Switch pitcher

Pat Venditte pitching right-handed for the Staten Island Yankees in 2008 and left-handed for the Oakland Athletics in 2015

In baseball, a switch-pitcher is an ambidextrous pitcher who is able to pitch with either the right or left hand from the pitcher's mound.

History

Professional baseball

19th century

Tony Mullane

Four 19th-century pitchers are known to have thrown with both hands:

• Tony Mullane, whose major-league career spanned 1881–1894; listed as both as switch pitcher and switch hitter.
• Larry Corcoran, whose major-league career spanned 1880–1887; listed as a right-handed pitcher and switch hitter, but pitched four innings alternating between his right arm and left arm on June 16, 1884, due to injury.
• Elton "Ice Box" Chamberlain, whose major-league career spanned 1886–1896; listed as a right-handed pitcher and right-handed batter, but pitched four innings left-handed in a minor-league game on May 9, 1888.
• George Wheeler, whose major-league career spanned 1896–1899; listed as both as switch pitcher and switch hitter, he "threw left-handed a handful of times".

20th century

Greg A. Harris

No pitcher in the American League or National League is known to have switch pitched in a game in the 20th century until Greg A. Harris of the Montreal Expos did so in 1995.

A 1940 newspaper article noted that Jimmy Brown, who played in the major leagues between 1937 and 1946, primarily for the St. Louis Cardinals, said that he learned to throw with either arm at a young age after breaking his right arm and was a switch pitcher during high school. Brown played exclusively as an infielder during his major-league career.

Larry Kimbrough pitched in Negro league baseball from 1942 to 1948. He was naturally left-handed, but he learned to throw right-handed as a child while recovering from an injury. He said, "I could throw them as hard left-handed as I could right-handed, with a better curveball left-handed." Independent accounts verifying that Kimbrough operated as a switch pitcher during his baseball career are lacking, but Kimbrough claimed that he earned a complete game victory in 1943 pitching from both sides.

A 1944 newspaper article noted that Cal McLish, then a right-handed rookie pitcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers, could throw with either arm, but there is no record of McLish ever doing so in a major-league game. McLish claimed to have thrown one pitch left-handed during a game in Venezuela.

Ulysses Greene pitched for the independent Indianapolis Clowns from 1958 until at least 1961, throwing with both hands. The Clowns were a barnstorming team with comedic acts, which included Greene performing a jitterbug dance routine. Clowns owner Syd Pollock stated that MLB teams were interested in signing Greene in 1960, though Greene never played in affiliated baseball.

Right-handed pitcher Jorge Rubio, who pitched for the California Angels in 1966 and 1967, claimed that he had experimented as a switch pitcher in high school and could throw with "the same speed left-handed" but with less control. Following the 1967 season, he pitched some games left-handed in winter league baseball to rest his right arm and continued doing so into spring training.

Harris, a natural right-hander, said in 1986 that he was capable of pitching with either arm in a game. He did not throw left-handed in a regular season game until September 28, 1995, the penultimate game of his career. Pitching for the Montreal Expos against the Cincinnati Reds in the ninth inning, Harris retired Reggie Sanders pitching right-handed, then switched to his left hand for the next two left-handed batters, Hal Morris and Eddie Taubensee. Harris walked Morris but got Taubensee to ground out. Harris then went back to his right hand to retire Bret Boone with another groundout to end the inning.

21st century

Pat Venditte pitched with both arms in the major leagues from 2015 to 2020. Venditte was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2008 and pitched for six different MLB teams as a reliever, appearing in 61 games with a 4.73 earned run average (ERA).

Anthony Seigler, drafted 23rd overall by the Yankees in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft, was both a switch pitcher and switch hitter in high school. He chose to play professionally as a position player and, as of 2024, is still active in the Yankees farm system. As a catcher, Seigler throws with his right hand, but in the outfield, he throws with his left hand.

Dutch-born switch pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft and signed with the Mariners. Both Cijntje and the Mariners stated at the time of his signing that he would continue to switch pitch in professional baseball.

College baseball

Newspaper articles in 1947 noted that freshman Roy Gibbons of the Texas A&M Aggies was a switch pitcher. Gibbons was later ruled ineligible as a college player, because he had played in a professional minor league. Baseball-Reference indicates Gibbons played for the Tucson Cowboys, but detail is lacking. There is no record of Gibbons pitching ambidextrously for Tucson.

