Foot Hunter

Over the last three seasons, A.J. Burnett led the major leagues in hitting batters with 38.  Twenty one of those came against left-handed batters and in a interesting place.  Most of the time, batters get hit up:

Left-handed batters hit by pitch, 2008-2010.A.J. hits them low:

A.J. Burnett hitting left-handed batters, 2008-2010.Those pitches around the ankle represent his curve ball getting away from him.  Look how that curve moves:

A.J. Burnett, cuveball movement, 2008-2010.Even though the movement is pretty consistent, the pitch occasionally does get more down and in than it should.  If given the choice, hitters would rather get hit low than up high.  It's also fairly clear that most of these are not intentional, as 13 of the 21 left-handers hit were batting with two strikes on them.