3 Years Experience/Payroll All 30 teams - LH/RH starting pitcher win tracker

[Riverbrian]

23 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Last Game Left Handed Starter

June 23 - Justin Wrobleski - Loss - 3 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 6 RH 3 Switch 0 LH

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

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Accumulated Stats vs Right Handed Starters

Season Record vs RH Starters: 28-27

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.95

 

Last Game Right Handed Starter

June 24 - Shohei Ohtani - Loss - 3 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs RH Starters: 28-28

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.91

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Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

[Riverbrian]

We are one game over the half way point.

The Twins are 6 games below .500. That deficit comes entirely from their efforts against Left Handed Starters because our Twins are exactly 6 games below .500 against Left Handed Starters while our Twins are exactly a .500 team against Right Handed Starters.  

As a team... The Twins rank 25th against Left Handed Pitching with a .673 OPS. 

As a team... The Twins rank tied for 4th against right handed pitching 

Against Left Handed Starters. Derek Shelton starting lineups average:

5.23 Right Handed Hitters

2.57 Switch Hitters

1.19 Left Handed Hitters

That's 7.80 Batters per game standing in the opposite batters box. 

 

Against Right Handers Starters. Derek Shelton Starting Lineups Average:

3.46 Right Handed Hitters

2.41 Switch Hitters

3.12 Left Handed Hitters

That's 5.53 Batters per game standing in the opposite batters box. 

Interestingly enough... the top hitting team against left handed pitching are the very young Nationals. The Nationals have a current roster composition of 6 LH Hitters and 3 Switch. 

I'm not making a statement on the Nats success against left handed pitching nor am I suggesting that we follow that model. 

I am simply trying to track if Platoons help in regards to wins and losses. This research while rather simple, while ignoring a plethora of more complicated stats is primarily tracking wins and losses. Starting lineups are clearly primarily set in regards to the hand of the starting pitcher. The starting lineup handles the overwhelming bulk of the work done in any given baseball game. The bulk of Offense, defense and baserunning is set with the hand of the starting pitcher being perhaps the primary determining factor. 

I understand that many people are not following along but for those who check in from time to time.

At the halfway point of the season. Despite very consistently placing 8 hitters in the right handed batters box against left handed pitching we are near the bottom at 25th in the league in Team OPS. Comparatively... despite less hitters standing in the left handers batters box with an average of 6. We are 4th. 

This is good because if you were to choose between the two... You'd want your team performing best against Right Handers because 3 out of every 4 pitchers that they will face is right handed.  

We currently have a 26 man roster composition of 7 Right Handed Hitters, 3 Switch Hitters and 3 Left Handed Hitters.

I'm going to let the sample size grow but half way through the season... loading up on hitters in the right handed batters box isn't helping. 

 

[Jim H]

Its kind of hard to draw a lot of hard and fast conclusions from this. Since the best hitters on the team thru about the first 50 games were Buxton, Jeffers, and Martin, logic might suggest they should of been doing better against left handed pitching. Still the switch hitters, especially Lee, have been better against rh pitchers.  

Basically the offense has been so inconsistent from week to week and even game to game that I am not sure that the handness of the starting pitcher or which side of the plate the hitters are standing should be what the Twins should be concerned about.

Contorting the lineup to gain a platoon advantage always seems counterproductive to me. Defense matters. If you are going to play Lewis at first, maybe you give him more than 1 game in the minors to learn the position. Maybe you just leave him at first for awhile instead of shifting him around to 2nd or 3rd to gain a  marginal platoon advantage.

Like you, I don't like deciding left handed hitters will always struggle against left handed pitchers, so you have to protect them from hitting against left handed pitching from the day they appear in the majors. I hope that when the well hyped young left handed hitting prospects finally appear in the majors, they get a real runway to show what the might do against all pitching.

[ashbury]

Did you know the Twins are 6 wins, 3 losses in Monday games so far this season?  They are 8 wins and 4 losses on Tuesdays. 7 wins and 6 losses on Sundays.

If they could just eliminate Wed-Sat they'd be 21-13 and leading the division in wining percentage.

I'll call up some SABR buddies and see if one of them would like to look into this.

[Riverbrian]

I was away from my spreadsheets. So here is the catching up. 

All Right Handed Starters faced against the Rockies.

June 26 - Tomoyuki Sugano - Won - 9 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 Left

Record vs RH Starters: 29 - 28

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.98

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June 27 - Michael Lorenzen - Loss - 5 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 Left

Record vs RH Starters: 29 - 29

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.98

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June 28 - Ryan Feltner - Won - 3 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 6 RH 1 Switch 2 Left

Record vs RH Starters: 30 - 29

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.95

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Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

 

[Riverbrian]

On 6/26/2026 at 4:17 PM, Jim H said:

Basically the offense has been so inconsistent from week to week and even game to game that I am not sure that the handness of the starting pitcher or which side of the plate the hitters are standing should be what the Twins should be concerned about.

Exactly.

I think the inconsistency is something all teams go through. Year to year included. The Twins were ranked 14th against left handed pitching in 2025. They were ranked 10th in 2024. 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

On 6/26/2026 at 8:05 PM, ashbury said:

Did you know the Twins are 6 wins, 3 losses in Monday games so far this season?  They are 8 wins and 4 losses on Tuesdays. 7 wins and 6 losses on Sundays.

If they could just eliminate Wed-Sat they'd be 21-13 and leading the division in wining percentage.

I'll call up some SABR buddies and see if one of them would like to look into this.

