Ahead of the MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta last month, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal looked around the clubhouse and noticed something strange.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a ton of lefties,\u201d Skubal said.<\/p>\n
Lefties tend to spot any lefties in their orbit, and so Garrett Crochet, the Boston Red Sox lefty dueling Skubal for a Cy Young award, saw it too. At this year\u2019s Midsummer Classic, the left-handed starters outnumbered the righties. \u201cThat\u2019s crazy,\u201d Crochet said. Other worthy lefties were snubbed, he added, such as Philadelphia\u2019s Cristopher S\u00e1nchez and Ranger Su\u00e1rez.<\/p>\n
Now the rest of the industry is noticing: We may be witnessing a zenith of left-handed pitching. In 2025, lefties have a collective 3.73 ERA. Righties? 4.30. It\u2019s the greatest gulf between them since ERA became an official stat in 1913.<\/p>\n
Despite comprising only a quarter of the major league pitching population, left-handers account for five of the top seven qualified starters by ERA, and 11 of the top 23. By adjusted ERA, this is the most dominant left-handed season in the modern era \u2014 and it\u2019s not particularly close<\/a>.<\/p>\n MLB ERA leaders<\/p>\n Rank<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Player<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Team<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Hand<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n IP<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n ERA<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 1<\/p>\n PIT<\/p>\n RHP<\/p>\n 154<\/p>\n 2.16<\/p>\n 2<\/p>\n CIN<\/p>\n LHP<\/p>\n 130<\/p>\n 2.28<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n DET<\/p>\n LHP<\/p>\n 159.1<\/p>\n 2.32<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n HOU<\/p>\n RHP<\/p>\n 149<\/p>\n 2.36<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n BOS<\/p>\n LHP<\/p>\n 159.1<\/p>\n 2.43<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n PHI<\/p>\n LHP<\/p>\n 157<\/p>\n 2.46<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n CHC<\/p>\n LHP<\/p>\n 148<\/p>\n 2.61<\/p>\n \u201cIn the American League, all the Cy Young guys are lefty,\u201d Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. Over in the National League, San Diego Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth remarked, each division has several outstanding lefties. \u201cThere\u2019s not only more of them,\u201d Cronenworth said, \u201cbut they\u2019re becoming extremely dominant.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s insane,\u201d Pasquantino said. \u201cAnd they all throw hard as f\u2014 now.\u201d<\/p>\n Historically, left-handed pitchers have fared slightly better than righties, but there\u2019s been balance for much of the modern era. In the past 40 years, righties had a better cumulative ERA 20 times, and lefties 20 times, never separated by more than two-tenths of a run. So how is it now that a sudden southpaw surge has overwhelmed the sport? And is it here to stay?<\/p>\n Largest ERA gaps<\/p>\n RankYearRHP ERALHP ERADIFF<\/p>\n 1<\/p>\n 2025<\/p>\n 4.30<\/p>\n 3.73<\/p>\n 0.57<\/p>\n 2<\/p>\n 1924<\/p>\n 4.16<\/p>\n 3.74<\/p>\n 0.42<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n 1949<\/p>\n 4.27<\/p>\n 3.85<\/p>\n 0.42<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n 1913<\/p>\n 3.17<\/p>\n 2.79<\/p>\n 0.38<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n 1916<\/p>\n 2.83<\/p>\n 2.47<\/p>\n 0.36<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n 1953<\/p>\n 4.25<\/p>\n 3.89<\/p>\n 0.36<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n 1992<\/p>\n 3.65<\/p>\n 3.97<\/p>\n 0.24<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n 1975<\/p>\n 3.79<\/p>\n 3.55<\/p>\n 0.32<\/p>\n 9<\/p>\n 1942<\/p>\n 3.49<\/p>\n 3.72<\/p>\n 0.23<\/p>\n 10<\/p>\n 1961<\/p>\n 4.09<\/p>\n 3.87<\/p>\n 0.22<\/p>\n Explaining how lefties are doing this requires plumbing statistical archives, parsing splits, gathering theories from players and puzzling over them with evaluators and pitching savants. It takes many ingredients to create such an outlier season, but the factor cited first in almost every conversation on the topic\u00a0is \u2026<\/p>\n Reason 1: A lack of exposure<\/p>\n In 2023, his breakout season in the minors, Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony knew his overall numbers were obscuring his struggles against left-handed pitching. Anthony, a left-handed hitter, was named Boston\u2019s minor league hitter of the year while batting .219 against lefties.