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*Platoon Splits Updated 6/18/2015

Also check out 70 Hitters to Use Against RHP.

Even with Daily Fantasy Baseball coming on the scene a relatively short time ago, there’s not much that hasn’t been written about and I’m not the statistical guru who’s going to develop some new metric that will win you all of your daily matchups.

What I am pretty good at though is taking the metrics we already have and  helping others understand how to use them to their advantage. One of the most frequently used stats in Daily Fantasy Baseball are platoon splits, or how hitters perform respectively against right-handed and left-handed pitching.

The reason platoon splits are so useful is because of the importance of cost vs. production in the salary cap games that are popular in Daily Fantasy Sports. Each player’s salary is largely based on their overall statistics, so if a player performs much better against a certain subset of pitchers, they become more valuable on the days they face those pitchers.

Extreme Platoon Splits

The following table identifies those hitters that have the most extreme platoon splits over the last five years. While there’s plenty of debate about just how much difference there really is in the platoon splits between two same-handed players, knowing this information can only help. The table below uses the FanDuel scoring system to figure out how many points each hitter averaged per 10 plate appearances vs. left-handed pitchers and then subtracted their points against right-handed pitchers. The larger the number the more extreme the split and theoretically the more value a player offers aginst left-handed pitching.

A couple of caveats:

  1. The numbers below do not include points awarded for stolen bases. Finding stolen base totals against lefties/righties is very scarce, especially in bulk. But, honestly I’m not sure I want those numbers anyway. Most Daily Fantasy Baseball players are going to think twice about using a speed only guy against a left-handed pitcher. So looking at only the batting portion of the scoring seems to make the most sense.
  2. Just because I suggest that these players have more value against left-handed pitching does not mean you shouldn’t use them against right-handed pitching. Players like Paul Goldschmidt or Josh Donaldson may offer more value against lefties, but they still score well against right-handed pitching as well. The quality of the opposing pitcher can negate any platoon dis-advantage.

Here’s an explanation of each column below:

Column 1 & Column 2: Really? You don’t need me to explain these.

Columns 3 – 6: Data for the years 2010 – 2015

  • Column 3: Plate Appearances vs. left-handed pitchers
  • Column 4: Percentage of at-bats against left-handed pitchers
  • Column 5: FanDuel points per every 10 plate appearances vs. left-handed pitchers
  • Column 6: FanDuel points per 10 PAs vs. LHP minus FanDuel Points per 10 PAs vs. RHP
Pos.
 Name
PA
%
FD/10PA
+/- Diff
C
 Josh Phegley
105
30.8%
5.143
2.113
C
 Derek Norris
487
39.4%
6.658
2.098
C
 Chris Iannetta
500
31.3%
6.625
1.855
C
 Jonathan Lucroy
487
22.5%
6.982
1.794
C
 Buster Posey
645
28.6%
7.605
1.751
C
 Salvador Perez
478
26.2%
6.344
1.577
C
 Welington Castillo
288
25.0%
5.677
1.530
C
 Geovany Soto
342
28.4%
5.899
1.387
C
 Robinson Chirinos
170
29.0%
5.853
1.225
C
 Carlos Ruiz
462
24.9%
5.942
1.163
C
 Yan Gomes
357
34.2%
6.141
1.018
1B
 Wilin Rosario
421
28.6%
8.456
3.251
1B
 Darin Ruf
213
38.2%
6.455
1.506
1B
 Steve Pearce
387
40.0%
6.576
1.481
1B
 Paul Goldschmidt
575
25.7%
8.361
1.028
2B
 Brian Dozier
521
26.7%
6.987
2.079
2B
 Logan Forsythe
496
36.6%
5.570
1.998
2B
 Steve Pearce
387
40.0%
6.576
1.481
2B
 Jose Altuve
674
26.8%
5.586
1.437
2B
 Danny Espinosa
526
25.6%
5.779
1.415
2B
 Elian Herrera
138
29.4%
4.837
1.200
2B
 Jedd Gyorko
290
26.4%
5.534
1.162
2B
 Dustin Pedroia
866
29.0%
6.397
1.117
2B
 Joe Panik
144
25.8%
5.694
1.074
3B
 Josh Donaldson
528
27.0%
8.438
2.731
3B
 Aramis Ramirez
519
22.2%
7.640
1.845
3B
 Evan Longoria
679
26.7%
7.581
1.752
3B
 David Freese
526
23.7%
6.611
1.521
3B
 Martin Prado
752
27.0%
5.858
1.265
3B
 Nolan Arenado
334
26.9%
6.609
1.232
3B
 Will Middlebrooks
331
29.7%
5.816
1.221
3B
 Elian Herrera
138
29.4%
4.837
1.200
3B
 Trevor Plouffe
605
28.2%
6.116
1.151
SS
 Jordy Mercer
269
22.7%
6.143
2.404
SS
 Eduardo Escobar
291
29.8%
5.163
1.481
SS
 Xander Bogaerts
256
28.9%
5.352
1.417
SS
 Jose Iglesias
218
32.6%
4.782
1.218
SS
 Troy Tulowitzki
515
26.7%
8.233
1.142
OF
 Rajai Davis
599
32.6%
6.290
2.387
OF
 Starling Marte
298
19.1%
7.341
2.119
OF
 Andrew McCutchen
608
20.6%
8.446
1.859
OF
 Nelson Cruz
601
23.5%
7.787
1.557
OF
 Giancarlo Stanton
588
23.2%
8.678
1.541
OF
 Darin Ruf
213
38.2%
6.455
1.506
OF
 Jonny Gomes
742
48.6%
6.381
1.496
OF
 Matt Kemp
601
26.0%
7.916
1.487
OF
 A.J. Pollock
364
32.2%
6.463
1.482
OF
 Steve Pearce
387
40.0%
6.576
1.481
OF
 Eduardo Escobar
291
29.8%
5.163
1.481
OF
 Scott Van Slyke
262
47.2%
6.698
1.443
OF
 Ryan Braun
590
24.7%
8.352
1.407
OF
 Justin Upton
697
24.3%
7.568
1.399
OF
 Michael Cuddyer
544
27.6%
7.344
1.354
OF
 Chris Young
621
32.6%
6.151
1.348
OF
 Marcell Ozuna
239
20.5%
6.213
1.259
OF
 Mark Trumbo
675
27.8%
6.730
1.198
OF
 Jayson Werth
528
23.2%
6.941
1.165
OF
 Marlon Byrd
561
27.6%
6.101
1.062

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