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The Top 5 Lefty Hitters In MLB 2026 · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: We're counting down the top five left handed hitters in
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  Speaker 1: baseball right now. You know, baseball has always been filled
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  Speaker 1: with great left handed bats, but what does it actually
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  Speaker 1: take to be the absolute best in the twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: sixth season. Is it just raw, unadulterated power, or is
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  Speaker 1: it a scientific, almost mathematical mastery of the strike zone,
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  Speaker 1: Or maybe it's that rare combination of both that elevates
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  Speaker 1: a player from merely great to genuinely historic. So let's
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  Speaker 1: jump right in. We're going to count down the top
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  Speaker 1: five most dangerous left handed bats in the game today.
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  Speaker 1: Our rankings are based on a meticulous combination of power metrics,
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  Speaker 1: batting ability, plate discipline, run production, and overall impact on
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  Speaker 1: the field. We've got rising rookies, seasoned veterans, and absolute
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  Speaker 1: unicorns of the sport. Let's begin the countdown. Coming in
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  Speaker 1: at number five, Philadelphia's premier power threat, Kyle Schwarber. Now,
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  Speaker 1: Schwarber has become one of baseball's most feared sluggers, and
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  Speaker 1: the crazy thing is he doesn't even need a high
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  Speaker 1: batting average to completely take over a game. He does
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  Speaker 1: it with pure concentrated days image. Just look at this
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  Speaker 1: single number right here. Three. That represents an absolutely wild
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  Speaker 1: feet from June of this twenty twenty sixth season, where
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  Speaker 1: Schwarber stepped up to the plate and hit three home
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  Speaker 1: runs in a single inning. I mean, let that sink
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  Speaker 1: in for a second. Most guys are praying for three
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  Speaker 1: home runs in a good week. Schwarber pulled it off
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  Speaker 1: before the inning was even over. When this guy gets hot,
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  Speaker 1: he can single handedly carry an entire lineup for weeks
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  Speaker 1: at a time, and that beautifully illustrates his raw explosive strength.
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  Speaker 1: One of those blasts was a staggering four hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifty six foot home run. It's because of elite power
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  Speaker 1: like this that he's currently leading the National League with
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  Speaker 1: a point five to nine to five slugging percentage. Sure,
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  Speaker 1: his average might sit around point two five to four,
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  Speaker 1: but with his elite walk rate and the fact that
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  Speaker 1: when he connects, the baseball practically ceases to exist, he
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  Speaker 1: is just a walking, breathing, run producing machine. Moving on
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  Speaker 1: to number four, we have the incredibly exciting rising star
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  Speaker 1: for the Athletics, Nick Kurtz. Kurs Koontz has quickly emerged
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  Speaker 1: as a foundationational talent out West. He was the fourth
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  Speaker 1: overall pick in the twenty twenty four draft, and his
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  Speaker 1: transition to the big leagues is just a fascinating case
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  Speaker 1: study in making adjustments. Look at the dramatic contrast in
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  Speaker 1: his rookie campaign. In his first eighty five plate appearances,
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  Speaker 1: he looked entirely mortal, hitting just one single home run,
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  Speaker 1: but then something clicked. In his final four hundred and
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  Speaker 1: four played appearances that year, he launched thirty five home runs.
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  Speaker 1: If you extrapolate that out to a full season, you're
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  Speaker 1: looking at a fifty one homer pace for a rookie.
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  Speaker 1: It's like he figured out major league pitching almost overnight,
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  Speaker 1: and he's proving right now that that power surge was
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  Speaker 1: absolutely no fluke. Look at his twenty twenty six offensive numbers.
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  Speaker 1: He boasts a nine to ninety five OPS, which places
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  Speaker 1: him third in the American League. But perhaps most impressively
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  Speaker 1: for a young guy with massive power potential, he leads
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  Speaker 1: the entire American League in on base percentage at point
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  Speaker 1: four to thirty nine. He is literally pairing four hundred
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  Speaker 1: and thirty seven foot blasts with elite strike zone awareness.
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  Speaker 1: That combination of patience and raw power is terrifying for
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  Speaker 1: opposing pitch. At number three, we find the Dodgers unicorn,
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  Speaker 1: the incredible sho He Otani. We all know Otani is
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  Speaker 1: a once in a lifetime athlete. While his pitching gets
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  Speaker 1: plenty of attention, today we're strictly evaluating his left handed back.
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  Speaker 1: And even if you completely ignore the fact that he pitches,
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  Speaker 1: his offensive production alone makes him a legendary figure. Look
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  Speaker 1: at his unmatched consistency over time here. Maintaining an OPS
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  Speaker 1: over one thousand for a single season is an MVP
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  Speaker 1: caliber achievement. Right While Otani did it in twenty twenty four,
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  Speaker 1: he did it again in twenty twenty five, and he's
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  Speaker 1: sitting at an elite point ninety sixty nine right now
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six. This is sustained dominance over a
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  Speaker 1: massive multi year sample size against the best pitching in
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  Speaker 1: the world. When you dive into his twenty twenty six
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  Speaker 1: underlying metrics, it's so easy to see why he's dominating.
