Adley as a RH batter? Not so great.

[Ohfan67]

Adley has a .530 OPS as a RH hitter against LH pitching. He didn't hit well in AAA this year from the right side, did hit well as a RHB in 2021, but had a pretty ugly split in 2019. I haven't seen a ton of his RH plate appearances and haven't heard much discussion of this on the broadcasts I have seen (other than some talk about his power being far more prevalent when he hits leftie). Is Adley likely to improve as a RH hitter or will he continue to have a pretty big split? Curious what folks who have watched more of his at bats think/have noticed. 

[Sports Guy]

First of all, 2019 was almost no sample size.

He certainly seems more comfortable as a lefty.  One thing I have noticed as a righty is that they work him outside a lot and he rolls over on most of them.

If he would go the other way, I think he would be fine.  

[FlaO'sFan]

I am one who commented earlier this year that Adley should possibly consider giving up batting RH'd. He simply looks overmatched by mlb pitching from that side a lot of the time. That is not criticism of Adley, either, just an honest observation of how he looks from the right side against mlb pitching, and how beautiful he looks from the left side. Perhaps his natural ability from that side has reached his limits at the ml level. This is not something I think should happen immediately, but if he continues to struggle from that side imo it should be considered.  

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, FlaO'sFan said:

I am one who commented earlier this year that Adley should possibly consider giving up batting RH'd. He simply looks overmatched by mlb pitching from that side a lot of the time. That is not criticism of Adley, either, just an honest observation of how he looks from the right side against mlb pitching, and how beautiful he looks from the left side. Perhaps his natural ability from that side has reached his limits at the ml level. This is not something I think should happen immediately, but if he continues to struggle from that side imo it should be considered.  

One of the big stories last year was Mullins giving up switch hitting and how well it worked for him.

He had a 788 OPS against left handed pitching.

This year it is 562.

 

The odds are pretty long that Adley does better hitting lefty on lefty.

How about we just enjoy what we have for a second and see how he does over the next couple of years? 

[yark14]

Adley will make adjustments and improvements.  That is what Adley does.

[glenn__davis]

7 minutes ago, yark14 said:

Adley will make adjustments and improvements.  That is what Adley does.

Totally agree.  It may not be during the rest of this season, but I'm confident that over the offseason he'll make steps to fix and improve.

[FlaO'sFan]

10 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

One of the big stories last year was Mullins giving up switch hitting and how well it worked for him.

He had a 788 OPS against left handed pitching.

This year it is 562.

 

The odds are pretty long that Adley does better hitting lefty on lefty.

How about we just enjoy what we have for a second and see how he does over the next couple of years? 

Of course we should enjoy watching him, as I have as much as anyone, and let him get many more at bats than he has now. But if it turns out that his natural RH ability is substantially less than his LH ability, then the odds of hitting better lefty vs lefty might not be as long as you think. Just my opinion, of course. Either way, it's just a message board opinion and in the spirit of friendly fan conversation.

Edited August 26, 2022 by FlaO'sFan

[Aristotelian]

I'd be curious to see him try lefty against lefty pitching. Whoever backs him up should be a RH lefty masher. Handley has a 1.000 OPS vs LHP this year albeit in a small sample! 

[eddie83]

Eddie had a career OPS vs LHP at .785, vs RHP .860. 
 

Let it play out.  

[Bahama O's Fan]

What did he do in college as a RH vs LH hitter?

[DrungoHazewood]

He has 84 PAs against lefties.  I'd give him another 600 or 800 before I thought about doing anything drastic.

[LA2]

2 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

He has 84 PAs against lefties.  I'd give him another 600 or 800 before I thought about doing anything drastic.

Mullins had only 111 PAs vs. LHP before the switch from switching. But, of course, Cedric had time during his return to the minor leagues to work on the transition, which AR will not have. I can't imagine AR going to hitting from only one side 4-5 seasons into his career (i.e., after "600 or 800" PAs)--too much time lost for reps, learning, and adjustment. I would think the decision would have to be made by the end of the 2023 season, although my bet is that it will turn out to be unnecessary: he'll improve and besides we can rest him proportionately more against LHP if we need to and the back-up catcher has a decent RH bat.

Edited August 26, 2022 by LA2

[jamalshw]

I am starting to have concerns about this team against LHP, not necessarily this year, but long term. At the start of the year, the team lacked too may lefty bats (one of the reasons Odor is here). But now that we swapped Mancini for Stowers, have Terrin Vavra looking for ABs and Gunnar Henderson on the horizon, this team has gotten lefty heavy all of a sudden. If we factor in Adley's struggles this year (and for chunks of his minor league career) against southpaws, there is a bit of a concern. Fortunately, Santander has even splits in his career and has been better against LHP this year than RHP, but going forward we really need Adley to improve against LHP. Of course, I think it's far to expect Urias, Mateo, Mountcastle and Hays always in the lineup against lefties and perhaps McKenna gets most of his ABs going forward spelling lefty OFers. As such, I may be overselling the issue a bit, but Adley improving against LHP certianly would go a long way. 

[AdamK]

Paraphrasing Adley's words from 2019 interview with Harold Reynolds:

"Completely different swings...
...Right side: a little shorter to contact and easy to stay on the ball to right field, swing is a little flatter...
...Left side: better in the hip, more shallow in stance, lower hands. Think swing is more elevated to the ball" 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=579701535886551

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, jamalshw said:

I am starting to have concerns about this team against LHP, not necessarily this year, but long term. At the start of the year, the team lacked too may lefty bats (one of the reasons Odor is here). But now that we swapped Mancini for Stowers, have Terrin Vavra looking for ABs and Gunnar Henderson on the horizon, this team has gotten lefty heavy all of a sudden. If we factor in Adley's struggles this year (and for chunks of his minor league career) against southpaws, there is a bit of a concern. Fortunately, Santander has even splits in his career and has been better against LHP this year than RHP, but going forward we really need Adley to improve against LHP. Of course, I think it's far to expect Urias, Mateo, Mountcastle and Hays always in the lineup against lefties and perhaps McKenna gets most of his ABs going forward spelling lefty OFers. As such, I may be overselling the issue a bit, but Adley improving against LHP certianly would go a long way. 

I know Vavra has his fans and it is nice to see someone with good plate discipline up there but I have doubts about his future in the majors.  He's really going to have to hit with that glove and I'm just not seeing the bat to ball skills so far.