<\/p>\n \u201cLuckily,\u201d he said, \u201c90 percent of the guys I faced were right-handed.\u201d<\/p>\n That offseason, Anthony trained against lefty big leaguers, minor leaguers, batting practice throwers and angled pitching machines. \u201cMaking the practice environment as impossible as I can \u2014 and failing most of the time in my practice \u2014 so that now the average left-handed pitcher looks pretty stock,\u201d he said. Anthony hit .316 against lefties the next season. Still, he said, \u201cat the end of the day, a machine can only get you so ready to go out in front of 40,000 people and face the best left-handed pitcher in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Hitters get far fewer reps against lefties. Always have. Always will. About 10 percent of the world\u2019s population is left-handed. Hitters rarely face lefties growing up. They scarcely see good lefties early in pro ball. \u201cThey go quick through the minors,\u201d Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. said. In the Red Sox clubhouse, Anthony gestured to Crochet. You don\u2019t really see those guys in Triple A. Crochet bypassed the minors entirely.<\/p>\n \u201cI like facing lefties,\u201d Witt said. \u201cBut you just don\u2019t see it as much.\u201d<\/p>\n The number of left-handed pitchers in the majors has dwindled over the past five years, and the proportion of games started by left-handers has dropped from 31.9 percent in 2021 to 26.2 percent in 2025. Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. said hitters are simultaneously seeing fewer lefties and higher-caliber ones \u2014 many of them aces or No. 2 starters.<\/p>\n Tatis had at least a .915 OPS against lefties in his first three full seasons in San Diego. The past two years, it\u2019s been below .690. Tatis said lefties are throwing him pitches with \u201cmore angle, more cut\u201d this season, but that\u2019s not what he believes is the root of his issues: \u201c(It\u2019s) probably because 80 percent of the time I\u2019m facing righties, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n But the exposure argument doesn\u2019t explain lefties\u2019 superiority in 2025 specifically as much as the fact that \u2026<\/p>\n Reason 2: Lefties can\u2019t hit lefties<\/p>\n Pasquantino\u2019s dad, Dennis, doesn\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes him so upset,\u201d Pasquantino said. \u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018Why? Why? I don\u2019t understand!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018I don\u2019t know. It just is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n No matchup has a hitter at a more stark statistical disadvantage than left-on-left.<\/p>\n OPS against right-handed pitchers: .748 \u00a0<\/p>\n LHH OPS splits since 2021<\/p>\n Year<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n vs RHP<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n vs LHP<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n DIFF<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2021<\/p>\n .741<\/p>\n .656<\/p>\n .085<\/p>\n 2022<\/p>\n .708<\/p>\n .647<\/p>\n .061<\/p>\n 2023<\/p>\n .753<\/p>\n .690<\/p>\n .063<\/p>\n 2024<\/p>\n .733<\/p>\n .668<\/p>\n .065<\/p>\n 2025<\/p>\n .748<\/p>\n .658<\/p>\n .090<\/p>\n This is why managers stack their lineup with right-handed hitters against lefties, and why pitchers notice when they don\u2019t: \u201cKris Bubic says it all the time: \u2018Ooh, I got three lefties in the lineup today. I\u2019m not used to that,\u2019\u201d Royals pitching coach Brian Sweeney said. Lefty starters face vastly different lineups than their right-handed counterparts, as right-handed platoon bats replace lefties \u2014 often even stars \u2014 either to give them rest or spare them the indignity of televised left-on-left torment.<\/p>\n A slugging lefty, Pasquantino\u2019s career OPS against right-handers is more than 100 points higher than against left-handers. This is not a point of pride. He wants to be entrusted to do damage against both hands, as he did last week with a laser home run off Washington Nationals lefty Mitchell Parker.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make the at-bats mean more,\u201d Pasquantino said. \u201cBut I also want to prove I can hit lefties.\u201d<\/p>\n More and more lately across the league, one pitch is preventing that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sinker,\u201d Pasquantino said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sinker\u2019s coming back in play,\u201d New York Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said.