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  Speaker 1: He's sitting in the ninety fifth percentile in barrel percentage
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  Speaker 1: at seventeen point five percent and the seventy eighth percentile
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  Speaker 1: in hard hit percentage at fifty four point two percent.
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  Speaker 1: Few players can hit a baseball harder or farther than Otani.
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  Speaker 1: Even when his counting stats naturally fluctuate, he is consistently
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  Speaker 1: barreling up the ball better than almost anyone else in baseball.
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  Speaker 1: Every time he steps into the box, you just know
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  Speaker 1: something special could happen. Coming in at number two, his
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  Speaker 1: Mets outfielder and master of the strike zone one, Sodo.
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  Speaker 1: Many baseball experts consider Sodo the best pure hitter in
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  Speaker 1: the game. He's essentially a hitting savant who is never
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  Speaker 1: satisfied and constantly tinkering to get better. Take a look
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  Speaker 1: at this recent equipment change he made in late May.
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  Speaker 1: He swapped out his old end weighted bat you know
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  Speaker 1: where most of the mass is concentrated at the barrel,
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  Speaker 1: for a new model. This new bat has a thicker knob,
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  Speaker 1: it's more evenly weighted, and surprisingly, it's actually a tick
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  Speaker 1: heavier overall. To a casual fan, picking a heavier bat
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  Speaker 1: to swing faster sounds totally backwards, but check out what
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  Speaker 1: Sodo himself said about it. I feel like I can
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  Speaker 1: be quicker, especially on two strikes. So here's the crucial point.
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  Speaker 1: Because the weight is distributed closer to his hands rather
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  Speaker 1: than out at the end of the barrel, he actually
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  Speaker 1: experiences less drag. This counterintuitive physics lesson allows him to
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  Speaker 1: react much faster on two strike pitches, which just adds
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  Speaker 1: to his already legendary play discipline, and you literally cannot
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  Speaker 1: argue with the results. Since making that switch regularly, his
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  Speaker 1: OPS has surged to a staggering point nine point eighty.
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  Speaker 1: We recently saw him absolutely crush in Aaron Nola sinker
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  Speaker 1: in a spectacular two homer game. He currently has the
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  Speaker 1: fourth highest OPS in all of baseball, proving that his
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  Speaker 1: obsession with the finer details of hitting pays massive dividends.
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  Speaker 1: And that brings us to our number one left handed
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  Speaker 1: hitter in baseball today, the ultimate offensive juggernaut, Houston's Jordan Alvarez.
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  Speaker 2: When healthy, Alvarez might just be the most dangerous hitter
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  Speaker 2: in the sport. He combines the disciplined eye of Juan
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  Speaker 2: Soto with the terrifying power of Kyle Schwober. Pitchers faced
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  Speaker 2: an impossible challenge because his stats completely dwarf the rest
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  Speaker 2: of the league. Right now, he's first in Major League
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  Speaker 2: Baseball with a one point zero six y five OPS,
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  Speaker 2: first with a point sixty three to seven slugging percentage
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  Speaker 2: first with twenty four home runs. Oh and he's also
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  Speaker 2: hitting three twenty four. He isn't just leading in one category.
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  Speaker 2: He is the undisputed best all around hitter in the sport,
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  Speaker 2: and frankly, it isn't.
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  Speaker 1: Even close, which brings us to a phrase that gives
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  Speaker 1: baseball fans goosebumps, the Triple Crown. To win it, a
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  Speaker 1: player has to lead their league in batting average, home runs,
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  Speaker 1: and runs batted in at the end of the season.
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  Speaker 1: It is an exceptionally rare feat that requires a perfect
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  Speaker 1: storm of contact, power and clutch hitting. It hasn't been
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  Speaker 1: accomplished in fourteen years. Yet halfway through twenty twenty six,
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  Speaker 1: Jordan Alvarez is right in the thick of the chase,
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  Speaker 1: leading qualified American League players in all three categories. His
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  Speaker 1: historic greatness is just unbelievable to watch, and that wraps
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  Speaker 1: up our explainer counting down the top five left handed
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  Speaker 1: hitters in baseball. So, with Alvarez chasing the triple Crown,
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  Speaker 1: I gotta ask, can anyone catch him? Do you agree
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  Speaker 1: with these rankings? Should Juan Soto be number one? Is
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  Speaker 1: Otani too low? Let us know your list In the
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  Speaker 1: comments below. If you enjoyed this explainer, be sure to like, subscribe, share,
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  Speaker 1: and turn on notification so you never miss an episode
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  Speaker 1: of the gill i Am Podcast. Until next time, I'm
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Gil and this has been another edition of the gill
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  Speaker 1: i Am Podcast. God bless and we'll see you in
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: the next episode.