Shane Victorino has had a conspicuously bogus time in the left-handed batter's box this season. Halfway through 2012, the Flyin' Hawaiian has been limited to a miserable .264 wOBA against right-handers while curiously posting a robust .415 wOBA against southpaws. Should this trend continue into the second half, Victorino's 2012 would rank among the worst platoon splits by a switch-hitter since bat-handedness was recorded. This dramatic disconnect has had some fans wondering why the switch-hitter doesn't just try hitting from his strong side all the time?
Every now and then fans will entertain this notion, yet it never seems to be taken seriously. I remember this same question was asked by beat reporters on the north side of Chicago when Milton Bradley was struggling for the Cubs in 2009. I recall a visibly annoyed Lou Pinella in the press room shrugging off the suggestion as though it was utterly ridiculous. But with Bradley's wOBA against left-handers just .279 that season, I didn't think it was so much of an unreasonable proposition.
Unfortunately, there isn't much precedent for a switch-hitter giving up one side of the plate-- at least not in the major leagues. Undeterred, I queried the retrosheet files to find switch-hitters that had at least 100 PA from both sides of the plate, as well as 100 PA vs same-handed pitchers over the course of their careers.
First | Last | as RHB v RHP PA | as RHB v RHP wOBA* | as LHB v RHP PA | as LHB v RHP wOBA* | Diff vRHP |
Mariano | Duncan | 2364 | .287 | 884 | .246 | .041 |
Tito | Fuentes | 720 | .241 | 3552 | .282 | -.041 |
Sandy | Alomar Sr |
103 | .190 | 3187 | .253 | -.060 |
Jose | Oquendo | 144 | .237 | 2312 | .292 | -.055 |
Chuck | Carr | 231 | .235 | 1090 | .297 | -.063 |
Bob | Meacham | 211 | .312 | 781 | .261 | .051 |
Steve | Jeltz | 207 | .217 | 1261 | .261 | -.043 |
Juan | Bell | 292 | .287 | 339 | .239 | .049 |
Nook | Logan | 169 | .264 | 479 | .256 | .008 |
Luis | Terrero | 171 | .315 | 192 | .277 | -.038 |
Ray | Olmedo | 181 | .255 | 168 | .266 | -.012 |
Bruce | Ruffin | 120 | .078 | 108 | .161 | -.084 |
First | Last | as LHB v LHP PA | as LHB v LHP wOBA | as RHB v LHP PA | as RHB v LHP wOBA | Diff vs LHP |
J.T. | Snow | 685 | .324 | 834 | .264 |
.060 |
Reggie | Jefferson | 164 | .263 | 227 | .274 | -.011 |
Rich | Becker | 192 | .222 | 221 | .220 | .002 |
Orlando | Merced | 733 | .328 | 172 | .245 | .084 |
It's not the most impressive group of ballplayers you'll ever see, for sure. Most of these players seem to represent the iconic replacement level player of their day. A cursory glance of some of their career WAR totals affirms this: Carr 3.7, Jefferson 3.4, Meacham 3.3, Logan 2.7, Bell -0.1, Jeltz -1.1, Terrero -1.0, Olmedo -1.7.
For the most part, the practice of switch-hitting and then un-switch-hitting seems reserved for quad-A lifers, glove-only types, fringe utility-players, or general disappointments of one kind or another that were willing to try anything to keep their careers alive. It's a desperate act, perhaps, reserved only for when your back is against the wall. Consider that Bruce Ruffin made the list and he wasn't even a position player. He simply spent 11 years in the National League as a pitcher.
Mariano Duncan has the largest sample size of the group with at least 800 PA's from both sides of the plate against right-handed pitching. If we take a closer look at his career, we see that there was a deliberate off-season decision made early in his career to end his run as a switch-hitter.