<\/p>\n LHP usage vs. LHH<\/p>\n Year<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n FOUR-SEAM<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n SINKER<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n SLIDER<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n SWEEPER<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2021<\/p>\n 35.8%<\/p>\n 18.3%<\/p>\n 22.2%<\/p>\n 3.0%<\/p>\n 2022<\/p>\n 32.4%<\/p>\n 20.3%<\/p>\n 22.4%<\/p>\n 5.6%<\/p>\n 2023<\/p>\n 30.1%<\/p>\n 22.0%<\/p>\n 20.5%<\/p>\n 9.4%<\/p>\n 2024<\/p>\n 29.1%<\/p>\n 24.9%<\/p>\n 19.1%<\/p>\n 10.0%<\/p>\n 2025<\/p>\n 26.6%<\/p>\n 25.1%<\/p>\n 21.9%<\/p>\n 10.6%<\/p>\n Historically, the book on left-on-left was four-seamers away and breaking balls. Last week, Pasquantino was surprised to step in against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman and see the hardest-throwing lefty in the sport dot three consecutive sinkers at the bottom of the strike zone. The next night, Pasquantino\u2019s Royals were folded by Crochet, whose primary pitch to left-handed hitters is a sinker he\u2019s been throwing for less than a year. It\u2019s a 96 mph buzzsaw lefties have yet to hit for extra bases.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it\u2019s not even the great equalizer,\u201d Crochet said, grinning. \u201cIt feels like it\u2019s the great decimator.\u201d<\/p>\n In an opposite-handed at-bat, pitchers typically have one extra pitch at their disposal. (For lefties, a changeup.) Despite being a pitch short against lefty hitters, Crochet said, \u201cYou really don\u2019t need the extra pitch when you have the sinker boring in on them.\u201d<\/p>\n The Phillies\u2019 Kyle Schwarber has reverse splits this season, with a .978 OPS against lefties and a .924 OPS against righties. For opposing managers, it\u2019s \u201cpick your poison\u201d with Schwarber, teammate Bryce Harper said. On Friday, Schwarber was hitless in three at-bats against Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore and out of sync until adjusting his setup midgame. Later, the Nationals went to another lefty, Konnor Pilkington, in a tied game. Pilkington hung a slider. Schwarber smashed his 17th homer this season against a lefty; no other lefty hitter has more than 10.<\/p>\n Schwarber\u2019s key to the left-on-left quandary: \u201cWorking on the mentality of it just being an at-bat.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to see why avoiding left-on-left at almost all costs is an attractive option for major league clubs. But some players ask: If lefty hitters get so few opportunities to face lefties these days, how can anyone accurately assess their (in)ability to hit same-sided pitching? Imagine going a week without facing a lefty, Royals infielder Adam Frazier said, \u201cthen you\u2019re sitting on the bench and have to pinch-hit against a lefty reliever throwing 98 mph sinkers. Good luck.\u201d<\/p>\n But we may be focusing on the wrong matchup. Left-on-left numbers are always bad. They were worse a decade ago. What has changed dramatically this season is that \u2026<\/p>\n Reason 3: Righty hitters can\u2019t hit lefties<\/p>\n This year, the platoon advantage has all but vanished for right-handed hitters.<\/p>\n OPS against right-handed pitchers: .707 That delta is less than half the difference in any of the previous 20 seasons.<\/p>\n RHH OPS splits since 2021<\/p>\n Year<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n vs RHP<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n vs LHP<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n DIFF<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2021<\/p>\n .711<\/p>\n .766<\/p>\n .055<\/p>\n 2022<\/p>\n .700<\/p>\n .736<\/p>\n .036<\/p>\n 2023<\/p>\n .714<\/p>\n .760<\/p>\n .046<\/p>\n 2024<\/p>\n .692<\/p>\n .728<\/p>\n .036<\/p>\n 2025<\/p>\n .707<\/p>\n .716<\/p>\n .009<\/p>\n According to the hitters trying to turn around this trend, the change this season \u2014\u00a0right-handed hitters have a below-average wRC+ against lefties for the first time since 2004 \u2014\u00a0is all about location.<\/p>\n Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman said that early on in his career, lefties attacked with fastballs and changeups away. Now they\u2019re coming up and in. \u201cReally good four-seam fastballs in,\u201d Bregman said. \u201cThey\u2019re getting it there, and they\u2019re throwing it harder than ever.\u201d Lefties are also more confident dropping back-foot sliders, added Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder. For right-handed hitters trained to drive a pitch from a lefty to right-center field, facing a crossfire pitcher throwing inside has a handcuffing effect. And when they still want to attack the outer edge, several top lefties, like Skubal and S\u00e1nchez, have outlier changeups that grade among the best pitches in the sport.