw. Now that's using both sides of your brain!!

I have not seen him in 2 years but I remember his right side being dominant and he left side just very good for high school. I have no idea if he still uses both arms.

His stuff was good with each arm but he was not considered a major pro prospect out of high school, especially with a Harvard near full academic ride.

He was one of the top pitchers for Harvard last year as a freshman.

He was considered very unusual here and was in the paper a lot, especially during the playoffs his Sr. year. I saw him on the TV news too.

Being home schooled he played for a very small faith based school and carried them to the State Championship game, pitching just about ever other game that year.

Racab,

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Don't know why also lefties pitchers has more effectiveness against righties hitters, than righties pitchers against lefties hitters. So, to have a good lefty pitcher is a real priority in any good baseball team.

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I have heard this said by many persons and coaches. It may be because the ball is breaking or sliding more towards the batter.

It sounds like being a lefty does have it's advantages statistically.

I would imagine every MLB team has several lefties, but I wonder if every Div-I college team has one, would be interesting to know?

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

Approximately 9% of the population is lefthanded
so I would guess the number is pretty close when counting ball players.

Seadog

The choices we make dictate the lives we lead.

Loved this thread. I have been trying for yrs to see if my son could throw with his right hand and be a switch pitcher, he thought I was crazy....

Crazy thing is that he is right handed in everything he does except when he pitches or plays any position in baseball then it is always a throw with his left hand (only wish he would bat lefty too). Only other sport that he may do lefty is when he isn't doing well in bowling then he will switch from right to left and back if need be?????????? So, I am not sure what percentage he would fit in. A right handed kid pitching left handed. Any others out there like this?

never old

My 10 year old is the same way. The only thing that he does left-handed is throw a baseball and it took me thousands of throws as a toddler to teach him.

In fall ball this past season he played a few games at SS right-handed and we practiced for a while teaching him to pitch right-handed as well, but decided ultimately to stick with LHP and playing 1B. He has a cannon of an arm for a 10 year old and it makes me wonder how hard he would be throwing right handed.

R.

My son is now 15 and also a LHP, 1B. Would love to have seen him play SS as I know he would have loved it. But his arm just won't work as a righty. When he was 3 he used to throw with both until it was time to buy him a glove to catch with and that is when he went with the left hand. Since that day he has never gone back to the right......... Of course one downside to him is exposing the pitching arm while batting, he just can't bat lefty..........

Good luck to you and your son this season. Enjoy those years and if you get a chance when he is 12 see if you can get his team to go to the Cooperstown tourney, it is an experience he will never forget............and your family will have memories that will last a lifetime.

Dad04... I saw Brunig play at Tinker Field/Orlando in the district playoffs a couple of years ago against Central Florida Christian Academy and he started pitching righthanded-coach took him out in the sixth inning and put him in left
field. He warmed up and played lefthanded the rest of the game and looked just
as natural as he did righty. I was impressed!

Moc1

A professional coach I know tried to explain the LHP advantage to me. The advantage is real. Consider this, if an LHP had no advantage, why are coaches willing to take on LHP's that have less (often much less) velocity than RHP's?

Based on the simple physics of the angle of the delivery to the plate and the angle of the RHP's batswing, an LHP's pitch should enter the Righty's wheelhouse in the strike zone, while an RHP's should be leaving it. Practice and familarity with RHP's allow Righty's to bat well against RHP's and the seldoom seen LHP will have the advantage. Why?

Batting is timing and pitching is about disrupting timing. Good pitching makes the batter take time to think and make adjustments - time a batter cannot afford to lose.

Assume Seadog is right and only 9% of the population is left-handed and a proportional number play baseball. Not all Lefties are pitchers, so there are probably less than 9% pitching. LHP's aren't seen that often at the lower levels where a lot of the basic training takes place.

In addition the majority of batters are Rightys, used to facing RHP's and their release point and delivery. Since they face LHP's infrequently, more time is required in the judgement process, forcing adjustments to be made more rapidly than normal. On the other hand, Leftys have grown up facing primarily RHP's - they are used to them.

LHP's do have a different angle to the plate UNLESS the release is a perfect "12 to 6," which seldom happens. This is why RHP's talk about the natural "tail" LHP pitches have.

Curve balls thrown by LHP's start out as outside "balls," then come in to the right-field sector of the strike zone - once again requiring more discipline to identify and time the pitch - more time consumed in deciding what to do.

Screwballs (when working, my LHP's favorite) look like a meatball, then break away from a Righty and drop. They change location in two planes and force the batter to adjust during swing. Once again, timing is disrupted and more judgement is required.

Training will level off much of the LHP advantage quite a bit - look at the MLB.

I have seen average LHP's dominate great hitting teams and I have seen great RHP's get to take early showers thanks to average hitting teams. The LHP advantage exists.

I have a LHP (14 year old) and I concur that there are 2 main differences:

1. For every 5 or 6 RHP's you see, you see one LHP. The angle to the plate is very different and the extra split second it takes to adjust is usually all he needs to slide it past you.

2. Most LHP's I have seen do get more movement on their pitches than RHP's. To compound the scenario, all the movement is to the direct opposite of what the batter is programmed to expect as well.

My LHP has the second best velocity on my team, but his record is astronomically better than the kid that has the greatest velocity. Compare an 11-3-1 record to a 6-8 record - and there is almost a 10 mph dropoff in his velocity. When I pitch him in a closer mode behind the faster pitcher, he has proven to be virtually unhittable.

http://www.highviewheat.com/index.asp

http://www.kristensfastpitchworld.com/index.asp

Just speculation, but I believe that because players see mostly RHP as kids they get used to the movement of a righty's pitch and the mind processes that as being "straight". When they see a lefty's movement the mind compares that movement to the expected movement and processes it as being even more movement than it really is.

Because our eyes can't track fast enough to watch the ball the entire distance from release to the point 5 to 10 feet in front of the plate where we lose the ball we make up for that by making an estimate at release and shifting our eyes ahead to where we expect the ball to be. If the ball is where we expected it our minds process that as a straight line from release to that point. Given that our minds have been wired since youth to expect a RHP's movement the pitch from a LHP tends to be further away from a right handed batter than anticipated and our minds process that as more movement on the ball.

i think the biggest reason lefties are more successful, is simply because there are not many of them. the ball moves in a different direction, etc. you just don't see that many growing up so you are ot as familiar with them.

I used to play tournament/league tennis and I always dreaded the left-handed opponent. The ball from the LH obviously would come in at different angles and spins than what I was used to (RH's). By the time I figured out how to play him, it was game-set-match. Look at the success of Conners, McEnroe & others, all Lefty's. My LHP son doesn't have the great velocity, but he's still been successful.