Mariano Duncan
Year | as RHB v RHP PA | as RHB v RHP wOBA | as LHB v RHP PA | as LHB v RHP wOBA |
1985 | 0 | NULL | 433 | .254 |
1986 | 0 | NULL | 261 | .250 |
1987 | 0 | NULL | 190 | .222 |
1989 | 168 | .244 | 0 | NULL |
1990 | 298 | .271 | 0 | NULL |
1991 | 205 | .253 | 0 | NULL |
1992 | 365 | .282 | 0 | NULL |
1993 | 340 | .308 | 0 | NULL |
1994 | 255 | .284 | 0 | NULL |
1995 | 158 | .301 | 0 | NULL |
1996 | 326 | .346 | 0 | NULL |
1997 | 249 | .256 | 0 | NULL |
Duncan opted to cease switch-hitting after being sent down to the minors for the 1988 season. After batting just .233/ .285/ .324 in his first 3 seasons, it appears something needed to change. Duncan returned in 1989 as a strictly right-handed hitter and the decision ultimately seemed to pay off, though not immediately. It took nearly four seasons for Duncan to show substantial improvement against right-handers, but, even then, no one was exactly celebrating his new and improved .282 wOBA vs RHP as a 29 year-old.
J.T Snow, however, saw much more of an immediate improvement as a non-switch-hitter. After just one season, Snow had increased his wOBA against lefties to a respectable league-average rate of .330-- a far cry from the dismal sub-.250 wOBA's he had previously suffered batting from the right side.
J.T. Snow
Year | as LHB v LHP PA | as LHB v LHP wOBA | as RHB v LHP PA | as RHB v LHP wOBA |
1992 | 0 | NULL | 3 | .000 |
1993 | 0 | NULL | 105 | .275 |
1994 | 0 | NULL | 94 | .284 |
1995 | 0 | NULL | 187 | .321 |
1996 | 0 | NULL | 202 | .232 |
1997 | 0 | NULL | 161 | .248 |
1998 | 3 | .413 | 82 | .221 |
1999 | 193 | .291 | 0 | NULL |
2000 | 151 | .330 | 0 | NULL |
2001 | 57 | .350 | 0 | NULL |
2002 | 110 | .371 | 0 | NULL |
2003 | 65 | .314 | 0 | NULL |
2004 | 58 | .352 | 0 | NULL |
2005 | 40 | .248 | 0 | NULL |
2006 | 8 | .405 | 0 | NULL |
Ultimately Snow improved over 60 wOBA points against left-handers for his career, with a peak of .371 in 2002. The switch contributed to a jump in overall production for Snow, seeing his wRC+ of just 100 from 92-98 leap to 109 after 1999. This is noteworthy because J.T. is one of the few players to kick the habit so late into his career. In 1999 Snow was 31, the same age as Victorino is now, when he began strictly batting from the left side. It is also interesting, with Snow being one of the more recent examples, that we can still track down some of the conversation involving all the tactical considerations of making such a dramatic change in one's game.
Tito Fuentes was the only other player to return a decent sample size, but, unlike Duncan and Snow, Tito bravely decided to begin switch-hitting after spending his first few seasons anchored to one side of the plate.
Tito Fuentes
Year | as RHB v RHP PA | as RHB v RHP wOBA | as LHB v RHP PA | as LHB v RHP wOBA |
1965 | 33 | .168 | 0 | NULL |
1966 | 407 | .269 | 0 | NULL |
1967 | 273 | .207 | 0 | NULL |
1969 | 0 | NULL | 155 | .299 |
1970 | 0 | NULL | 382 | .305 |
1971 | 0 | NULL | 513 | .279 |
1972 | 0 | NULL | 456 | .270 |
1973 | 0 | NULL | 507 | .300 |
1974 | 0 | NULL | 310 | .259 |
1975 | 3 | .600 | 421 | .266 |
1976 | 4 | .000 | 386 | .256 |
1977 | 0 | NULL | 391 | .317 |
1978 | 0 | NULL | 31 | .110 |
Of the remaining players of note: Sandy Alomar (the original) experimented with the righty vs righty strategy in his first 3 seasons then committed to using the platoon advantage exclusively. Ultimately this decision paid off in the form of +.060 increase in wOBA, though Alomar never breached .300 in a single season as an LHB.
Jose Oquendo, like Duncan and Fuentes, changed his ways after a demotion the minor leagues in the early days of his career. Oquendo was just 20 years-old when he forfeited switch-hitting. By 22 he had taken it up again and the results the second time around were encouraging. He would even hit for a wOBA as high as .347 from the left side in 1989.
Orlando Merced gave up the right side of the plate as a 26 year-old-- a bit later into his career than the others. His results from that point on vs lefties were impressive compared to his first few seasons, though still no better than league-average at .330.
[*In the interest of timeliness and not burning a hole in my laptop the wOBA numbers in the first table were generated using the original non-season-specific weights used in The Book, all other weights used are specific to the run environment of the season in question].