The Bizarre World of Former Switch Hitting
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- čas přidán 11. 01. 2024
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Switch hitting is just another of the countless things that makes baseball so unique. In the MLB, being able to choose which side of the plate you want to hit on is an advantage for a multitude of reasons. Platoon advantage, advantages against pitch types, and always having the upper hand in a pitcher vs. hitter matchup. However, the average MLB switch hitter doesn't just get this advantage for free. Being a switch hitter at baseball's highest level is unbelievably difficult. So, naturally, there have been times when switch hitters couldn't keep up with it anymore. So, how advantageous really is switch-hitting, which players have thought about leaving it behind, who has actually given up on it, and who in the league could potentially benefit from giving up on switch-hitting in the future?
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Resources Used:
@MLB
@minorleaguebaseball
Fox Sports - Shane Victorino: www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb...
MassLive - Shane Victorino: www.masslive.com/redsox/2015/...
MLB.com - Aaron Hicks: www.mlb.com/news/hicks-decide...
TwinCities - Aaron Hicks: www.twincities.com/2014/09/01...
AZCentral - Ketel Marte: www.azcentral.com/story/sport...
NBC Sports - Patrick Bailey: www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/news...
Bally Sports Atlanta - Ozzie Albies: / 1658319439769530369
MLB.com - OPS+: www.mlb.com/glossary/advanced...
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Music Used (In Order):
Sidon's Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: • Sidon's theme - The Le...
Metroid Prime Menu Music - Super Smash Bros. Brawl//Metroid Prime: • Menu (Metroid Prime) -...
Menu Music - Super Smash Bros. Melee: • Menu 1 - Super Smash B...
Rito Village Day - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: • The Legend of Zelda: B...
Battle Theme - Final Fantasy XVI: • Final Fantasy XVI OST ...
Buoy Base Galaxy - Super Mario Galaxy: • Buoy Base Galaxy Theme...
12 PM - Animal Crossing: New Horizons: • 12 PM - Animal Crossin...
Gang Plank Galleon - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate//Donkey Kong Country: • Gang-Plank Galleon - S...
Romance in the Air - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: • Romance in the Air - T...
Hyrule Castle (Exterior) - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: • Hyrule Castle (Exterio...
His World (Instrumental Only Edit) - Sonic the Hedgehog: • His World (Instrumental)
Floral Fury - Cuphead: • Cuphead OST - Floral F...
The Weight of Rain - Tunic: • TUNIC (Original Soundt...
Knowing how hard switch hitting is just gives me so much more respect for how goddamn good at it Chipper Jones was for like his entire career
For like?
Ozzie Albies is a great example, he's a average hitter against right handed pitchers but is one of the best hitters in the league against lefties. I feel you could make argument he's just better right handed hitting because 180-200 ops difference is not normal
I’d almost like to see what he can do against righties from the right side of the plate over a season
I felt the same way with Jason varitek and wanted him to just hit righty.
His power though is mostly from the left side. That's why I think he doesn't give it up
Yeah I’ve always wished he’d just switch to being a full time righty. He’s so much more effective on that side.
@kjorlaug1 for his career he homers left handed against righties every 25.3 ABs. Right handed against lefties its every 20.8 ABs. He naturally hits more taters left handed because he has 2279 ABs left handed vs righties and only 792 ABs right handed against lefties. His is 5-14 with 3 homers right handed against righties according to baseball reference though.
It definitely depends. Guys like Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixiera, Lance Berkman were amazing switch hitters, with power on both sides.
Eddie Murray, Chipper Jones and Mickey Mantle as well
@@dvon1097 oh shoot, I forgot about them 🤦🏾♂️
V-mart too
@@travisp5747 Facts. Victor Martinez was a savage in Cleveland.
I’m a lifelong switch hitter who forced myself into batting left-handed because despite being right handed, I couldn’t hit from that side to save my soul. Also, since I ran across so few LHP as a kid, it just made sense. And oddly enough it worked- I had a natural lefty swing. And later, when I faced more southpaws, the swing carried over to my right side.
