switch pitcher

[lamboguy]

http://www.shoonsports.com/switch-hitter-vs-switch-pitcher-pat-venditte/


we live in a crazy world!!


gold going to $1600

[Bettowin]

He pitched for Creighton in college and I saw him throw a couple of times. Amazing he could throw in the upper 80's with each arm and a sharp breaking ball each way. Has to be the hardest thing in all sports to do.

[Bettowin]

The question of who has to commit first came up when I was sitting with a bunch of MLB scouts watching him pitch. They said the rule is that the batter has to get in the batters box and can't change sides during an at bat. The pitcher can do whatever he wants with each pitch.

The announcers on the video and the umpires didn't seem to know the rule or figured it out after some time and made the batter get in the box.

[cj's dad]

I played in an unlimited baseball league a few years back and there was an Af. American guy by the name of "Skip" who threw with either arm. The only oddity was he just did it because, as he explained to me, his arm would tire so he would switch. Also, the umpire would not allow him to carry a second glove on the field, so he just forced the glove onto the other when switching.
No drop in velocity when switching

BTW- he wasn't all that good but still he is the only person I've ever seen that can do this effectively. He was a natural righthander.

[kingfin66]

The question of who has to commit first came up when I was sitting with a bunch of MLB scouts watching him pitch. They said the rule is that the batter has to get in the batters box and can't change sides during an at bat. The pitcher can do whatever he wants with each pitch.

The announcers on the video and the umpires didn't seem to know the rule or figured it out after some time and made the batter get in the box.

The scouts had backwards. The pitcher has to declare. MLB rule book, 8.01 (f).

[Bettowin]

I learned something new today:) Thanks

A pitcher must indicate visually to the umpire-in-chief, the batter and any runners
the hand with which he intends to pitch, which may be done by wearing his glove
on the other hand while touching the pitcher’s plate. The pitcher is not permitted
to pitch with the other hand until the batter is retired, the batter becomes a runner,
the inning ends, the batter is substituted for by a pinch-hitter or the pitcher incurs
an injury. In the event a pitcher switches pitching hands during an at-bat because
he has suffered an injury, the pitcher may not, for the remainder of the game,
pitch with the hand from which he has switched. The pitcher shall not be given
the opportunity to throw any preparatory pitches after switching pitching hands.
Any change of pitching hands must be indicated clearly to the umpire-in-chief.

[schweitz]

A few years back there was a pro golfer who tried to enter a PGA tournament twice by playing one ball right handed and another ball left handed. PGA said no can do.

[Robert Goren]

A few years back there was a pro golfer who tried to enter a PGA tournament twice by playing one ball right handed and another ball left handed. PGA said no can do.I thought years ago there a golf pro who drove right handed, but putted left handed but I can't remember his name.

[Robert Goren]

The player I was trying to think of was Notah Ryan Begay III. He actually putted from both sides. He had a putter that had a putting surface on both sides of the club.

[CBedo]

The player I was trying to think of was Notah Ryan Begay III. He actually putted from both sides. He had a putter that had a putting surface on both sides of the club.I actually played with Notah a number of times in college. He used to putt with an old school bullseye putter and would put either right or left handed, depending on the break. He always wanted a hook putt.

I think he has abandoned that now and puss with an Odyssey Ping Anser style putter.

[Patrick333]

http://www.shoonsports.com/switch-hitter-vs-switch-pitcher-pat-venditte/


we live in a crazy world!!


gold going to $1600Venditte is pitching with the Yankees AA farm club in Trenton. I've seen him a couple of times. He's doing pretty well.

[cj]

I thought years ago there a golf pro who drove right handed, but putted left handed but I can't remember his name.

There have actually been a few of those. There was also a guy that putted right or left, depended on which way the putt would break. obviously you need a neutral handed putter to do this.

You can swing right handed or left handed any time in golf, it is up to you. However, you can only have 14 clubs regardless of which hand they happen to be.

[toussaud]

i am (truely) Ambidextrous, played baseball all the way up utnil I tore my ACL the fall of my senior year. I didn't pitch in high school i played 2nd base, but I pitched in little league / pony league, i could and did pitch with both arms.. i could throw the same pitches with both hands, i had a pretty wicked (just slow) 12/6 curve, fastball, changeup, slider. I could throw a pretty wicked back door breaking ball to be 13 right handed, and when I was throwing good that curve left handed was pretty wicked. was pretty accurate, i could pitch, just didn't have the arm to pitch at a higher level.

i pretty much hit 100% left handed because 1. not many pitchers saw left handed hitters and 2. I was fast and could get a bunt down / get to first easier.

odd, my little brother is the same way, 100% ambidextrous. And my other little brother is a lefty.

[Robert Fischer]

i am (truely) Ambidextrous, played baseball all the way up utnil I tore my ACL the fall of my senior year. I didn't pitch in high school i played 2nd base, but I pitched in little league / pony league, i could and did pitch with both arms.. i could throw the same pitches with both hands, i had a pretty wicked (just slow) 12/6 curve, fastball, changeup, slider. I could throw a pretty wicked back door breaking ball to be 13 right handed, and when I was throwing good that curve left handed was pretty wicked. was pretty accurate, i could pitch, just didn't have the arm to pitch at a higher level.

i pretty much hit 100% left handed because 1. not many pitchers saw left handed hitters and 2. I was fast and could get a bunt down / get to first easier.

odd, my little brother is the same way, 100% ambidextrous. And my other little brother is a lefty.



