SF Giants power bat has been among the league's best in surprising matchups

SF Giants power bat Bryce Eldridge has excelled against left-handed pitching, but just how good has he been? As it turns out, he has been among the league leaders in those matchups.

When Elridge was coming up through the system, there was some concern about how he would fare in those matchups. In spring training, they would pick and choose those matchups to avoid having him face some of the top southpaw pitchers in the game.

To Eldridge's credit, he often welcomed those matchups, and recognized that this was an area that he needed to show improvement. In a matter of months, he went from being a player the Giants might need to consider sitting against a top left-handed pitcher to one of the game's best in those matchups.

This season, Eldridge is hitting .298/.370/.504 (144 wRC+) with six home runs and 20 RBI in 135 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. By itself, he is 32nd among qualified hitters, which is an impressive accomplishment.

However, most of the players ahead of him hit from the right side. Generally, a lot of right-handed hitters do better against left-handed pitchers and vice versa. How does he compare to his peers? This would only include players who hit from the left side.

This is an area where many left-handed hitters struggle. Oftentimes, the difference between an everyday player and the strong side of a platoon is how well they do against left-handed pitching.

SF Giants rookie bat is among the best in same-sidted matchups against left-handed pitching

Eldridge's 144 wRC+ is tied with Brandon Nimmo for sixth among all left-handed hitters with at least 100 plate appearances in same-sided matchups. Some of the best hitters in the game are ahead of him, including Corbin Carroll (160 wRC+), Pete Crow-Armstrong (157 wRC+), and Kyle Schwarber (145 wRC+). In fact, Crow-Armstrong has a very strong case to take home the NL MVP Award this year.

Eldridge is also ahead of Shohei Ohtani (136 wRC+) and Yordan Álvarez (130 wRC+) in this category. What should you do with this information? I think if you are investing in a player, then investing in one on the same block as Carroll, Crow-Armstrong, and Ohtani is not a bad approach at all.

Not much has gone right for the Giants this year, but the rookie hitter's breakout has been one of the few positive takeaways from this season. It is also a reminder that this may become Eldridge's team in the not-too-distant future, if it is not already.

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