<\/p>\n Left-handed pitchers operate at a platoon disadvantage over 70 percent of the time, far more than their right-handed counterparts (49 percent). When MLB instituted a three-batter minimum in 2020, lefty specialists were weeded out, and those who remained had to learn to retire righties.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to be really good or elite on the same side, but you want to be able to get the other guys out,\u201d said Mets All-Star left-hander David Peterson. \u201cFor me, as a starter, the only way I\u2019m going to be able to get deep into games and have more trust to go further through the lineup a couple times is showing you can get righties out.\u201d<\/p>\n While lefties can often subdue same-handed hitters simply by attacking with their strengths, it takes creativity to solve the opposite-handed hitter. With lefty Evan Sisk (recently traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates) struggling against righties, Sweeney told him his primary pitch, a sinker, would work maybe once per at-bat. He had Sisk throw more four-seamers and add a cutter. \u201cBuilding a repertoire to get righties out is definitely a focus,\u201d Sweeney said.<\/p>\n The process of refining a pitcher\u2019s arsenal is more streamlined than ever, thanks to how technology and training have shaped \u2026<\/p>\n Reason 4: The evolution of the \u201csoft-tossing\u201d lefty<\/p>\n This spring, pitching analyst Lance Brozdowski predicted<\/a> that the average number of pitch types thrown by a starting pitcher, a figure climbing steadily in recent years, would eclipse five for the first time in the pitch-tracking era.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was my take,\u201d Brozdowski said last week, \u201cthat mix diversity would take over.\u201d<\/p>\n The current average: 4.96 pitch types per starter. That rise has been propelled in no small part by left-handers, as they have collectively added a full pitch to their arsenal in five years, from 3.85 in 2021 to 4.79 in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cPretty much every lefty starter now is really, really nasty,\u201d Refsnyder said, \u201cor working on something to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n Pitch types thrown per starting pitcher<\/p>\n Year<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n RHP<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n LHP<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n MLB AVG<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2021<\/p>\n 4.58<\/p>\n 3.85<\/p>\n 4.32<\/p>\n 2022<\/p>\n 4.43<\/p>\n 4.04<\/p>\n 4.32<\/p>\n 2023<\/p>\n 4.68<\/p>\n 4.08<\/p>\n 4.53<\/p>\n 2024<\/p>\n 4.91<\/p>\n 4.22<\/p>\n 4.73<\/p>\n 2025<\/p>\n 5.03<\/p>\n 4.79<\/p>\n 4.96<\/p>\n Minimum 2,000 total pitches and 100 per pitch type; 2020 and 2025 prorated<\/p>\n Back when Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was a journeyman lefty reliever, he threw almost exclusively sinkers and curveballs to lefties, and sinkers and changeups to righties. His heater averaged 90 mph. These days, that\u2019s what Anthony might call a stock lefty. \u201cNow we see left-handers with multiple fastballs and breaking balls,\u201d Breslow said in an email, \u201cand repertoires that are more difficult to defend against.\u201d<\/p>\n As for why, Breslow said, it starts with how training methods have accelerated, helping boost velocity. The average lefty fastball (93 mph) is still almost two ticks slower than righties\u2019 (94.8 mph), but only 12 MLB lefties this season have sub-90 mph average heaters, compared to 37 a decade ago.<\/p>\n Secondly, Breslow added, technology has transformed pitch design. With pitch-tracking data, slow-motion cameras and biometric data, pitchers have more information about themselves and about hitters. Peterson gave an example: \u201cSay there are five percent more hitters who have a flatter bat path. As a lefty, if you can have a pitch or two that gets more depth, you can miss more barrels. You know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d<\/p>\n Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said the game is \u201cso much more advanced now\u201d than when he debuted in 2016, and nowhere is that clearer than in pitching approaches. Back then, pitchers had an attack plan against lefties and righties, but they both contained the same pitches. Now, pitchers are armed with diverse pitch mixes and individualized plans.