If it felt like the wind picked up at Citizens Bank Park in the latter half of the summer, it just might have been an opposing lefthander on the mound facing Ryan Howard.
We understand that strikeouts will always be a part of the Big Lefty Piece's resume, especially when he faces a southpaw. And we're more than happy to put up with them if he keeps up the RBI pace (31 in his last 29 games) that he had down the stretch this season before breaking his toe.
But he simply cannot whiff in nearly 50 percent of his ABs against lefthanded pitchers — a mark he flirted with in September and had never approached in any of his full big-league seasons.
Here are Howard's year-by-year strikeout numbers vs. left- and righthanded pitchers: