Switch Hitting Thoughts?

My 14U son's travel coach, a volunteer college coach, told him this fall that any time a RHP came up, he was to hit left. Every time. It is painful to watch as a parent. He was the lead off hitter until this and now he bats third. In one game the coach told my son, after the RHP threw somehting like 9 pitches and my son finally struck out, that he had a successful at bat .... it got the pitch count up. That was frustrating for my son, who of course wants to get on base. When he asked if he could go back to hitting right, the coach said to wait until after the fall. He is continuing to practice hitting both ways this winter. Personally, I think the coach sees potential, and the only way to find out is to switch hit in games consistantly, every time.** My son will try out for the high school JV team this spring as an 8th grader, and he told me he will be batting right. I am not sure he will even bring up that he can hit left.

** In one game this fall, my son started out hitting left, and smack in the middle of an at bat, turned around and started to bat right. The umpire turned around and said "well, that's a first!". Our coach just grinned. My son then snagged a double.

I also would love to know what others do at this age.

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Originally posted by keewart:
My 14U son's travel coach, a volunteer college coach, told him this fall that any time a RHP came up, he was to hit left. Every time.

My business partner (Austin) started to switch hit the summer after his junior year. His HS coach had him commit 100% and Austin says this is the only way to go. The commitment is mental - go in knowing you are going to fail, put in the work that you know you need to put in. His HS coach was on board 100% and had him hit in multiple groups during BP.

Austin went to the University of New Orleans, transfered to UConn and then played independent ball. Being a switch hitter got him a lot more at bats, especially at the higher levels where there are more matchup considerations.

You mentioned your son is left handed with everything except baseball. I'm curious - is he left hand and left leg dominant? For vision, is he left or right eye dominant?

Some folks are weird like me.

Right - throw, hit, kick

Left - eat, shoot, write, brush teeth

Had a scout say you switch hit for two reasons (1) you have power or (2) you have speed.

The differential in many hitters in MLB does not justify the switch.

If the player should switch, then they must commit. Another scout told me they almost always end up with better numbers on the other side.

A side benefit. If you stand around BP you will see your son gets more than anyone else.

Have him commit and not switch back. I saw a 12 year old game where the dad took his son in the middle of the game because the coach would not let him switch. Although I coach, if the dad was clear his son switch hit, the coach should not have had him on the team. This rare time -- I side with the dad, he should have taken him after the game, though.

Yes he is left eye-dominate, shoots a bow and guns left-handed. Kicks and writes left.

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Originally posted by baseballpapa:
Had a scout say you switch hit for two reasons (1) you have power or (2) you have speed.

Now that is interesting, yet complex.

To make it simple to understand, if a LHH learns to see, read and hit LHP, (and specifically the breaking pitches) he does not need to bat RH.

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To make it simple to understand, if a LHH learns to see, read and hit LHP, (and specifically the breaking pitches) he does not need to bat RH.

I can agree with that. I feel the same way for right handed hitters hitting right handers even though they are giving up a step or two toward first base.

I don't believe in robbing Peter to pay Paul.

When I look at the numbers for switch hitters, I usually see a glaring disparity between one side versus the other. Why not teach a kid to hit equally as well no matter the side a pitcher is throwing from?

Mickey Mantle's grandpa apparently was a lefty thrower while his Dad was a righty. Apparently, every night when the young Mantle got home, the elder Mantle and the father would take turns throwing to Mickey thus teaching him how to switch hit from a very early age. How many people have that luxury? Moreover, who knows if Mantle might have even been a greater hitter if he would have focused the pitching he received from his relatives to hone his skills from only one side of the plate?

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Originally posted by baseballpapa:
Had a scout say you switch hit for two reasons (1) you have power or (2) you have speed.

My next question would be why switch hit. I mentioned Austin's story before - he ran a 6.7 sixty, he's 5'10", and he could play INF and OF. He was used as a utility guy in Indy ball as he could play 6 positions, giving guys rest according to pitching matchups.

