I have a few hitters when I look at the hitting split stats that are hitting better than they really should. They are over 75 ABs for the season vs RHP and over 70 ABs vs LHP. My question is should I use those hitters even though the hitters I have in my lineup have better ratings but are doing worse this season?

I am not sure how much emphasis to put into those splits versus their real life ratings.

The game is driven off ratings not stats.

That said, I use splits in determining my batting order. I'm not putting a 32 VR in the line-up against RH pitching because he's hitting 287/320/421. But, if he's already in the line-up, probably for defensive purposes, I will bat him in the appropriate spot until his stats normalize(and they probably will).

My lineups are determined by ratings for the first half of the season, and by splits for the second half (after the all-star break). It's counter-intuitive because, as Mike says, the game is driven off of ratings and not stats. But sometimes you do have players who tend to over-perform or under-perform their ratings, and that sometimes carries through the entire season.

By game 120, it's difficult to keep sending your .235 hitter out there because of his better ratings while benching the .290 guy.

Also useful for helping to set up platoons.

I've noticed that each season there is a pretty apparent split for some players. One year I'll have a player hit .300 against LHP and the same player the following year hit like .220 against LHP. If he's at .300 I have him in the lineup regardless of his VLH ratings. If he's hitting .220 then I wont play him against lefties. So yeah for a lot of players I do use the splits from the second half of the season on. That's just me. I may be stupid too.

Right handed batter with 87 power, 97 against left and 47 against right. Last year he hit 7 HR in 178 ABs against lefties and 24 HR in 260 ABs against righties. An anomaly of a season I'm sure but if I had a better vsR/defensive option (he's a catcher) I would've felt inclined to play him. Who knows what kind of production I may have missed out on? I agree that ratings are first factor but if a guy has it working for him, for one reason or another, roll with it until it no longer makes sense to do so.