<\/p>\n \u201cThey all have weapons to get at your weaknesses, and it all comes down to execution,\u201d Nimmo said. He added, \u201cWe\u2019ll start to see some young kids come up who have been exposed to this at an earlier age and it\u2019ll be old hat. Then it will be the pitchers\u2019 turn to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n Until then, the arms have the upper hand. But what their evolution still can\u2019t explain is why \u2026<\/p>\n Reason 5: We still don\u2019t understand what makes lefties good<\/p>\n How are lefties getting away with this? Compared to righties, they on average have less velocity, lower spin rates and fewer pitch types. They are almost always at a platoon disadvantage. And yet they\u2019re outperforming right-handers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is funny, when you say it that way,\u201d Crochet said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to quantify.\u201d<\/p>\n Harder than he knows. A 2020 study<\/a> from Guy Molyneux and Phil Birnbaum concluded that lefties\u2019 \u201chidden advantage\u201d was due to hitters\u2019 unfamiliarity with pitches from the left side, an effect similar to that studied in tennis, volleyball and soccer. The authors estimated that the lefty advantage was 0.6 runs allowed per nine innings.<\/p>\n More recently, while iterating with Stuff+, the pitch quality model he helped create, The Athletic\u2019s Eno Sarris wrestled with why left-handed pitchers consistently outperformed the model\u2019s predictions. It wasn\u2019t until baking in extra credit for lefties \u2014\u00a0acknowledging that their stuff plays up from what their velocity and movement readings would indicate \u2014 that the model became adequately aligned with reality.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a debate evaluators regularly have: Do lefties have an inherent advantage?<\/p>\n \u201cListen,\u201d Brozdowski said. \u201cCristopher S\u00e1nchez is an incredibly simple pitcher if you look at him from a usage and maps standpoint. And that dude is unbelievable! I\u2019m not entirely sure why.\u201d<\/p>\n Both S\u00e1nchez and Houston Astros lefty Framber Valdez throw two pitches more than 70 percent of the time. That\u2019s not the prototype of a modern ace. But here they are in the mix for a Cy Young.<\/p>\n Last week, the Cincinnati Reds and Phillies played a three-game series in which each game featured a left-handed starting pitcher with an ERA in the 2s in mid-August: S\u00e1nchez, Su\u00e1rez and Cincinnati\u2019s Andrew Abbott. \u201cThose guys were gross,\u201d Abbott said afterward. \u201cAnd everybody\u2019s different. It makes it kind of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n For lefties, different is often described in one of a few ways: Funky, crafty, deceptive. None of those terms is easily quantifiable, though training facilities such as Driveline Baseball are studying the details that produce deception. Perhaps one day we\u2019ll discover that the left-hander\u2019s advantage is hidden in all sorts of biometric minutiae like lower release points, stride direction<\/a> and placement on the rubber.<\/p>\n For now, maybe it\u2019s this simple: They\u2019re good because they\u2019re good.<\/p>\n \u201cJust look at their stuff,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what hand you are if you have the stuff those lefties have.\u201d<\/p>\n Growing up, Skubal was the only lefty thrower in his family. His 1-year-old son, Kasen, has started swinging left-handed, but often transfers objects to his right hand before throwing them. \u201cWould I love for him to be left-handed? Sure,\u201d Skubal said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t really care what he does.\u201d Even so, when Skubal, the best lefty in baseball, hands something to his son to throw, he places it in the boy\u2019s left hand. It\u2019s worth trying.<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s Cody Stavenhagen, Dennis Lin, Tim Britton, Chad Jennings, Charlotte Varnes and C. Trent Rosecrans contributed to this report.<\/p>\n (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson \/ The Athletic; Photos: Caean Couto, Jason Mowry, Alika Jenner \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of the MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta last month, Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal looked around the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-97637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
OPS against left-handed pitchers: .658<\/p>\n
OPS against left-handed pitchers: .716<\/p>\n