Understanding your tools, specifically speed and power, can help you determine if making this commitment is worthwhile.

The main reason he really considerd it, was because we were told by the father of our high school catcher, that colleges like switch hitting catchers. Weather that is true or not, I have no clue.

What I do know, is that although he was always a good hitter, after working on switch hitting over the winter, he improved significantly batting right-handed?

I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but my 13 year old is doing the same routine from both sides of the plate this winter. He has no shot to hit left handed, we just wanted to see if it really makes a difference.

Any thoughts?

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Originally posted by NP13:
The main reason he really considerd it, was because we were told by the father of our high school catcher, that colleges like switch hitting catchers. Weather that is true or not, I have no clue.
Any thoughts?

I don't agree with that advice at all. Colleges like the best ballplayers. If one kid who hits from only one side of the plate is the better hitter overall than the switch hitter, guess which one the colleges like? This ain't rocket science imho.

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Originally posted by ClevelandDad:

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Originally posted by NP13:
The main reason he really considerd it, was because we were told by the father of our high school catcher, that colleges like switch hitting catchers. Weather that is true or not, I have no clue.
Any thoughts?

Colleges like the best ballplayers. If one kid who hits from only one side of the plate is the better hitter overall than the switch hitter, guess which one the colleges like?

Agreed - college coaches like players at any position that can swing the bat well. As a catcher, there's a lot of weight with defensive skills. A switch hitting catcher who can't receive, block or throw isn't going to get much opportunity. Then you have Jason Varitek who does almost everything but hit. (The Boston pitchers could hold runners much better to give him more help with throwing out runners.)

If college ball is the goal, what does a catcher need to do offensively to get noticed by college coaches?
- Hitting Ability - Hit for average, have a high OBP
- Power - Extra base hits with wood is more impressive than with metal (better indicator of bat speed)
- Running Speed - there are 3 Molina's catching in the big leagues right now

Of those three tools, plus power will get the most attention. Hitting ability would need to be displayed against top competition, switch hitting or not. If you want to put the work into performing as a switching hitter, jump in with two feet.

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Originally posted by ClevelandDad:

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To make it simple to understand, if a LHH learns to see, read and hit LHP, (and specifically the breaking pitches) he does not need to bat RH.

I can agree with that.

Mickey Mantle's grandpa apparently was a lefty thrower while his Dad was a righty. Apparently, every night when the young Mantle got home, the elder Mantle and the father would take turns throwing to Mickey thus teaching him how to switch hit from a very early age. How many people have that luxury? Moreover, who knows if Mantle might have even been a greater hitter if he would have focused the pitching he received from his relatives to hone his skills from only one side of the plate?

Similar story for Severna Park Maryland MLB player, Mark Teixeira (who has pretty much similar # on each side of the plate....except for the # of AB's.

I guess I remain old school on this.
LHH Catchers who hit, are as rare as LHP.

However, Catchers who receive a shut out, is like getting three hits.

At the high school level, I had my son throw breaking pitches to most switch hitters. This is because most switch to avoid breaking balls going away from them. Since they cannot hit breaking pitches well, we just threw them breaking pitches that went into them to see if they could handle them. They usually couldn't.

Switch hitters will see more fastballs because too many respect them too much.

I feel like I was really blessed in watching one of college baseball's all time great hitters in Gordon Beckham. When he got to GA as a switch hitter (not on any pro scouts radars) Coach Perno insisted he STOP switch hitting and concentrate on the right side of the plate. He went on to do GREAT things at GA and once he settled in with the White Sox this year finished GREAT!!

I didn't know Beckham was a switch hitter going into college. Do you know why Coach Perno had him stop? When he recruited Beckham, the thought of having him hit from only the right side had to be brewing in his head.

He didn't waste any time putting up numbers in college.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com...Gordon-Beckham.shtml

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Gordon Beckham

Refreshing story on Beckham in 2009.
And of course WSox GM Williams saying
Beckham will be playing 2b in 2010, makes it
even more exciting.

Yet, I have not heard why Beckham wears #80.