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 Altherr712 Aaron Judge1924 Aaron Judge24
Anthony Rizzo717 Khris Davis1718 Cody Bellinger22
Nolan Arenado715 Cody Bellinger1722 George Springer21
George Springer721 Marcell Ozuna1719 Logan Morrison21
Joey Votto720 Logan Morrison1721 Joey Votto20
Anthony Rendon613 Jay Bruce1719 Eric Thames20
Adam Duvall616 Bryce Harper1618 Justin Smoak20
Justin Bour618 Justin Smoak1620 Mike Moustakas19
Eric Thames620 Mike Trout1516 Ryan Zimmerman19
Giancarlo Stanton618 Paul Goldschmidt1517 Marcell Ozuna19
        Jay Bruce19
        Scott Schebler19

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 Hamilton2630 Delino DeShields916 Billy Hamilton30
Trea Turner2627 Dee Gordon927 Trea Turner27
Cameron Maybin2021 Andrelton Simmons612 Dee Gordon27
Dee Gordon1827 Paul Goldschmidt513 Cameron Maybin21
Elvis Andrus1515 Kevin Kiermaier410 Eduardo Nunez17
Jarrod Dyson1517 Devon Travis44 Jarrod Dyson17
Eduardo Nunez1317 A.J. Pollock411 Delino DeShields16
Byron Buxton1213 Billy Hamilton430 Jose Peraza15
Lorenzo Cain1214 Jose Peraza415 Elvis Andrus15
Jonathan Villar1214 Eduardo Nunez417 Jonathan Villar14
Jose Altuve1212     Lorenzo Cain14

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.