I could hit good from both sides

but i was NOT a natural with it in terms of comfort.

I knew there were advantages to switch hitting, but I realistically would

not have been as good a switch hitter as a pure righty...

I honestly believed that because I could take (after lots of failure and

tons of work on it) could take a nasty breaking pitch from a right handed

pitcher and smack it to right-center field for a double or homerun. I

believed that because I hit for power to the opposite field it offset everything .

I do remember one time as a nervous kid on an amatuer athletic team

where I had been going through a slump (primarily with sharp breaking balls from right -handers )
And coach - I don't know if he saw me before or what - he says "Jason hit lefty here for a minute" being nervous .. i didn't protest or even think about it, and after I crashed a few to right center field... he says to me "I WANT U TO BAT LEFTY FROM NOW ON" :confused: :blush:


babbling baseball bring back belmont!


he seemed DEAD-PAN serious ... I tried to laugh it off, but he was either busting balls or maybe he [i]was serious... batting lefty was a foreign language!!! I only knew how to bat lefty because it was only few feet in a semi circle away from a guy who knows how to bat named Mr. Righty :rolleyes:
I have no idea but it had me scared... That night I didn't say anything ... batted right handed and had the best hit ball i ever hit with that team :D



babbling baseball bring back belmont!


ANYWHO

LEFTYZ HAVE IT EZ!!!!!!!!11111111


GROUND BALLS- quietly? biggest advantage -easy to execute
SHORT PORCH- Otherwise leftys would hit grounderz all day!
EASIER PITCHERZ - most Pz r right-eez ... and there a some LHP(1trickPony) specialists who are journeyman or have arm trouble
2step Head start - this doesn't make a big deal unless you have speed and if you have elite speed, it's kinda useful
do leftys REALLY need MOAR????????????? C'MON BRO!
yea so thats something that REALLY jumps out looking at the game as a coach. Leftys have such a big advantatage... it's crazy , but a if ALL of the things fit as well as possible(EXTREMELY RARE ... hitting..speed...etc), a lefty can have a 40pt batting average advantage in the Majors and exponential improvement ins some areas






babbling baseball bring back belmont!




and a RANDOM topic that i can't help but think of (related only in the same - coach's perspective... crazy advantage would have done differently now thing )
DEAD PULL HITTING is a big advantage in MOST SITUATIONS.
i WAS always against the grain... I wanted to hit nasty breaking balls the other way instead of switch hit... I ADMIRED the opposite field homerun and thought it was some proof of manhood(my farthest homerun was a pitch that I swung EARLY on and happened to crush HIGH down the left field line) -but my proudest homeruns were line drives to right center. I always had the idea that pull hitting was less impressive... that hitting to ALL FIELDS was "real" hittin. I wouldn't even hit to the exact field it was pitched insomuch as I would just smack it centerfield-ish and I figured that my goal was hard as possible between the foul lines...

But now in hindsight - while it's great to develop that skill - and I believe that even a DEAD PULL hitter would do themselves well to develop that ability be it my smack em' idea, or the more classical "go with the pitch" theory. Just "develop it" to improve your vision at the plate, timing confidence, being able to do something with the ball if you're a touch late and hit the ball at different DEPTH in the contact zone. - Much like a football player or weightlifter will work the "FULL RANGE OF MOTION" 0 in there case it's more to round-out the muscle size that can add to the complete development not found in just their go-to moves...
But LIKE A LEFTY a DEAD PULL hitter has a TON of ADVANTAGES AS WELL

muscle memory = they can specialize in hitting the ball at primarily just one DEPTH - this may be S.tandard O.perating P.rocedure for some hitters, but for a hitter who uses all fields... to make an extreme example - its something like a golfer with different shots... a 3pt shooter or free throw shooter who uses a VARIETY of different release points ... or a Golfer with different shots.... THIS may be exaggerating - but it helps to have a "grooved" "repeatable" motion
for young players = JACKING a few long fly balls down the line for a pulled homerun on occasion is wayy more valuable for a young-buck than hitting .400 with line drives to all fields ... even if those handful of BACKBECKBECKBACKGONNNN!!! jobs are part of a lousy batting average and a bunch of strikeouts, and the .400 hitting guy is lining breaking balls to the opposite fields and drawing lots of walks... ---- SEEMS KINDA WIERD but then again it makes sense too! Young players are better off specializing with 100% emphasis on their talent if they can at first.
babbling baseball bring back belmont!









This pitcher /video is AMAZING
This kid is obviously very skilled. I could see a bigger guy eventually catching on in the majors with something similar. Probably a big right hand pitcher..., who hits low-mid 90s with his natural smooth fastball (and mid-upper when he throws hard). Couldn't tell that well, but this guy Venditte didn't strike me as a big horse.

Then on a few left handers per game(when the Left hander batters has matchup issues) he goes to exploit it.
The next evolutionary step from there would be switching to the OFF-HAND against weaker hitters and certain situational times - the purpose for this stuff would be to extend the starting pitcher's ability to go deeper into games



we need belmont back... im babbling baseball :bang: ;)