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Currently there are 66 major league players listed as switch hitters on active 40-man rosters. Of those 66, only 31 players accumulated 300 total plate appearances. Some players show a distinct preference for one side, even to the point where they may decide to forgo switch hitting.
A player's platoon splits can be measured against his own OPS+ by using tOPS+, or against the league OPS+ represented by sOPS+. Sometimes gaining a platoon advantage is not really gaining an advantage at all if the player can hit better from the same side as the handedness of the pitcher.
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Partway through the 2013 regular season, Shane Victorino gave up switch hitting and exclusively batted right handed regardless of the opposing pitcher. With a slower bat speed and continued futility hitting from the left side of the dish, he chose to concentrate on hitting right handed pitching and garnered positive results in a limited sample. His 2012 numbers from the left hand side clearly demonstrate it would be worth considering a change and forgoing the perceived platoon advantage. The further away from 0 the tOPS+ and sOPS+, the larger the discrepancy between both sides of the plate. It's clear to see that when compared to his own OPS+, and to the league OPS+ stats, Victorino was not an effective left-handed hitter.
Player | PA | LH Avg | LH OBP | LH SLG | LH tOPS+ | LH sOPS+ | RH AVG | RH OBP | RH SLG | RH tOPS+ | RH sOPS+ | tOPS+ Delta | sOPS+ Delta |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shane Victorino 2012 | 658 | .229 | .296 | .333 | 79 | 69 | .323 | .388 | .518 | 156 | 140 | 77 | 71 |
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Similar to Victorino, Pablo Sandoval has been struggling from one side of the plate, but unlike the Flyin' Hawaiian, Sandoval has chosen not to give up switch hitting. On Saturday night, Panda came up in two big spots against Royals southpaws Danny Duffy and Brandon Finnegan. Both times he mashed singles batting right handed. In his latter plate appearance in the sixth inning, his RBI single broke the game open for the Giants. Despite his success on baseball's biggest stage, Sandoval would be a prime candidate to give up batting from both sides of the plate. From the right hand side, he has hit 48% worse than his total numbers and 46% worse than the league.
Sandoval is not the only switch hitter who bats poorly from the right side of the plate. Despite hitting 31% over league average from the left-hand side, Neil Walker is about league average from the right-hand side, but 17% lower compared to his own OPS+.
It is also easy to see why Daniel Nava plays against only righty starters despite being listed as a switch hitter. His 13 tOPS+ and 11 sOPS+ as a right handed hitter are miserable.
Switch Hitters with a preference for batting left handed
Player | PA | LH Avg | LH OBP | LH SLG | LH tOPS+ | LH sOPS+ | RH AVG | RH OBP | RH SLG | RH tOPS+ | RH sOPS+ | tOPS+ Delta | sOPS+ Delta |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Neil Walker | 557 | .269 | .339 | .491 | 104 | 131 | .280 | .353 | .374 | 83 | 101 | 21 | 30 |
Pablo Sandoval | 627 | .317 | .363 | .461 | 123 | 131 | .199 | .244 | .319 | 52 | 54 | 71 | 77 |
Yasmani Grandal | 443 | .241 | .329 | .452 | 113 | 118 | .162 | .323 | .189 | 46 | 46 | 67 | 72 |
Carlos Beltran | 449 | .254 | .331 | .446 | 121 | 117 | .196 | .242 | .322 | 60 | 54 | 61 | 63 |
Daniel Nava | 408 | .293 | .372 | .397 | 118 | 117 | .159 | .209 | .190 | 13 | 11 | 105 | 106 |
Coco Crisp | 529 | .259 | .362 | .372 | 110 | 108 | .227 | .287 | .353 | 83 | 75 | 27 | 33 |
Erick Aybar | 642 | .289 | .335 | .392 | 108 | 104 | .248 | .281 | .342 | 78 | 71 | 30 | 33 |
Jed Lowrie | 553 | .261 | .340 | .374 | 111 | 101 | .228 | 281 | .317 | 77 | 65 | 34 | 36 |
Jarrod Saltalamacchia | 435 | .221 | .333 | .272 | 107 | 99 | .216 | .271 | .330 | 76 | 65 | 31 | 34 |
Robbie Grossman | 422 | .239 | .350 | .353 | 110 | 99 | .216 | .293 | .273 | 69 | 57 | 41 | 42 |
Nick Swisher | 401 | .224 | .279 | .378 | 115 | 83 | .168 | .274 | .208 | 61 | 36 | 54 | 47 |
Alberto Callaspo | 451 | .239 | .306 | .315 | 114 | 76 | .196 | .268 | .250 | 79 | 44 | 35 | 32 |
Conversely, there are a number of players who perhaps should give up switch hitting to concentrate on improving from the right hand side of the plate. Emilio Bonifacio excels as a right handed hitter, posting a 194 tOPS+ and 162 sOPS+. Similar to Sandoval but with the opposite handedness preference, Bonifacio's 66 tOPS+ and 52 sOPS+ from the left hand side make one wonder if he should not just bat right handed against all pitchers. Would he really be 48% worse than the rest of the league if he were to give up his platoon advantage?
