I never really paid attention to this guy's throwing arm since it says (R) next to his name and I promoted him to the Majors only to actually notice that he is a lefty. However, I went with him anyway as my backup catcher and he has a surprisingly good CERA (3.44). My team ERA is 3.90. He has also thrown out 1/3 of base runners. Better than expected and both better than the starter.

Has anyone successfully used a lefty catcher? I was going to demote him in favor of better defensive guy but he continues to perform pretty well so I'm sticking with him for now since he can play C and OF and continues to improve his hitting ratings.

Player Profile: Giovanni Schimpf - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

Starter:
Player Profile: Rich Patrick - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports

I have never worried whether my C is R or L handed. Schimpf is the better fielding C, but Patrick is the better hitting one. Which does your team need? Can you find another place for Patrick to play? Can you find a trade partner that has an impact bat like Patrick but at a different position?

Oh Patrick is my starter and will continue to be that. I was going to demote Schrimpf in favor of Player Profile: Audy Maxwell - Hardball Dynasty Baseball | WhatIfSports but have stuck with Schrimpf so far in order to get his hitting rating up with a ML coach.

TBH I'm kinda surprised the player generation system actually created a left-throwing C. Gotta keep it interesting I guess.

I wouldn't demote Schimpf. He is above average at hitting compared to other C who can also play some decent defense. I would bring Schimpf in to replace Patrick as a defensive replacement and to give Patrick days off.

There have been a couple dozen mlb lefty throwing catchers, mostly in the 1800s, a few experiments in the 1900s. It's much more viable than lefty throwing 2b, SS, or 3B, surprised there haven't been more, guess it has something to do with more righty batters for the throwing lane, and the angle for pickoff throws to first.

I dont think I have ever looked at throwing hand for a player I guess I should.

The one to look out for is the lefty throwing cf that you might start thinking could play 2b. That's a virtual impossibility in real life, and apparently SIM has registered that fact as others have said in other threads. Disaster of errors.

I've done that- the old lefty at 3B and 2B is a disaster.

This has been a pleasant surprise. A happy little accident as Bob Ross would say.

He became viable as a c most likely because of a diamond in the rough ratings bump.

Posted by shobob on 3/24/2023 10:34:00 PM (view original):
He became viable as a c most likely because of a diamond in the rough ratings bump.

yes, I targeted him for this exact reason. But, he was generated as a lefty catcher. He was drafted as a catcher and has always been a catcher. I looked back and I ranked 53 total hitters (106 total players) and he was the 51st ranked hitter on my board. He had a projected PC rating of 62 with arm strength of 60 and accuracy of 60. that was with a $20MM budget for college players.

It's been 120 years since there was a starting LH catcher in MLB.

https://www.mlb.com/news/why-there-are-no-left-handed-catchers-in-mlb

Posted by the_mad_monk on 4/4/2023 4:27:00 AM (view original):
It's been 120 years since there was a starting LH catcher in MLB.

https://www.mlb.com/news/why-there-are-no-left-handed-catchers-in-mlb

Nice article. I enjoyed the read. Thanks.

Looks like only two LH catchers in MLB history have more than 1000 PO; Sam Trott and Jack Clements. I'm familiar with the latter because he appears with favorable ratings in OOTP.