SI

Numbers Do Not Back Up the Myth of Lefty Hitters Liking Pitches Down-and-In

SI's Tom Verducci dispels the myth of left-handed hitters being successful at the plate with down-and-in pitches.

Tom Verducci

Myths in baseball have spanned the sport's entire history. Some of those myths are legendary - extending beyond reason and quantitative stats. Some baseball myths however, are easily and fully disproved by numbers. The myth of lefty hitters being successful at the plate with down-and-in pitches is one of the latter. In today's Insider, SI senior writer Tom Verducci shares the numbers that disprove the myth of lefty hitters and their success with down-and-in pitches. 

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Tom Verducci
TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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