Honestly it made me a better hitter overall. I mean, I have never been a great hitter. But switch hitting taught me a lot about how to hit
I always forget that Elly’s a switch hitter, all of his highlights are from the left side. It’s also really telling that you had to mirror flip an image of him hitting lefty to get an image of him hitting righty 😂
Haha that wasn’t even my intention, I just spent some time editing the image and realized I needed it looking the other way and didn’t want to redo it, so I mirrored it haha
The biggest success story for a player who stopped switch hitting is Augie Galan. From 1940-1942 he had a combined OPS+ of 91 as a switch hitter, with his highest OPS+ while switch hitting being 131. In 1943, he switched to hitting lefty full-time and had an OPS+ of at least 131 for the next six years.
I have literally never heard of him until this comment and then I looked up his Baseball Reference page and he was a really good player. I dont think I have ever heard anyone talk about him. Granted, he was an old timer but still. He's kind of like a Bobby Grich or a Brett Butler, really good and not talked about nearly enough.
Props for putting respect on Bret Butler's name. The Braves should've never let him go
@thirdlegstalliano He was another one of those players who I have heard but never really knew how good he was until I visited his Baseball Reference page one day as one does.
A good mention would’ve been Tommy Edman, who experimented with hitting righty/right this year at the big league level when he was facing guys with particular breaking pitches, so if you do a part 2, he’d be a very good example.
Cal Raleigh is another one that could be intriguing from one side. He was exclusively better as a righty in the minors but in the pros has been a much better lefty. He has like 45 home runs lefty and 5 righty
He’s interesting though cause his dad brought him up as a switch hitter, he himself has said he doesn’t really have a “natural” side. His counting stats against lefties are gonna be a little skewed too cause he was getting platooned for a while last year with a busted left thumb.
I think another guy that deserves mention is Dylan Carlson. Im a Cardinals fan and I think that moving forward he and coaching should consider giving up the switch hitting. His slash line as a right handed hitter vs left handed pitching is .306/.377/.472. His slash line from the other side of the plate? .221/.304/.368. Again, like you said it isnt guaranteed that every player that drops switch hitting is able to do what Mullins did but I still think it is worth some consideration. Ironically Carlson is a pretty good defensive centerfielder like Mullins.
I think its a huge advantage to have switch hitters on your team. Think about how many ball parks have high left field walls. Just by switching to leftie, you can pull the ball into right field and avoid those obstacles for a higher chance of hitting a dinger. Also it keeps defenses on their toes and makes them shift to the switch hitter.
A couple names I remember that stopped switch hitting for a bit: Jose Valentin in the mid 2000s and Billy Hamilton a couple years ago.
I have watched >4 minutes of this video and you have already become one of my favorite creators. Keep up the work, dude. Gonna go binge your videos now
I appreciate that a ton! I hope you enjoy my previous stuff and what’s to come in the future!
I'm a chubby theater kid, and even I learned how to do it! The trick was I started trying to bat lefty at a very young age, and got used to sucking at it for a very long time. After about a year, it clicked, and I now, mentally, I can swing lefty as easily as I do righty. The problem is I hardly do it anymore, so the muscles that used to swing from that side kind of creak now 🤣
14:49 The swings of the batter and on deck are like butter
Really impressed by the amount of research you did for this. Fun topic and solid video!
Immediately subscribed for the combination of the topic and Metroid music at the start.
Awesome video! Can see this channel coming a really long way!!
Thank you! I really appreciate the support!
these background song choices were so good, i love the vibes
Pretty sure they're from Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Such a huge, awesome video game soundtrack
Pretty sure they're from Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Such a huge, awesome video game soundtrack
What a great video, can't wait to see what's next to come, keep up the great work!
Thank you for the support!
2 of my favorite things baseball and the legend of Zelda in one video
4 mins in and I've already heard Smash Bros music and Zelda music. Eager to see what's next lol
Awesome topic. Love this type of content man
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Back when I was playing Legion ball, a friend of mine decided to give switch hitting a shot-he was a natural righty but he never swung the bat right again….absolutely screws with your head/vision
3:20 that Colin McHugh pitch was filthy ngl
The important aspect of hitting from the left side, that you fail to mention, it's closer to first base. That's one reason there are so many right hand throwers that bat lefty. For a fast runner, like Ichiro, batting exclusively lefty is a no brainer. Augie Galan and Pete Reiser are two switch hitters that changed to exclusively lefty to take advantage of their speed. All three of these hitters had hundreds of infield hits. Also, most righties are right eye dominant, which gives them a better view from the left side.
