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In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers, although there are some exceptions.[ citation needed ]
Right-handed batters generally hit better against left-handed pitchers and vice versa. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher, making them harder to hit with the barrel (or "sweet spot") of the bat. Additionally, the pitcher's release is farther from the batter's center of vision. In switch-pitcher Pat Venditte's words, "If I'm pitching right-handed and they're hitting right-handed, it's tougher for them to see. And then, your breaking pitches are going away from their barrel rather than into their barrel." [1] Even so, many switch-hitters perform better from one side of the plate than the other.
Numerous switch-hitters have achieved a higher batting average on one side of the plate but hit with more power from the other. For instance, New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle always considered himself a better right-handed hitter, but hit home runs at a higher rate from the left side of the plate. [2] However, many of Mantle's left-handed home runs were struck at Yankee Stadium, a park notorious for being very friendly to left-handed power hitters due to its short right field porch, and Mantle batted left-handed much more often than right-handed, simply because there have always been more right-handed than left-handed pitchers. Mantle's longest home run, a 565-foot clout in 1953 at Washington's Griffith Stadium, came batting right-handed.
Most switch-hitters have been right-handed throwers, but there have been several notable switch-hitters who threw left-handed, including Cool Papa Bell, Lance Berkman, Dave Collins, Doug Dascenzo, Mitch Webster, Wes Parker, Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher, Justin Smoak, David Segui, Dylan Carlson (baseball), Daniel Nava, and J. T. Snow (who, in the final years of his career, hit exclusively left-handed). As of the 2018 season, there were 48 active switch-hitters on MLB rosters. Five of the league's 30 teams did not have a switch hitter on their roster in 2018. [3]
Joaquín Andújar sometimes hit right-handed against lefties, sometimes left-handed. Tomo Ohka batted left-handed against right-handed pitchers in three games in 2006, but otherwise batted exclusively right-handed. Left-handed reliever Steve Kline was primarily a switch hitter, but batted right-handed against right-handed pitchers several times throughout his career. [4]
Management also had a say in the switch-hitting careers of Bob Gibson and Dwight Gooden. Both Gibson and Gooden—each right-handed, and a fine hitting pitcher—had reached the major leagues as a switch-hitter, but both their teams required them to bat only right-handed to reduce the possibility of their pitching arms being hit by a pitch.
The first switch-hitter in baseball history was Bob Ferguson. His switch-hitting was different that of today's baseball game, as he switched sides simply based on his feeling at a particular moment or certain situational reasons (such as an elite fielder on one side of the diamond). Ferguson took a notable at-bat in 1870, where he walked off the game while batting from the left side, when he had typically batted right-handed. [5]
Switch hitters were not productive in the dead-ball era or the early live-ball era. Since the advent of the live-ball era, switch hitters have served to produce a high on-base percentage. [6]
Switch-hitting pitchers are relatively rare. They include Mordecai Brown, Norm Charlton, [7] Marvin Rotblatt, Sid Monge, Johnny Vander Meer, J.C. Romero, Kyle Snyder, Wandy Rodriguez, Troy Patton, Tim Dillard, Tyler Johnson, Carlos Zambrano, Dock Ellis, Vida Blue, Anthony Claggett, Kris Medlen, Justin De Fratus, Drew Storen, Kenley Jansen, Derek Holland, Turk Wendell, Pat Neshek, Adam Ottavino, Ken Waldichuk, and Dylan Bundy.
Pat Venditte, who played college baseball for the Creighton Bluejays, regularly pitched with both arms. [8] Venditte, drafted by the New York Yankees in 2008, was called up to the Oakland Athletics' major-league roster in 2015. [9] When he opposed switch-hitter Ralph Henriquez while in the minor leagues, Venditte switched his modified glove to his left arm. Henriquez then switched to batting left-handed, and a series of changes continued for several minutes. This prompted the PBUC (Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation) to issue rules about switch-pitching: switch-pitchers must choose which way they will begin pitching before they start. Then, batters will select the side of home plate from which they will hit. The batter and the pitcher are each allowed one switch during the plate appearance, after the first pitch is thrown. [10]
Mickey Charles Mantle, nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees, primarily as a center fielder. Mantle is regarded by many as being one of the best players and sluggers of all time. He was an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player three times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
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This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries.
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