Talk:Left-handed specialist

Left-handed specialist

Since most pitchers are right-handed, left-handed batters naturally have fewer at-bats against, and therefore less experience with, left-handed pitchers.

Eh? This is true for right-handed batters as well as left, shhurely? Why is it particularly important for left-handeders? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 14:46, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with baseball either, but my guess is that the combination of the two factors mentioned (inexperience, different side of mound) occurs only when both batter and pitcher are left handed. In any case it isn't clear from what's stated, and someone who is in the know should fix it. -- Arvindn 15:53, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

In general, it's easier for right-handers to hit left-handed pitching and left-handers to hit right-handers because of the favourable trajectory of the ball from the pitcher's hand. The only reason we see more left-handed specialists than right-handed specialists is because of familiarity. The average batter will have 70-80% of their plate appearances against right-handed pitchers. Righties therefore get more experience against pitchers with the "sweeping" motion across the plate, and more chance to adjust, whereas lefties may only see a handful of at-bats against pitchers pitching from that side every week. Guess I should write that into the article, huh? -- Matty j 20:33, Mar 5, 2004 (UTC)

Left-handed hitters often face a disproportionate number of lefty relievers, so some actually see more pitches from LHPs than right-handed hitters do, not fewer. However, some lefty hitters are platooned against lefty starters and/or lifted for pinch-hitters against lefty relievers, so this doesn't always hold. Hitters as a group see far fewer pitches from LHPs than RHPs - in 2009, only 27% of pitches were thrown by lefties [1]. Bonehed (talk) 02:01, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Also, why does the article say that Left-handed pitchers also pitch from a different side of the pitcher's mound and therefore their pitches tend to have a more sweeping effect across the plate.? Isn't the baseball field symmetrical? silsor 19:27, Mar 5, 2004 (UTC)

The field may be symmetrical but the pitcher isn't. Assuming the pitcher is throwing from the middle of the pitching rubber (sometimes they don't), a pitch thrown by a left-hander will tend to have some left-to-right motion (as seen from the pitcher's viewpoint) and thus be moving slightly away from a left-handed batter, or towards a right-handed batter. A pitch moving away from the batter is considered to be somewhat more difficult to hit, thus a left handed pitcher's supposed advantage against left-handed batters. BTW: I have never heard the term LOOGY before. Is this a joke? - Rbs 19:50, 2004 Mar 5 (UTC)

LOOGY seems ok according to Google. Surely left-to-left is symmetric to right-to-right from a ball movement point of view... but maybe both of those are harder on the batter than left-to-right and right-to-left? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 19:52, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Left-to-left is symmetric to right-to-right, but that then gets back to the issue that there are fewer left-hander pitchers for left-handed batters to face. - Rbs 20:23, 2004 Mar 5 (UTC)

Exactly. Left-to-right and right-to-left is, in general (with the exclusion of Al Leiter, Mariano Rivera and a handful of others), the best situation for a hitter. There are right-handed specialists, but most right-handed batters have learned how to deal with the difference in the trajectory of the ball out of a right-handed pitcher's hand through sheer experience, whereas left-handed batters do not see as many left-handed pitchers. Also, left-handed specialists often spend time specifically devoted to developing pitchs which are even more "sweeping" across the plate to exploit this weakness. It's sort of a self-feeding mechanism that way. It could go the other way, and does occasionally, but it will never be as easy to exploit as the other way around. -- Matty j 20:33, Mar 5, 2004 (UTC)

Great explanation, thanks Matty and others. COuld you maybe tidy the article a bit, just to make it clearer for us people who know a lot less about the game. Thanksa again. Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 20:36, 5 Mar 2004 (UTC)

"Notable left handed specialists"

Resolved

 – Prose added regarding history of lefty specialists with indiscriminate list removed.—Bagumba (talk) 18:01, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

I took this list out. It's inherently OR, and many of the pitchers on it do or did pitch to righties frequently enough to escape this tag. A few have been closers and some even starters, both of whom would have a very tough time pitching to just lefties. Nosleep1234 10:18, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Not sure when or how this was added back. While the entries are sourced, it is unclear what is the criteria for a "notable" pitcher. Either the criteria needs to be stated upfront, or prose should be added for the entries to convey their significance.—Bagumba (talk) 01:33, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

I've added some history on increased usage on lefty specialists, and mentioned Candelaria and added info on Orosco. The list was indiscriminate, with the majority of entries only mentioning the player is a lefty specialist, and has been removed. Feel free to add back individual entries with supporting text regarding their significance.—Bagumba (talk) 18:01, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

ROOGY list

I'd prefer not to have a list of pitchers, as they usually end up being an indiscriminate list of drive-by additions of people's favorites. If they are notable, we should mention their significance in prose. See existing mentions of John Candelaria and Jesse Orosco for LOOGY as examples.—Bagumba (talk) 21:19, 25 October 2012 (UTC)