Ron Raymond's Sports Betting Blog

Ever since I’ve started handicapping baseball, one of the greatest myths I’ve encountered was the “team facing the lefty.” To be honest, there’s some juggling to do for the managers, as some batters cannot hit left handed pitching.

Here are some notable big name players who can’t hit left handed pitchers so far this season.

(Teams - At Bats - Batting Avg.)
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Florida Uggla 18 0.056
Cleveland Michaels 16 0.063
Cleveland Blake 12 0.083
CWS Uribe 10 0.1
Oakland Buck 20 0.1
Angels Anderson 9 0.111
NYY Cano 9 0.111
Cleveland Gutierrez 17 0.118
Cleveland Cabrera 15 0.133
Cleveland Perralta 15 0.133
Atlanta Teixeira 22 0.136
Oakland Barton 22 0.136
Kansas City Gordon 14 0.143
Toronto Thomas 7 0.143
NYM Reyes 13 0.154
Oakland Hannahan 13 0.154
Phillies Laroche 13 0.154
Florida Jacobs 19 0.158
Boston Manny 6 0.167
Boston big Papi 6 0.167
Detroit Cabrera 6 0.167
Oakland Cust 9 0.167
Oakland Ellis 24 0.167
Phillies Bay 12 0.167
Reds Freel 11 0.182
Dodgers Martin 11 0.182
Seattle Ichiro 11 0.182
Seattle Ibanez 11 0.182
Tampa Bay Gomes 11 0.182
Texas Byrd 11 0.182

As you can see, some of the top hitters in baseball have a heck of a time vs. left handed pitching and if you’re the Oakland A’s or the Cleveland Indians, you need to start looking for more right handed batters.

However, here’s the funny thing, the Oakland A’s are 4-3 SU vs. Left handed pitchers this season, but you might want to consider betting on the UNDER, as it’s 6-1-0 on the season when they face the southpaws.

Although it’s only the start of the 3rd week, here’s an early indication on how some teams do vs. left handed pitchers. One thing that jumps out, the Angels and Yankees have been lucky to avoid the southpaws, as they’ve only faced 1 left handed pitcher in the first two weeks of the season. The Milwaukee Brewers are perfect vs. the Randy Johnsons of the world, as they are 5-0 SU vs. lefties and the Diamondbacks and Cards are 5-1 SU. The UNDER is perfect for these teams; Houston (0-4-0), Kansas City (0-4-0) and Texas (0-3-0). Teams who’ve been able to tag the southpaws for runs are Milwaukee (4-1-0) and Pittsburgh (4-1-0).

In general, Road Teams who face left handed pitching this season are 30-22 SU and the OVER/UNDER is 25-27-0. Plus, Road Dogs are 23-17 SU and the UNDER is 22-18-0 in the exact same spot.

Furthermore, using some different angles on where to get a betting edge; when road teams vs. left handed pitchers who are coming off game that started a left handed pitcher, are 11-3 SU this season. Therefore, once a team has seen some left handed pitching, they tend to get better in the second game, so far! Which means, the Oakland A’s (Eveland) would be a nice Baseball Underdog for this evening vs. the White Sox (Danks).

Baseball Tip for Tonight: When ANY MLB Team played as a +100 to +120 Road Underdog - After a conference game - Vs. Left handed pitchers - Coming off a 1 run win - Coming off a Road win as a Underdog; the Road Dog is 11-6 SU in this role since 1997. Play on the Oakland A’s +100.