The White Sox’s Advantage by Craig Edwards September 29, 2020 The White Sox were one of the better hitting teams in baseball this season, posting a 114 wRC+ over their 60 games. What’s somewhat unusual, as was pointed out to me on twitter, is that they have done their damage by crushing left-handed pitching. Indeed, while that snippet of information might not making this next fact a complete surprise, the White Sox did not lose a start to a left-handed pitcher all season, winning all 14 of their matchups against southpaws. Later today, the A’s will send lefty Jesús Luzardo to the mound for Game 1 of their Wild Card Series against Chicago. What are we to make of this matchup? The White Sox have a fine offense against right-handed pitchers, with a 106 wRC+, but their 143 wRC+ against southpaws was first in the majors this season: The Tigers were close, though they put up their numbers in roughly 100 fewer plate appearances. On a seasonal level since integration, it doesn’t appear that any team has had at least 500 plate appearances against lefties and put up better numbers than the White Sox in 2020. Now a full season probably isn’t fair to compare to a shortened slate, so I went through our splits leaderboards, which go back to 2002, and looked at half-season performances that might rival what the White Sox have done: Best Half-Seasons Against Lefties Since 2002 Team Season Half PA wRC+ New York Yankees 2019 2nd Half 889 152 San Francisco Giants 2003 2nd Half 479 146 Chicago White Sox 2020 Short Season 506 143 Detroit Tigers 2020 Short Season 400 142 New York Yankees 2004 1st Half 1019 136 Detroit Tigers 2017 2nd Half 654 134 Philadelphia Phillies 2007 2nd Half 900 133 St. Louis Cardinals 2003 1st Half 914 132 Houston Astros 2019 1st Half 927 132 Los Angeles Angels 2014 1st Half 1116 132 Cleveland Indians 2008 2nd Half 751 132 Los Angeles Angels 2013 2nd Half 765 132 Toronto Blue Jays 2015 1st Half 812 131 Los Angeles Angels 2012 2nd Half 736 131 Houston Astros 2019 2nd Half 872 131 San Francisco Giants 2002 1st Half 763 130 Cincinnati Reds 2011 1st Half 734 130 New York Yankees 2007 2nd Half 738 130 Last year, the Yankees crushed lefties; Barry Bonds and the Giants did the same back in 2003. Those are the only clubs with half-seasons better than the White Sox’s 2020. Even if we look at every two-month period since 2002, the White Sox still do pretty well: Best Two-Month Periods Against Lefties Since 2002 Team Season Months PA wRC+ San Francisco Giants 2002 April-May 346 163 New York Yankees 2019 July-August 686 162 Chicago White Sox 2020 July-August 347 161 Cincinnati Reds 2011 April-May 342 158 Philadelphia Phillies 2007 July-August 602 157 New York Yankees 2019 August-September 670 156 Detroit Tigers 2020 August-September 347 154 Atlanta Braves 2004 July-August 616 152 Detroit Tigers 2017 June-July 496 152 San Diego Padres 2012 August-September 561 151 Los Angeles Angels 2012 June-July 576 151 Los Angeles Dodgers 2017 May-June 485 151 The White Sox were closer to average in September, but their first month-plus was fire and even with a so-so close to the season, they managed to lead baseball. The small number of plate appearances can seem a little flukey. Here are the team’s individual players with at least 20 plate appearances against lefties this season: White Sox Against Lefties in 2020 Name PA OBP SLG wRC+ Tim Anderson 55 .509 1.000 300 James McCann 36 .528 .714 236 Yasmani Grandal 37 .405 .500 147 José Abreu 57 .316 .558 135 Eloy Jiménez 46 .304 .556 132 Nomar Mazara 26 .385 .417 127 Luis Robert 51 .353 .455 123 Adam Engel 35 .343 .424 114 Yoán Moncada 46 .370 .333 105 Edwin Encarnación 41 .275 .424 92 Danny Mendick 34 .265 .355 70 Nick Madrigal 22 .227 .227 22 If we zoom out, Tim Anderson’s numbers versus lefties were actually the best in baseball this year: Best Hitters Against Lefties in 2020 Name PA OBP SLG wRC+ Tim Anderson 55 .509 1.000 300 Nelson Cruz 51 .549 .907 283 José Ramírez 67 .478 .930 264 Marcell Ozuna 54 .463 .867 234 Rhys Hoskins 55 .509 .732 223 Juan Soto 56 .429 .780 209 Trea Turner 64 .453 .732 208 Brandon Lowe 60 .417 .720 206 AJ Pollock 60 .367 .818 201 J.T. Realmuto 54 .500 .591 197 Ketel Marte 54 .444 .654 194 Christian Yelich 72 .431 .638 180 Wil Myers 70 .386 .656 176 Mark Canha 56 .482 .500 176 Adalberto Mondesi 55 .345 .698 174 Xander Bogaerts 69 .420 .594 174 Anthony Rendon 73 .425 .576 173 Willy Adames 53 .396 .596 172 Max Stassi 52 .365 .659 169 Jedd Gyorko 57 .404 .644 166 Minimum 50 PA Small samples might not mean a whole lot, but that list includes many of the best hitters in baseball. And it isn’t as if Anderson hasn’t hit lefties well before now. Here are the White Sox’s career numbers against lefties: White Sox Career Numbers Against Lefties Name 2020 PA vs. LHP 2020 wRC+ vs. LHP Career PA vs. LHP Career wRC+ vs. LHP José Abreu 57 135 977 149 Tim Anderson 55 300 630 133 Edwin Encarnación 41 92 1426 127 James McCann 36 236 642 124 Luis Robert 51 123 51 123 Yasmani Grandal 37 147 823 115 Eloy Jiménez 46 132 195 113 Yoán Moncada 46 105 457 91 Adam Engel 35 114 342 86 Nomar Mazara 26 127 600 62 Danny Mendick 34 70 51 54 Nick Madrigal 22 22 22 22 Not only have the White Sox hit well against lefties this season, but most of the group has done so for longer stretches over the course of their careers. If Eloy Jiménez can’t play, the downgrade to Adam Engel is significant, but even Engel’s poor career numbers overall aren’t quite as bad against lefties. It’s not entirely clear that Edwin Encarnación should be in the starting lineup at this stage of his career, and it’s possible that James McCann or a slightly hurt Jiménez might be a better fit. Mazara, the only lefty regular in the lineup with Moncada and Grandal switch-hitting, isn’t as good as these 26 plate appearances suggest, but it’s also probably a little premature to draw any conclusions about Nick Madrigal’s ability to hit lefties given the minuscule sample size. Even with an inexperienced Madrigal, an aging Encarnación, and a possibly hurt Jiménez, the lineup is going to be a tough one for a left-handed pitcher to navigate. Luzardo, Oakland’s pitcher in Game 1, isn’t some soft-tossing lefty. He throws a four-seamer and a two-seamer around 96 mph. He has a very good change, typical of left-handers who work well against righties, but he uses his curve plenty against righties, too. It’s a sweeping pitch in the low-to-mid-80s that comes inside to righties as it did here, against Carlos Correa: Luzardo has wiped out lefties this year, but he won’t be able to do that against the White Sox. He’ll have to handle their righty-heavy lineup. It will be a very interesting matchup worth watching, as will the use of starter Sean Manaea and relievers Jake Diekman and Mike Minor. In a three-game series, tiny advantages can make a big difference, and the White Sox’s platoon advantage is quite large.