Brandon Berdoll switch pitched while playing for Temple Junior College in Texas. He could throw fastballs between 85 and 90 miles per hour (137 and 145 km/h), as well as curveballs, with each arm. Atlanta drafted Berdoll in the 27th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft, but he never played professionally. He gave up baseball due to injuries and went on to operate a sawmill.

Matt Brunnig was a switch pitcher for the Harvard Crimson baseball team, debuting as a freshman in 2003. He could throw faster than 85 miles per hour (137 km/h) left-handed and faster than 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) right-handed. Brunnig only pitched with both arms in the same game a few times. He pitched more from the right side as a starter and pitched some relief as a lefty, although he did start one game left-handed. When playing in the outfield between pitching appearances, he would typically throw with the other arm to rest the arm he just pitched with. He only pitched right-handed as a senior in 2006.

The aforementioned Pat Venditte pitched for the Creighton Bluejays baseball team, only pitching right-handed during his freshman season of 2005. He then began switch pitching during his sophomore season of 2006.

Ryan Perez of Judson University made national headlines in 2014 playing collegiate summer baseball with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Perez won the league's all-star game MVP award after a dominating performance pitching from both sides. Perez was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 12th round of the 2015 MLB draft and played professionally in the New York–Penn League in 2015 and 2016, then in the Mexican League in 2018, apparently pitching only left-handed.

The aforementioned Jurrangelo Cijntje pitched for the Mississippi State Bulldogs in 2023 and 2024, pitching with both his right and left hands. In 2024, he was selected as a second-team All American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Perfect Game. Before college, he was also a switch pitcher and switch hitter in high school in Florida and for Curaçao in the 2016 Little League World Series.

Training methods

Switch pitchers are commonly taught to throw ambidextrously at a young age. For instance, Venditte's father trained him in ambidextrous throwing from the age of three, Brunnig's father taught him from age five, Berdoll started practicing throwing with both arms at age 10, and Cijntje began training when he was six years old.

Mizuno makes a special six-fingered glove for switch pitchers. Harris used one in his 1995 game, and the company made gloves for Venditte from the age of seven.

MLB right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish throws with his left hand when training to keep both arms strong and balanced, but he has not pitched left-handed in a game.

Switch pitchers and switch hitters

There have been several instances of switch pitchers pitching to switch hitters, which can result in delay or confusion as both players may try to gain an advantage. Hitters traditionally feel they have an advantage by batting from the opposite side of the plate from the pitcher's throwing arm (e.g. batting left-handed when facing a right-handed pitcher), and pitchers traditionally feel they have an advantage by throwing with the same arm as the batter hits from (e.g. throwing right-handed to a right-handed batter).

In a minor-league game in the Western Association on July 23, 1928, shortstop Paul Richards was called in to pitch for the Muskogee Chiefs against the Topeka Jayhawks. Richards pitched both right-handed and left-handed, including facing a switch hitter. This briefly resulted in the pitcher and batter switching hands and batter's boxes, respectively, several times until Richards broke the stalemate by alternating hands with each pitch, regardless of where the batter positioned himself. The batter walked.

In 2008, Venditte, pitching for the Staten Island Yankees, faced switch hitter Ralph Henriquez of the Brooklyn Cyclones. When Venditte switched his modified glove to his left hand in order to pitch right-handed, Henriquez switched to batting left-handed. A series of changes continued for several minutes, until the umpires and managers conferred and decided to allow only one change of side by each player during the at bat. Henriquez struck out, batting right-handed as Venditte pitched as a righty. This incident prompted the Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation (PBUC) to issue a new rule about switch-pitching, which MLB later adopted. Switch pitchers must indicate which hand they will use to pitch, "by wearing his glove on his non-throwing hand and placing his foot on the pitching rubber." The pitcher must continue using this hand for the duration of the at bat, with exceptions allowed in the event of injury or the use of a pinch hitter. After the pitcher makes his choice, the batter can then select which side of the plate to bat from. This rule is colloquially known as the "Pat Venditte Rule."

See also

• Mikey Gow, a gridiron football quarterback who can throw the ball with either arm