5:06 keep in mind, above average k% when shown on baseball savant means LESS strikeouts than average
Keep in mind that that’s the point he was making, he sucked at everything aside from striking out at a lower rate than average.
@@mattforbes221 yes, i was not correcting him simply explaining, it was worded weirdly
I switch hit. I am a lefty that learned to hit exclusively righty in little league, because I simply didn't have a left handed batter to observe. Then I just started learning to hit lefty once I found a group to play regular pickup games with in high school.
I hit for power righty, and my swing just feels totally natural. My left handed swing has never felt natural, yet I get on base. Actually doing it, even if the guys pitching to me were future minor leaguers, it really makes me appreciate the guys that can do it at an elite level with some level of success because there is no way I ever could have done that.
From my personal experience: Natural Righty
Switch hitting from age 10 to age 21 to fall ball of my junior year.
I was always able to put the bat on the ball equally both sides but my left side had far better consistency and power. Then fall season 2021 I decided to drop hitting righty completely and I found great success hitting solely lefty. Adjusting to seeing the ball lefty lefty in college was not too much of a big change for me as in my stance against lefties I slightly opened my stance up more an inch or 2.
It was also the icing on the cake my very first at bat lefty lefty was the day I decided to drop righty and I went yard on the first pitch LOL.
Graduated last year and been missing the game
Very informative video. I think Lindor to an extent could be a better hitter overall as a righty as his swing seems much more natural however that power from the left is huge. I love watching switch hitters man and as a Mets fan I’ve grown up always seeing a great one lead my squad
When I played baseball I got into bad habits right handed but for some reason they didn’t carry over to when I batted left handed so I actually had a better swing left handed when I’m normally right. But I also had a left eye injury which would be my lead eye batting right handed so I always thought batting left handed was easier cause my vison was a bit better in my right eye. The only real issue with batting left handed is when your about to be hit by a ball, if your used to batting right handed you turn to your right. Well if you do that while batting left handed you open yourself right up to the ball, and that’s really the only issue cause it’s all instinct when your about to be hit by the ball so you just move and if your brain is used to turning one way that’s what it’s going to do. It’s always funny to watch someone get a high inside pitch for the first time left handed. Lol
Gotta say this is something that I’ve NEVER thought about so i’m very intrigued (just started the vid). Just always thought of switch hitting as a thing in baseball that some guys do
This makes me want to bring up Steve Jeltz, infielder for the Phillies in the 80s and Dorktown legend who BECAME a switch hitter halfway through his MLB career. Given he wasn’t a super productive player, only hitting league average one time, but that’s some dedication
Really interesting video but I think you missed a chance to talk about Reid Brignac. Brignac actually became a switch-hitter in the final year of his career in Triple A after 9 years as a left handed hitter in MLB. It's the opposite of what you wanted to highlight in this video but still fascinating.
That’s really interesting and I didn’t know about it so thanks for letting me know!
Posada was my favorite player growing up. I used to swing right handed in the on deck circle, got the ok to switch hit but never felt like I should risk it for the team lol
Such an unreal sick
Love the Zelda music
I believe Victorino was taught to switch hit very late in his development (sometime in the minors if I remember correctly from his biography) so that’s probably why he was good as a full time righty
Didn't he drop switch hitting because of an injury? I remember an old broadcast saying that but totally could also be that his numbers weren't the best from the other side
I've been experimenting with switch hitting for a few days now, and I'm considering giving it a real shot. I'm a natural righty for both batting and throwing, however I have a case of cross dominance, since I am left handed in writing, eating, and one handed sports like tennis, thus I started experimenting lefty to see if my left hand could adapt easier due to that. I am also right eyed, so in theory I should see better from the left side since its my lead eye, so who knows if I can hit well from both sides
Great video! Just gained a new follower
I hope you enjoy what’s to come in the future!
In the case of Victorino, I wonder what his transition did to his playing time. Did his manager end up giving him fewer PA's against RHP's because of his very slight decrease & the perception that same-sided batters are going to be worse?
