Only 30 percent of MLB starting pitchers are lefties, but all of the Angels’ starters except Shohei Ohtani are, which they believe has its advantages
ANAHEIM — Perry Minasian insists he didn’t set out to build a rotation with so many lefties.“For us, it’s guys that can pitch,” the Angels general manager said. “Left. Right. Doesn’t matter. There are plenty of teams that have five righties. I think, for us, it’s the quality of the pitcher. It’s the person. All those things are factors.”
There have been eight teams in the wild-card era to use at least 100 left-handed starters, and four of them made the playoffs. Sandoval, acquired as a minor-leaguer in 2018, reached the big leagues in 2019, but finally stuck once his performance became consistent in 2021. Tucker Davidson was acquired in the Raisel Iglesias trade last summer. He had been in the mix with righties Griffin Canning and Chase Silseth for the final rotation spot. Davidson had a good spring and won the job, although Canning still might pitch when that spot comes up next week if Davidson is needed out of the bullpen.“I think we can all build off each other,” Sandoval said.
The Angels also believe left-handed pitchers will help them control the running game better, particularly now that rule changes have led to more stolen bases throughout the game. Last year, runners were successful in 76.4% of their steal attempts with a righty on the mound, compared with 71.7% with a lefty on the mound.
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