Prince Fielder, hasn't gotten off to the greatest start of the season (lucky me, he's on my fantasy team...), hitting only .241 and striking out 23 times.
But there is one thing that makes me scratch my head—Fielder is a lefty who is doing great against lefty pitchers this year.
Now, you're probably thinking, this goes against every baseball rule I have ever known.
But it's true. Four of his five home runs came against left-handed pitchers. Keep in mind, he has played in 24 games in which he has faced a lefty pitcher, which adds up to 45 at-bats. He has 43 more at-bats against righties.
Now, let's break down the stats. He has an average five points higher against lefties, and a higher slugging percentage as well. But clearly, he is seeing the ball better against righties, with 15 more walks.
Now, let's look into the history books. Historically, he has had just as much power against righties as he has against lefties.
It also proves that he sees the ball better against righties, which is what we would expect—lefties having trouble against other lefties.
Clearly, this is just a fluke, and doesn't mean that he has proved to us that lefties can do well against other lefties. But it will be interesting to see if he keeps it up against lefties this year, and continues to show more power against them.
Not many players come close to breaking this "curse," so I would find it interesting if there are any other lefty batters doing well against lefty pitchers.
Do you know any lefties that do well against other lefties? Talk it up...
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5 months ago
Nice Article Mike. I never really noticed that until now and I will now look for it more often.
4 months ago
I agree. Very interesting, and something I will keep my eye on as the season progresses.
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