Eight games into the 2021 season and I have to say I don’t hate Jordan Luplow batting leadoff against left-handed pitching. It may have actually been a no-brainer.
As The Athletic’s Zack Meisel pointed out in his article last week evaluating what he refers to as the ‘Gamplow’ gambit at the leadoff spot, Luplow recorded the fourth-highest OPS among hitters with a minimum of 175 plate appearances against left-handed pitching from 2019-20. When you’ve been bested only by Nelson Cruz, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Bregman, you’re doing something right.
Your leadoff hitter is more than likely going to record the most plate appearances of anyone in the lineup, so logic would seem to dictate that you put someone in that spot who is going to have the best chance to make the most of those at-bats.