Also not so good in Day Games and they seem to be better on turf. I'd also recommend facing more AL West teams. 

That should keep your SABR buddies busy.  

[Riverbrian]

Last Game Right Handed Starter

June 29 - Peter Lambert - Won - Runs Scored 5

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs. RH Starters: 31-29

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.95

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Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

[Riverbrian]

On 6/30/2026 at 6:38 AM, Riverbrian said:

Last Game Right Handed Starter

June 29 - Peter Lambert - Won - Runs Scored 5

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs. RH Starters: 31-29

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.95

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Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

Last Game Right Handed Starter

June 30 - Mike Burrows - Loss - 4 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs RH Starters: 31-30

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.93

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Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

 

 

[Riverbrian]

22 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Last Game Right Handed Starter

June 30 - Mike Burrows - Loss - 4 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs RH Starters: 31-30

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.93

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Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

 

 

Last Game Right Handed Starter

July 1 - Tatsuya Imai - Won - 8 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs RH Starters: 32-30

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.98

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Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

 

[MGX]

It's important to note that lineups VS both LHP & RHP have been successful. Scoring 4.58 runs/game is above league average which is 4.50. As you stated it's a good thing that we're even more successful vs RHP at 4.98 runs/game. It's a shame the Twins haven't done more to address the bullpen because this offense has been a pleasant surprise all season long.

[Riverbrian]

On 7/2/2026 at 5:37 AM, Riverbrian said:

Last Game Right Handed Starter

July 1 - Tatsuya Imai - Won - 8 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs RH Starters: 32-30

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.98

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Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

 

Last Game Right Handed Starter

July 3 - Garrit Cole - Loss - 2 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 3 RH 3 Switch 3 LH

Season Record vs RH Starters: 32-31

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.94

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Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starters

Season Record vs LH Starters: 10-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.58

[Riverbrian]

On 7/2/2026 at 8:06 AM, MGX said:

It's important to note that lineups VS both LHP & RHP have been successful. Scoring 4.58 runs/game is above league average which is 4.50. As you stated it's a good thing that we're even more successful vs RHP at 4.98 runs/game. It's a shame the Twins haven't done more to address the bullpen because this offense has been a pleasant surprise all season long.

As much as I harp on my pet topics and will continue to.

Overall, I've actually been happy with how Shelton has been utilizing almost the entire roster and I agree with you... The offense has been strong. Shelton has been much better than Baldelli in my opinion. The sending down of Lewis and Wallner down, the shift to Martin and the shift away from Martin, along with the movement of Keaschall is showing me a little more management flexibility in regards to rewarding the players that are actually getting the job done. Kriedler has been a nice offensive surprise... much like Clemens was last year. You can find players that can do the job that nobody expected to do the job. You just let those who are actually hitting keep hitting. 

My only complaint is going to be the short side platooning of two individuals and that complaint is a result of my strong opposition to the strip mining of developing players like Martin and Fedko. 

 

[4twinsJA]

I noticed Twins only have 3 players signed for next year, post arbitration players- Buxton, Lopez, and Caritini. Wondered how Twins compare to league. There are 5 teams with less than 3, Marlins and Cards with zero, Twins are in a group of 4 teams with 3.  Dodgers lead with 13, total of 7 teams at 9+. It does not seem very surprising, high payroll teams have more experienced players signed for next year with low payroll teams relying on younger less experienced players.

[Riverbrian]

July 4 - Right Handed Starter - Brendan Beck - Won - 11 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 5 RH 2 Switch 2 LH

Record vs Right Handed Starters - 33-31

Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 5.03

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July 5 - Left Handed Starter - Ryan Weathers - Won - 6 Runs Scored

Lineup Composition: 5 RH - 3 Switch - 1 LH

Record vs Left Handed Starters - 11-16

Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.63

[Riverbrian]

On 7/4/2026 at 11:15 AM, 4twinsJA said:

I noticed Twins only have 3 players signed for next year, post arbitration players- Buxton, Lopez, and Caritini. Wondered how Twins compare to league. There are 5 teams with less than 3, Marlins and Cards with zero, Twins are in a group of 4 teams with 3.  Dodgers lead with 13, total of 7 teams at 9+. It does not seem very surprising, high payroll teams have more experienced players signed for next year with low payroll teams relying on younger less experienced players.

IMO... What you are tracking provides perspective. The Marlins and Cards are doing pretty good with those zeroes. The Marlins currently have 13 position players who are all pre-arb and 10 pitchers who are pre-arb for 23 out of 26. The Cards are running 20 pre-arb players out of 26. 

The Dodgers indeed have 13 vet players that will be back and the cheapest of those 13 is Max Muncy at 10 Million. 

13 players that they spent 337 million on in 2026. That's 26 million per.

61 million spent on the rest of the roster which we know is needed for at least 13 players to fill out a 26 man. So just using the other 13 roster spots for the math is 4.69 per. 

Of our 3 players. Only two Lopez and Buxton make more than Max Muncy and Lopez has been no benefit to us at all. Those three will combine for 43 million next year at 14.3 million per. With an estimated payroll of 107. 64 million to fill the other 23 spots at 2.78 per.

The Dodgers are buying more free agents and spending more per free agent and they are spending more on per roster filler because they have less roster to fill. 

The Twins can spend more but they will never close the gap of the big spenders. They will never be able to keep up in free agency. Free agency to the Twins means leftovers. We can't rely on the free agent left overs to survive.

The Twins must develop or die.