Swisher Surging

Swisher vs. RHP 2011

On May 12th, New York Yankee Nick Swisher hit his third HR of the season from the left side of the plate.  However, prior to that day he was hitting just .153/.298/.235 in 104 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, compared to .400/.444/.467 from the right side (granted in just 36 PA, and with no HR). 

But since mid-May, Swisher has been on a roll against RHP, hitting .269/.383/.516 with 8 doubles and 5 HRs.

Nick Swisher vs. RHP (Click image to enlarge)

The breakdown: Swisher is crushing the hard stuff, with all 7 of his left-handed HRs coming off fastballs, along with 5 of his 9 doubles....Since May 12th, he has an .825 slugging percentage against fastballs, 4th best in the majors since that date....His 16.0% walk rate ranks 4th in the AL, and his 50 total walks is 8th best in baseball....Swisher's .457 wOBA since the start of June ranks 6th in the AL, and his 28.6% HR/FB rate ranks 4th among all AL left-handed batters in that time (from April through June it was just 5.9%).