What Does RHP Mean in Baseball

Last Updated on September 21, 2023

If you are a baseball fan, you already know that baseball has many abbreviations. RHP is a baseball abbreviation with a precise, complete form. 

So, what does RHP mean in baseball? RHP stands for right-handed pitcher. So, in baseball, the pitchers who pitch with their right hands are called right-handed pitchers, in short, RHP. 

In this article, I will discuss everything you need to know about RHP’s meaning in baseball. I will also show you the top RHP pitchers in baseball history. 

What Does RHP Mean in Baseball?

As I mentioned, the elaborated form of RHP in baseball is a right-handed pitcher. For more clarification, what is RHP in baseball is a right-handed pitcher who pitches the ball to the hitter using his right hand. 

And most certainly, in baseball, since 2010, there have been three-quarters of right-handed pitchers in MLB, according to MLB official stat. So, in simple and with more clarification, RHP indicates the ball lineup. 

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RHP Position in Baseball

Though I already mentioned that RHP is primarily the meaning of the pitching lineup, sometimes, it also indicates players’ positions. That means the players who throw the ball with their right hand and wear fielding gloves on their left hand are also called RHP.

But keep in mind, if someone mentions a position player by RHP, only then can you refer to the right-handed players. But keep in mind that, primarily, RHP, meaning in baseball, is a right-handed pitcher. 

What Are the Benefits of Being a Right-Handed Pitcher?

Being a right-handed pitcher is advantageous in many ways. It gives you environmental benefits naturally. And as I mentioned, more than 75% of pitchers in baseball are right-handed pitchers. 

So, let’s see how a pitcher gets the advantages of being an RHP. 

Traditional Advantages

The first and foremost benefit a right-handed pitcher gets is traditionality. Being an RHP, you don’t need to go through unorthodox ways to implement your pitching. 

The entire structure of the environment is right-handed friendly. This is because the biggest portions of the players are right-handed. So, as a right-handed pitcher, you will get the standard setting which is in your favor. 

Natural Strength and Dominance

See, this is something out of the game, rather physiological. Since 90% of the population is right-handed, right-handed dominance is a unique trait of humans.

So, think about the natural traits. Naturally, the right-handed players are more dominant with their right hands. As a result, they get more control over the ball in terms of spinning, swinging, and producing speed. 

The accelerated speed, pre-pitch strategy, and ease of generating fastballs are all natural for right-handed pitchers. 

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Advantages Against Right-Handed Hitters

Aside from natural advantages, right-handed pitchers also have particular advantages against both right-handed and left-handed hitters. Here’s how you will benefit against a right-handed hitter if you are a RHP.

• Breakaway Pitches: When you pitch a breaking [pitch toward a right-handed hitter, the ball will break away from the natural swing path of the batter. As a result, it will be difficult for the right-handed batter to read the pitch conveniently. 
• Inside Pitching: For right-handed hitters, tracking the pitching inside pitches is difficult. On the other hand, as a right-handed pitcher, you can easily pitch the ball from the inside of the home plate toward the right-handed hitters. 

So, right-handed hitters will struggle to reach the ball and hit it. 

• Benefits of Pitching Split-Finger Fastball: The split-finger fastball drops suddenly. The grip used in the split-finger fastball is particularly effective toward the right-handed batter if a right-handed pitcher throws it. 

Advantages Against Left-Handed Hitters

Here are the advantages of an RHp to a left-handed hitter.

• Slider-Pitching: See, a slider breaks down away from the batters’ swing path. Though this is effective toward both right-handed and left-handed batters, it is particularly lethal for left-handed batters if thrown by an RHP. 

Because reacting to a slider by a right-handed pitcher is tougher for a left-handed hitter than by a left-handed pitcher. 

Top Right-Handed Pitchers of All Time

Here, I have listed the top 11 legendary right-handed pitchers of all time. You will understand how they were dominant on the mound in their era. Please note this is not a ranking. I just tried to portray the dominance of legendary right-handed pitchers in MLB history. 

The list below also shows the overall performance of RHP in the MLB  with their right-hand pitching capability. 

No.	Name of the player	Win-Loss	Strikeouts	ERA	WHIP	Career Time
1	Nolan Ryan	324-292	5,714 (Leader)	3.19	1.39	1966-1993
2	Roger Clemens	354–184	4,672	3.12	1.04	1984-2007
3	Tom Seaver	311–205	3,640	2.86	1.121	1967-1986
4	Walter Johnson	417–279	3,508	2.17	1.061	1907-1927
5	Greg Maddux	355–227	3,371	3.16	1.19	1986-2008
6	Pedro Martínez	219–100	3,154	2.93	1.0544	192-2009
7	Cy Young	511-315	2,803	2.63	1.1296	1890-1911
8	Christy Mathewson	373–188	2,502	2.13	1.06	1900-1916
9	Sandy Koufax	165–87	2,396	2.76	1.1061	1955-1966
10	Ed Walsh	195-126	1,736	1.82 (Leader)	0.9996	1904-1917
11	Addie Joss	160-97	920	1.89	0.968 (Leader)	1902-1910

If you notice, you will see that the right-handed pitchers are leaders in all departments. 

Here-

• Nolan Ryan is the all-time strikeout leader in MLB history.
• Ed Walsh is the all-time ERA(earned run average) leader in MLB history.
• Addie Joss is the all-time WHIP(Walks and Hits per inning pitched) in MLB history.

The Bottom Line

What does RHP mean in baseball is simple. It is a baseball abbreviation and stands for right-handed pitcher. By the way, there is no other complex meaning to this. 

By the way, more than 75% of pitchers in MLB history are righties. This is because more than 90% of people in the world are right-handed. So, it is normal that right-handed pitchers are larger in number in MLB. 

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