Why does your power change

[Th3Rush22]

I understand that the contact of batters changes depending on the handiness of the pitcher, but why does the power change? Yes it might be harder to see the ball, but if contact is made, why is the power less. It's like saying that if Prince Fielder were to hit a left handed pitcher that he wouldn't be able to hit it as far as if it were a right handed pitcher? I don't understand it.

[jack1535]

Prince Fielder has 161 HRs vs RHP and 53 vs LHP. Does that answer your question?

[Th3Rush22]

It's because he didn't hit it as solid or as much but I think that is contact, power would be the raw distance the ball travels and if he hit it just as solid aginst either a lefty or a righty pitcher they should still go the same distance unlike in the game were one would be a fly out and one would be a homerun

[meekera]

You cannot have max power if you don't have great contact. Contact determines where the bat hits the baseball. So if you make contact on top or on the side of the baseball the power transferred to the ball would be minimal.

[Franchise408]

Quote: Originally Posted by meekera

You cannot have max power if you don't have great contact. Contact determines where the bat hits the baseball. So if you make contact on top or on the side of the baseball the power transferred to the ball would be minimal.

I'd agree with that, totally. That's how you end up getting high home run / low average hitters.

Example, for me, Pat Burrell is 2nd on my team in HR's, but he also leads my team in strikeouts and has one of the lower averages in my lineup. He's got good power (84 / 81) but low contact.

So if you can't even make contact with the ball, it doesn't matter how much power you have.

[canes21]

I don't think it should change. Power should be how hard you can hit a ball. If you make perfect contact, it should travel far no matter the handiness of the pitcher. The only thing that should change is contact because some guys just can't square up the bat as well against a certain handiness. They still have the same exact power in their body and swing, they just don't have as accurate a swing which results in a lower percentage against that specific handiness since they don't make solid contact nearly as much.

[shogunofharlem3]

I think it has a reflection on players like Jim Thome that have high home run numbers because of his power but he has high strike out numbers do to his lack of consistent contact.

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by shogunofharlem3

I think it has a reflection on players like Jim Thome that have high home run numbers because of his power but he has high strike out numbers do to his lack of consistent contact.

Then he should have high power and low contact. The low contact will mean he will strike out more, but the high power would mean he'd still hit a good amount of HR's when he did hit the ball.

Power should not change. Contact should, power shouldn't.