Left-handed or “southpaw” pitchers are relatively rare in Major League Baseball (MLB). Approximately 10-15% of pitchers in MLB are left-handed. This scarcity makes left-handed pitchers quite valuable, as they can exploit the platoon advantage against predominantly right-handed hitting lineups.
The Twins have had some good lefty starters over the years like Jim Kaat, Frank Viola, Johan Santana but there have not been very many of them. Historically starters that were left handed did not throw as hard as most right handed starters and were considered as being “crafty”. That seems to be changing now as there are more hard throwing left-handed pitchers than ever.
The Warren Spahn Award is presented each season by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame to the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). The award is named after Warren Spahn, who holds the MLB record in wins for a left-handed pitcher with 363.[1] The Warren Spahn Award was created in 1999 by Richard Hendricks, the founder of the Territorial Capital Sports Museum, formerly Oklahoma Sports Museum, to honor Spahn, who resided in Oklahoma. The award has been won by 15 different pitchers through 2024. The winner is chosen based on rankings, which are based on wins, strikeouts, and earned run average. The only Twins pitcher to win this award is Johan Santana who won it 2004 and 2006.
Determining the MLB team with the best left-handed pitchers can be subjective, but one team that stands out is the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’ve had legendary left-handed pitchers like Clayton Kershaw, who has been a dominant force for over a decade, and Sandy Koufax, one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. Other teams with notable left-handed pitchers include the New York Yankees with Whitey Ford and Andy Pettitte, and the Boston Red Sox with Lefty Grove and Chris Sale.
The most left handed starters the Twins have ever had with ten or more starts in a season were four in 1964 when Gerry Arrigo, Jim Kaat, Jim Roland and Dick Stigman started 88 games between them. In the 64 seasons the Twins have played, there have only been six seasons in which they have had no left handed pitchers with at least ten starts and they were in 1995, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2023, and 2024. See a trend here? In 2024 there were 16 MLB teams with zero left handed starters with at least ten starts.
How many of the Twins lefties on the list below have you seen pitch and who was your favorite?
Minnesota Twins left-handed starters from 1961 through 2024 with 10 or more starts
Senators/Twins franchise left handed pitchers with one or more career starts