Studying and using splits is a very important factor to both DFS and seasonal play. For this portion of the many different splits, the focus will be on hitters vs. RHP and LHP. Knowing the right splits to play can be the difference between cashing big and missing the payout in DFS. In seasonal play it can help you avoid having that guy on your bench with a home run or multiple steals. All data is strictly based on the 2017 season. Let’s dive in.
Home Runs
HR vs. LHP | (Total HRs) | HR vs. RHP | (Total HRs) | Overall HR leaders | # | ||||
Aaron Altherr | 7 | 12 | Aaron Judge | 19 | 24 | Aaron Judge | 24 | ||
Anthony Rizzo | 7 | 17 | Khris Davis | 17 | 18 | Cody Bellinger | 22 | ||
Nolan Arenado | 7 | 15 | Cody Bellinger | 17 | 22 | George Springer | 21 | ||
George Springer | 7 | 21 | Marcell Ozuna | 17 | 19 | Logan Morrison | 21 | ||
Joey Votto | 7 | 20 | Logan Morrison | 17 | 21 | Joey Votto | 20 | ||
Anthony Rendon | 6 | 13 | Jay Bruce | 17 | 19 | Eric Thames | 20 | ||
Adam Duvall | 6 | 16 | Bryce Harper | 16 | 18 | Justin Smoak | 20 | ||
Justin Bour | 6 | 18 | Justin Smoak | 16 | 20 | Mike Moustakas | 19 | ||
Eric Thames | 6 | 20 | Mike Trout | 15 | 16 | Ryan Zimmerman | 19 | ||
Giancarlo Stanton | 6 | 18 | Paul Goldschmidt | 15 | 17 | Marcell Ozuna | 19 | ||
Jay Bruce | 19 | ||||||||
Scott Schebler | 19 |
So a few things will stand out right away both vs. LHP and RHP. First, against lefties, four of the top ten leaders are actually full-time left-handed hitters (Rizzo, Votto, Bour, Thames). That can be used as an advantage over other people who tend to be gun-shy against lefty-lefty matchups. Next, we notice the large portion of home runs against lefties for Altherr and Rendon. When we shift the focus to looking against RHP, Davis is the biggest one to take notice of. Davis, as we know, hits right-handed but has done nearly all of his big damage against RHP. So when he is facing a weak LHP it may not be the juicy matchup that you would assume it would be. Four others worth taking note of that are not included in the above chart are.. Steven Souza Jr., Starlin Castro,Yasiel Puig, and Rougned Odor. Souza has hit all 14 of his home runs against RHP, Castro all 12 against RHP, Puig all 12 against RHP, and Odor all 12 against RHP. For Souza, Castro, and Puig those are all righty-righty matchups which is very important to know.
Stolen Bases
SB vs. RHP | (Total Steals) | SB vs. LHP | (Total Steals) | Overall SB Leaders | # | ||||
Billy Hamilton | 26 | 30 | Delino DeShields | 9 | 16 | Billy Hamilton | 30 | ||
Trea Turner | 26 | 27 | Dee Gordon | 9 | 27 | Trea Turner | 27 | ||
Cameron Maybin | 20 | 21 | Andrelton Simmons | 6 | 12 | Dee Gordon | 27 | ||
Dee Gordon | 18 | 27 | Paul Goldschmidt | 5 | 13 | Cameron Maybin | 21 | ||
Elvis Andrus | 15 | 15 | Kevin Kiermaier | 4 | 10 | Eduardo Nunez | 17 | ||
Jarrod Dyson | 15 | 17 | Devon Travis | 4 | 4 | Jarrod Dyson | 17 | ||
Eduardo Nunez | 13 | 17 | A.J. Pollock | 4 | 11 | Delino DeShields | 16 | ||
Byron Buxton | 12 | 13 | Billy Hamilton | 4 | 30 | Jose Peraza | 15 | ||
Lorenzo Cain | 12 | 14 | Jose Peraza | 4 | 15 | Elvis Andrus | 15 | ||
Jonathan Villar | 12 | 14 | Eduardo Nunez | 4 | 17 | Jonathan Villar | 14 | ||
Jose Altuve | 12 | 12 | Lorenzo Cain | 14 |
For some of these guys, nearly all of their value comes from stealing bases. So knowing who they are willing to run on is very important. Right away you’ll notice that some of the game’s best base stealers do nearly all of their damage against RHP. Of the four players with 20+ steals, three of them do less than 15% of their stealing against LHP with Turner and Maybin stealing over 95% of their bases against RHP. Dee Gordon having nine steals against LHP makes him an interesting DFS play against lefties. He has hit lefties at a .253 clip and the lefty-lefty matchups should make him a low-own % in DFS, but he is still stealing bases in those matchups. One player worth noting, who wasn’t in the above chart, is Brett Gardner who has all eight of his steals this season against RHP.
Combo Splits
For some players, both the majority of their home runs and stolen bases come against the same pitching side. Brian Dozier has all nine of his steals and ten-of-twelve home runs against RHP. Chris Taylor has all eight of his steals and seven-of-nine home runs against RHP. Jose Ramirez has all seven of his steals and eight-of-eleven home runs against RHP. Taylor Motter has seven-of-nine steals and all seven of his home runs against RHP. Alex Bregman has three-of-five steals and three-of-seven home runs against LHP. Lastly Gregory Polanco has all four of his home runs and all seven of his stolen bases against RHP.