FanGraphs: Latos' early struggles against lefties

FanGraphs.com has recently published an early article about Mat Latos. You can read the full article at FanGraphs.com (and you should spend some additional time there, if you don't know the site). To sum the post:

What’s interesting about Latos to date is his platoon split. Small sample size caveat applies heavily, but righties are hitting .091/.118/.273 against him while lefties hit .273/.360/.545.

Of course, he's only faced 25 left handed hitters this year. However, the comments on the fangraphs article indicate that he also had these issues in the minors. Usual small sample size (SSS) caveats apply to the main article.

That said, FF isn't too concerned with the numbers above. Latos has been successful so far, but his fundamental numbers (using the Fangraphs Fielding Independent Pitching numbers) indicate he's been a bit lucky with his results. All in all, there is more to be excited about here than concerned. Latos throws mid 90s with good control and gets the Ks. That's a good recipe for success when you are getting 18 starts per season in Petco.

We'll keep watching him and reporting; for now, he's the Padres highest upside thrower and looks to be a strong contributor for a little while.