Ambidextrious pitcher in the Yankees farm system (1 Viewer)

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Link

Not sure if anyone caught SportsCenter tonight, but they showed a clip of him switching glove sides to go right-handed against a righty. But the batter was a switch-hitter, so he went to the other side of the plate. The pitcher switched glove hands again, the batter switched sides, and the umps had to intervene. It was hilarious.

I'm not a Yankee fan by any stretch, but I really hope this kid makes it, and that they let him switch-pitch during games. What a weapon that could be.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Link

Not sure if anyone caught SportsCenter tonight, but they showed a clip of him switching glove sides to go right-handed against a righty. But the batter was a switch-hitter, so he went to the other side of the plate. The pitcher switched glove hands again, the batter switched sides, and the umps had to intervene. It was hilarious.

I'm not a Yankee fan by any stretch, but I really hope this kid makes it, and that they let him switch-pitch during games. What a weapon that could be.

I want to say this kid went to Pepperdine. If it's the same kid, they did a piece on him in SI about 2 years back.ETA - Just looked at the link. It's the same kid I just had the college wrong (Creighton)

 

[MrPhoenix]

I was wondering how long it would take for switch pitching to make it's national debut.

If you work it right, there's no reason other than ineffectiveness that you can't pitch a complete game every game.

 

[dparker713]

From the picture in the article, hus mechanics when pitching lefty look pretty bad. It would seem if the kid does make the majors it'll be as a righty. Maybe once in a blue moon he'd pitch to a batter lefty, though the best use of the switch would be in the middle of an AB and Im pretty sure that isnt allowed.

 

[midwest_kc]

From the picture in the article, hus mechanics when pitching lefty look pretty bad. It would seem if the kid does make the majors it'll be as a righty. Maybe once in a blue moon he'd pitch to a batter lefty, though the best use of the switch would be in the middle of an AB and Im pretty sure that isnt allowed.

Why not?Either way, I'm sad now. That was going be my sons ticket to the majors, though he doesn't know that yet.

 

[dparker713]

From the picture in the article, hus mechanics when pitching lefty look pretty bad. It would seem if the kid does make the majors it'll be as a righty. Maybe once in a blue moon he'd pitch to a batter lefty, though the best use of the switch would be in the middle of an AB and Im pretty sure that isnt allowed.

Why not?Either way, I'm sad now. That was going be my sons ticket to the majors, though he doesn't know that yet.

I dont think a batter or a pitcher can switch sides in the middle of an AB. Not sure on this though.

 

[shadyridr]

From the picture in the article, hus mechanics when pitching lefty look pretty bad. It would seem if the kid does make the majors it'll be as a righty. Maybe once in a blue moon he'd pitch to a batter lefty, though the best use of the switch would be in the middle of an AB and Im pretty sure that isnt allowed.

Why not?Either way, I'm sad now. That was going be my sons ticket to the majors, though he doesn't know that yet.

I dont think a batter or a pitcher can switch sides in the middle of an AB. Not sure on this though.

I think the ump ####ed up. A pitcher has to declare what hand hes pitching with before an at bat.

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

His name is Pat Venditte. He pitched for Creighton.

He absolutely does NOT have to declare which hand he will pitch with prior to every at bat - unless of course a rule is enacted to make that declaration necessary. His glove is designed to accomodate both a left and a right hand fit, so it is not a delay of game issue. I would have to wonder whether the glove would comply to official regulations, though.

 

[shadyridr]

His name is Pat Venditte. He pitched for Creighton.

He absolutely does NOT have to declare which hand he will pitch with prior to every at bat - unless of course a rule is enacted to make that declaration necessary. His glove is designed to accomodate both a left and a right hand fit, so it is not a delay of game issue. I would have to wonder whether the glove would comply to official regulations, though.

From a NY Times article:

A switch-pitcher facing a switch-hitter could make a fine Abbott and Costello routine. Against Nebraska last year, a switch-hitter came to the plate right-handed, prompting Venditte to switch to his right arm, which caused the batter to move to the left-hand batter’s box, with Venditte switching his arm again. Umpires ultimately restored order, applying the rule (the same as that in the majors) that a pitcher must declare which arm he will use before throwing his first pitch and cannot change before the at-bat ends.

 

[ffjunk]

It's been done before. Greg Harris.

 

[awesomeness]

I was wondering how long it would take for switch pitching to make it's national debut.

If you work it right, there's no reason other than ineffectiveness that you can't pitch a complete game every game.

I dont see why that is limited to ambidextrious pitchers.

 

[seatownfavorite]

I would think getting the mechanics down from both sides would be pretty astronomical. If you blew out one arm/shoulder/etc... and devoted enough time to the other arm you might have some success.