Left Handed Hitters Approaching Left Handed Pitchers

Jim Thome joins Al Leiter and Sean Casey in Studio 42 to discuss the challenge left handed hitters face going up against left handed pitchers.

[Bcklm]

I could hear these guys talk about hitting forever.

[ednelson]

I think that with 65 - 75 % being right handed players. A right handed player will get used to right handed pitching quicker than; a left handed hitter facing a lefty pitcher. Using myself as a reference, In little league and high school. I faced alot of rightys. I had trouble pitching against alot of leftys because i didnt see them all that often.

[glevy]

Man I loved when thome was here in philly. Great hitter and a great human being.

[Kknise]

Thome is great! Case is too, these guys are classy and know their stuff

[butterthyme]

Al has the most wonderful frantic energy

[Tu_Padre]

man, kershaw's numbers are ridiculous

[vizon-aryproductions]

I’m a true lefty, and I loved hitting against other lefties in college. It’s easier to read the ball, maybe because I was a pitcher in highschool * and moved to RF in college.

[MrJking]

Thome and Pedo are the 2 best at explaing their craft.I think Chipper Jones said the reason he learned to switch hit was because of left handed pitching.

[seandafny]

So interesting man i love it. Can watch content like this all day

[seandafny]

So fun to learn new aspects of sports. Its always something so subtle but so great

[allenamini]

It has a lot to do with pitchers you commonly see. I’m a leftie and most of my friends growing up were lefties...we hit against each other and when I got into Little League, as a left handed hitter, I was way more comfortable against left handed pitchers. For me, the righties’ fastball would tail away. This continued up through high school.

[Il_Exile_lI]

Interesting hearing both of these guys talk about facing lefties, especially considering their career performances against lefties. Thome was pretty bad against lefties. His average was 50 points lower against lefties and his slugging was almost 200 points lower. Casey, on the other hand, hit .291 against lefties in his career. Slightly worse than against righties, but he certainly held his own.

[scottgh]

Seems LHP pitching motion to LHB is a looping throw that almost appears to originate from behind the batter.  Open stance gives the LHB a much better line of sight.   It allows a batter to see the ball better.  I think that a guy still needs to stand far enough away from the plate so the meat of the bat covers the plate, and extends maybe an inch or two across the right side of the plate.

[allenamini]

I grew up with most of my friends being lefties along with myself...unlike most hitters, as a left hand hitter I preferred to hit left handed pitchers and struggled more against righties...especially fastballs that would tail.

[DosK]

Another fantastic video, I love this stuff

[JoeBrownCrownRoyal]

he said he opened me up and cleared my hips…

[genenile]

As a leftie hitter I can see the ball slightly earlier on a LHP

[bananaman]

Right handed but i hit left its as easy as right for whatever reason

[fdannn]

I'm a right handed person when it comes to things like writing but when it comes to sports may it be baseball, hockey, golf etc hold the stick/bat/club and swing left handed for some reason..is this common?

[flyingdutch]

The aim is to get to first; you look at the majority of leftie hitters and they turn their hips WAY MORE than righties.
As an old lefty pitcher i can attest lefty batters are way more susceptible to the outside slider or inside change-upcos they commit their hips earlier. Why? Cos their in the habit of turning to run earlier