If I give you a triple slash line .285/.312/.415 wRC+ 93 and .200/.319/.375 wRC+ 97 against LHP who do you think of? Maybe Oneil Cruz since he has a reputation of struggling against lefties? How about Ke'Bryan Hayes with his bad back? Maybe the Sophomore Nick Gonzalez is putting up barely lukewarm numbers against LHP? Maybe it is Connor Joe, and that is why the Pirates cut him? The first triple slash line against LHP in 2024 was Bryan Reynolds and the second one was Andrew McCutchen.
Reynolds and McCutchen did hit better than Oneil Cruz's splits against LHP in 2024 which were .224/.266/.420 wRC+ 84. The Bucs need Oneil Cruz to hit better against lefties and improve all around in 2025. That is why he will be a different article. For now, we need to know that Gonzalez, Hayes, and Joe all hit better against lefties than Reynolds and McCutchen did. The Bucs need McCutchen and Reynolds to be top of the order bats against LHP because not much of the roster has proven they can against LHP. Bart, Gonzalez, and Hayes has, but that is not enough. Gonzalez's triple slash line against LHP is .315/.337/.500 wRC+ 124. Joe's was .234/.335/.379 wRC+ 99. Hayes's was .309/.383/.469 wRC+ 135.
Ok, so we have Bart, Hayes, and Gonzalez. The young catchers haven't proven they can be top of the order material. IKF doesn't hit lefties or rights well enough to be at the top of the order. Everyone else is either unproven or has never hit lefties well. Hayes usually hits well against lefties, but this is even assuming Bart and Gonzalez hold their gains made last year against LHP.
It is hard to have a league average offense or better without having a strong top 5, and it seems the Bucs will need Reynolds and McCutchen to hit like they belong there in 2025. Both McCutchen and Reynolds have done it in the past. As recent as 2023 McCutchen had a 119 wRC+ against LHP, and as recent as 2021 McCutchen had an 1.000+ OPS against southpaws. Reynolds hasn't hit well against lefties in a couple of years. His last solid year against lefties was 2022 when he has a wRC+ of 118. In 2021 he had .915 OPS against LHP. He doesn't need to get to that level, but we need better than league average.