Also, was he put in/left in against pitchers where he was felt to not be at as much disadvantage (ie, not against top notch RHP), & thus his stats could be inflated due to selection?
Love the video and music!
Zelda music.
The biggest problem for me as a switch hitter is I have less time to practice. Hitting rounds for me, I have half as many for each side, because I have two sides. So while I can make corrections very fast from, either just due to experience and necessity, I have less time for each side. Switch hitting is literally being two batters in one. You always have something to work on, either to correct something, or to get more reps.
I was made to bat left handed and always struggled from that side of the plate until I was 12. Ended up hitting home runs from both sides of the plate through high school. Still wish I would’ve batted righty exclusively though. Just had more confidence over there.
great video, thanks for making it
Glad you enjoyed!
Pete Rose is adamant that he was a switch batter, as switch hitting took on another connotation long ago😂😂😂
I myself am a switch hitter and there's a couple more benefits of it that many people forget. There have been times where one of my swings was slumping. Luckily, I have the ability to just hit the other way until I figure it out.
The other one comes from being a two-way player. I also pitch, so a sore arm can sometimes affect my left-handed swing. On those days, I can just hit right the whole time with no problem.
I didn’t really consider that. I really appreciate the added insight!
I'd like to see Cedric's teammate, Anthony Santander try to only hit from one side. He has more power from the left side but he's a more overall professional hitter and takes better at bats from the right
I strongly believe that is in large part due to deep left field in Camden Yards. When looking at switch hitters and averages I believe you also need to look at homers and their home ballpark to see if one side is a power side and one side is a contact side. The players most certain know which side of the ball park favors home runs and which doesn't, this most certainly effects a switch hitters approach at the plate. Not to mention a ball hit to left is in Camden Yards is way more likely to either go over the fielders head if he's playing too shallow or drop infront of the fielder if he's playing too deep compared to any ball hit to right field, so that is certainly going to effect the batting averages.
Aaron Hicks was in a similar situation in New York as Yankee Stadium favors homers to right so hitting left was always Hicks more power side but that comes at the cost of having a bit lower average than his right side
Crazy amount of good music in one video
I taught myself to switch hit when I was 8. I decided if Ken Griffey Jr. could bar lefty then so could I. Now there are definitely days where I feel one side better than the other. Also I’m a spray hitter RH and much more of a pull hitter LH.
I'm kind of surprised that someone hasn't come out with a contact lens that tunes up your opposite side eye to give a better view of the ball
I saw Carl Everett bat lefty vs Jamie Moyer, resulting in a home run down the left field line over the green monster. I'm sure this was to counter Moyer's stellar changeup.
I'm naturally right handed but being Canadian grew up hitting left as that's how a right handed person holds their hockey stick. Would be interesting to look into that. Canadian big leaguers who almost exclusively hit left😊
Maybe an answer is have the nerd squad figure out the numbers on which would be the optimal times to stay rh vs lh vs staying rh vs rh. Some will have have the worst stuff for that matchup (example, super nasty away sliders lefty v lefty) . So test a hybrid style based on the extra bad matchups and see how that goes.
great video!
The first time I remember seeing a switch hitter give up one side of the plate was JT Snow in the late 90s
I tried switch hitting, being a nutural righty but being in love with lefty swings and i wanted one. I tried it out, and can swing pretty competently from the left side (not great or anything, but alright) but completely lost my righty swing cause i focused so much on my left lmao
I always wanted HoJo to give up on hitting righty. He'd have like 27 HR's lefty and 3 righty.
The melee music is crazy
Love the Zelda music in the background
anyone know where the background music at 2:20 is from? really nostalgic. giving me pokemon elite four vibes
It’s from Super Smash Bros. Melee. A link to it and all the other background music is in the description if you’re curious
I'm right handed batter (stronger too) but when I started batting left, I made more contact. Later they called me the Hitting Machine from the left and the Golden Sombrero from the right. I just saw the ball better from the left and my hands were faster too.
For me personally, I was a switch hitter, but it was more for situational needs. If I need to hit for power, I swung right handed. But conversely, I could hit for better average if I hit lefty. It really depended on the situation for the at bat.
My brother could bat switch and also pitch with both. I've always thought a quarterback with the ability to throw with both would be really interesting.
