OK, aside from the obvious that a righty throws with his right hand and a lefty with his left, what is the difference between the pitches? You always hear that the best lineups have at least one good lefty. The ball seems to end up in the same place, the catchers mitt or it is hit. So why is a good lefty always a "must have" on a starting line up? Any information you give me on this will be appreciated.
2007-04-14 11:38:18 · 10 answers · asked by Julie A 3 in Sports ➔ Baseball
The answers you've gotten so far are all at least 90% BS.
It is far easier to hit breaking pitches that break toward you that those that break away. That's why switch hitters bat the way they do.
Having LH starters keeps teams from getting swept by teams loaded with left handed hitters.(especially in the play-offs.)
Also, almost all switch hitters are better from the left side. Often from doing it more, often because most people are right eye dominant (the eye closest to the pitcher is most used while batting)
2007-04-15 02:02:28 · answer #1 · answered by H.E. G 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A lefty pitcher is facing 1st base. That little bit makes a throw to first base so much faster, meaning that the runner can't lead off as much (stand away from the base).
As well, a lefty pitches inside towards lefty hitters. When a pitch is inside it's harder to hit, because the batter is trying to keep safe.
Lefties being better at sports is just a myth, though. I write with my left hand, but play sports with my right, meaning that I think the same way lefties do. So, you don't have to be left-handed, just think like them.
Lefties see a football field as a field with marks. Righties see a field full of marks, and pay more attention to the marks. Lefties run first, then check where they are.
2007-04-14 11:45:50 · answer #2 · answered by perfectlybaked 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First of all it is called a pitching rotation not a lineup, the lineup is with the hitters. Lefties are tough against lefty hitters. Most hitters ar not used to the different arm angle of lefties, plus they hide the ball better from a right handed hitter than a righty. But you don't have to have a lefty in your rotation to be good. I would rather have a great righty than a good lefty.
2007-04-14 11:42:38 · answer #3 · answered by andy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the ball does not end up in the same place, mainly due to the spin that the pitcher can put on the ball. It's easier to hit off a pitcher throwing with the opposite hand because the ball tends to curve towards you, vs. a pitcher of the same hand where the ball spins away from you.
So, to avoid having a team put all left-handed batters in their lineup every day if they know you only have right-handed pitchers, most teams will have at least one left-handed starter and at least one left-hander in the bullpen. Which, of course, means that while there are only 10% of the people who are left-handed, there's a much higher percentage in baseball. Amongst the other major sports, only hockey really has a difference when it comes to being left-handed vs. right-handed.
2007-04-14 11:45:03 · answer #4 · answered by TheOnlyBeldin 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When a pitcher is a lefty, the ball comes from the left straight to the batter. Most batters are used to the pitch kind of sliding from the right a little more to them. It just mixes things up and little and throws the batter off a bit. Also good to have for those that ALWAYS hit home runs.
2007-04-14 11:43:02 · answer #5 · answered by scimathteacher 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The largest 2 matters are the discharge factor and the course of the ball holiday. There are many extra proper-passed pitchers so the batters come to be aware of that liberate factor. When the pitcher throws along with his left hand, it offers the batter yet another appear. Also the pitches obviously holiday in the direction of righties and clear of lefties; the reverse of what occurs whilst a proper-hander throws.
2016-09-05 13:18:37 · answer #6 · answered by dais 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The different delivery of the throw messes with the batter's eye...Pitchers modify speed, direction, and spin on the ball to try and get batters to miss, but something that they can't do is pick where the ball is coming from. Since only 8%-15% of people are left-handed (myself being one of them), batters will typically be used to taking pitches from right-handed pitchers and, since it's hard for a batter to hit .300 against a right-handed pitcher, the different hand delivery is a big advantage.
Another advantage of having a left-handed pitcher is that because he faces first base on the mound (and because most ballparks face the same direction, that direction is usually south--hence the phrase "southpaw") he is able to be more of a threat to a runner taking a lead on first base (a right-handed pitcher will have his back to first base, and in order to pick off a runner, he has to jump off of the mound and do a 180).
There are many other advantages to being left-handed in baseball, but none of them are about pitching so I won't list them, but you can read about them in the wikipedia article.
2007-04-14 12:05:35 · answer #7 · answered by A Priori 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
to start... most lefty's have a natural tail on their fastball which can be deceptive... it tails away from a right handed hitter causing an outside fastball to be harder to hit... they are also rare to find and when you see right handed pitchers all the time, it can be hard to adjust when you get to see a lefty.
2007-04-14 11:44:30 · answer #8 · answered by nick b 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
B/c if you got a right handed pitcher you could see the ball coming better if your a leftey. Same goes vise virsa!!!
2007-04-14 11:46:47 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a left handed pitcher's curve ball is a right handed hitter's screw ball, since screw balls are harded to throw than curve balls.
2007-04-14 11:41:18 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