Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

So if a park favors righty hitters in both singles and HR, does that mean you want

1) A RHP that has a high R balance number
2) A RHP that has a high L balance number
3) A LHP that has a high R balance number
4) A LHP that has a high L balance number

The ballpark should take care of lefties. Man, I'm confused

Your instinct is correct. The ballpark itself will indeed take care of lefties. Therefore, you'll want a pitching staff with more of a R balance. Stay away from LHP altogether.

#1 is the correct answer. Now go grab Padilla and Peralta and get in the game!

You will want a few LH or S hitters too just to keep em honest. Otherwise a hard RHP will come in and shut your team down. However don't waste money on LH power hitters. Go for the BA and OBP LH (or S) batters.

but think of it this way, if you had a LHP with a strong R balance, then he can get out the righties (with the strong R balance) and the lefties (via the toughness of the park and the L vs L matchup for most hitters).

I think a LHP with a strong R balance is the way to go, no?

on the hitting side, clearly you want want high average lefties.

The question is more for what to do on the pitching/defense side of the equation.

PTM - By using LH pitchers in a park that favors RHB, you're doing two dangerous things: You're flipping all switch hitters to the side that most favors the batters in your park. You're also presenting a matchup where many RH hitters gain an advantage (you could make an All-Star team of cheap RH batters who excel against LHP). You're best off using mostly "hard" RHP.

Of course, that's general advice. It would behoove you to take a peek at your divisional foes after the waivers dust clears. If you're in Minute Maid playing three Safeco teams, you might want to employ a more balanced pitching staff with fewer "hard" RHP. Maybe a cheap non- * lefty starter or two for road use only.

But in general I would not use LHP in a park that favors RH hitters.