I really enjoyed Aaron Hicks in a Orioles jersey last year
Love the video game music
I fully agree, I've always been dumbfounded by switch hitting. It's one of those things that seems like it should be impossible.
Hello. This somewhat applies for me. I switch hit for a few seasons until now where I hit righty
A good former switch-hitter that wasn't mentioned is Kyle Tucker.
Look up Roberto alomar he gave up switch hitting for the tail end of the season with the O's due to injury and against certain pitchers (i think mo rivera and probably Wakefield)
When i was young i could, now i can barely type with my left hand
I actually started playing baseball like this and while I was 15 I had similar batting average but more power when I batted lefty even though I’m a natural righty
I had a little section about something like this in the video, but cut I ended up cutting it out I think. Anyways, I believe it was because although it’s the unnatural side, leading the swing with the stronger arm can have a large impact on the power
Did joc go from switch to full time leftie or am i tripping?
scott spiezio had a crazy split in 2002, thats the year us angel fans will always remember. but spiezio has a pretty even split throughout his career
I am also a switch hitter and am pretty decent at it. But I have become more comfortable and most of the times better swinging left handed than right. I have become better at hitting against left handers and have almost committed to hitting purely left handed.
Really digging the Nintendo music
As a rhh vs rhp in the majors, Ozzie Albies is 3/11 with 2 home runs and 3 walks for a 6/14 obp. I definitely think he could benefit from stopping switch hitting, however with the strides he took this year as a lefty I say hold off until he truley struggles as a lefty
Almost all of Albies' ABs as a RHH against RHP have been against position players, knuckleballers, and guys who throw slow breaking stuff. That doesn't indicate how he would fare against a Walker Buehler or Sandy Alcantara from that side.
Eddie Murray is the best to do it in my opinion
Also, for Mullins, it was the hair. He developed flow and he started mashing
i remember when Shane Victorino and Daniel Nava gave up on switch hitting i was perplexed as a youngin
I tried switch-hitting, but me being left-eye dominant I could never read the ball hitting left-handed, so I went back to hitting right-handed exclusively. For those who are wondering, I use the Front-Arm Dominant method of hitting.
I always tried it when I was younger and got a decent swing down, but the perspective switch just never clicked for me
@@ABrandNewBallGame It's funny because when I play slow pitch softball for whatever reason, I can only hit left-handed. I honestly confuse myself sometimes.
0:51 damn that polanco bomb was sexy
ayo I noticed that Metroid Prime music in the background
You need to do a video on the best platoons ever in baseball
It’s definitely one I’ve had the idea for, just not sure when it’ll be in the works.
Now for that switch pitcher.
Switch hitting is way easier than switch throwing, that’s for damn sure
Thumbs up for the Metroid Prime music.
When I tried batting LH, I'd get dizzy and proceed to look even more foolish than me batting natural RH.
14:49 perfect sync
These guys talk about abandoning switch hitting like they’re getting divorced
I had coaches that acknowledged that I could hit from both sides but never let me take bp non dominant destroyed my dreams
Switch hitting automatically makes a player 1000 times more dangerous.
Tommy Edman has around 60 PA as a RHH vs a RHP
Anthony Santander is the best switch hitters in baseball 😎 #birdland
The FF16 music lol
I was just about to say this. 🤣🤣🤣
I remember Choi Ji-man experimented with switch hitting briefly twice, but quickly gave up each time. But he did manage to homer right handed however.
How do you talk about the history of switch-quitting without mentioning Hanley Ramirez?
I used to bat switch, had better batting average lefty but better power righty
Dylan Carlson could DEFINITELY give up on switch hitting
Albies needs to do this
Yeah Ozzie is definitely a better right handed hitter. We don't have sample size for him hitting right handed against righties but his ops against lefties is significantly higher
@@RealCGHyall, he’s a better hitter righty AGAINST LEFTIES. You can’t state he’s just a better right handed hitter, he’s never faced a righty from the right side. He hasn’t seen a breaking ball break away from him in forever, nor an off speed pitch break towards him, nor has he seen a pitch come out of the same handed slot. It’s not as simple as “he’ll just hit righties the same way” which is a point made in this video.
I'm a reverse switch hitter
RvR LvL
Billy Hamilton did it