Danny Espinosa, Arismendy Alcantara, and Eduardo Escobar face similar challenges in not being able to hit well from the left side of the dish.
Victor Martinez shows a preference for batting right-handed but is strong enough from both sides that it would not make sense for him to make an adjustment.
Player | PA | LH Avg | LH OBP | LH SLG | LH tOPS+ | LH sOPS+ | RH AVG | RH OBP | RH SLG | RH tOPS+ | RH sOPS+ | tOPS+ Delta | sOPS+ Delta |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Emilio Bonifacio | 426 | .221 | .266 | .272 | 66 | 52 | .365 | .411 | .548 | 194 | 162 | 128 | 110 |
Danny Espinosa | 351 | .183 | .241 | .291 | 68 | 49 | .301 | .374 | .485 | 170 | 135 | 102 | 86 |
Arismendy Alcantara | 300 | .190 | .215 | .350 | 80 | 56 | .244 | .344 | .410 | 147 | 107 | 67 | 51 |
Eduardo Escobar | 465 | .252 | .296 | .358 | 82 | 84 | .328 | .358 | .519 | 142 | 138 | 60 | 54 |
Ben Zobrist | 648 | .247 | .338 | .364 | 88 | 98 | .340 | .399 | .703 | 133 | 140 | 45 | 42 |
Dexter Fowler | 500 | .260 | .361 | .376 | 90 | 108 | .327 | .419 | .467 | 129 | 144 | 39 | 36 |
Victor Martinez | 631 | .323 | .402 | .522 | 91 | 158 | .371 | .430 | .522 | 128 | 203 | 37 | 45 |
Everth Cabrera | 377 | .226 | .266 | .285 | 93 | 56 | .253 | .292 | .349 | 124 | 76 | 31 | 20 |
Carlos Santana | 660 | .212 | .351 | .407 | 92 | 113 | .271 | .351 | .407 | 118 | 137 | 26 | 24 |
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This is not meant to imply there is no value in switch hitting. Hitter versatility makes it easier for managers to prepare a lineup without compromising later innings when the opposition calls for a specialist. Players including Chase Headley, Billy Hamilton, Dioner Navarro, and Asdrubal Cabrera switch hit consistently from both sides and are closely aligned to their own OPS+ regardless of the platoon side. While Hamilton and Cabrera do not knock the cover off the ball from either side, if they gave up the platoon advantage, it would certainly be detrimental to them.
A negative number indicates more success from the right hand side, and a positive number indicates a lefty preference.
Neutral Switch Hitters
Player | PA | LH Avg | LH OBP | LH SLG | LH tOPS+ | LH sOPS+ | RH AVG | RH OBP | RH SLG | RH tOPS+ | RH sOPS+ | tOPS+ Delta | sOPS+ Delta |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chase Headley | 526 | .240 | .320 | .370 | 97 | 94 | .248 | .341 | .380 | 106 | 99 | -9 | -5 |
Billy Hamilton | 611 | .246 | .291 | .350 | 98 | 80 | .264 | .297 | .371 | 106 | 83 | -8 | -3 |
Dioner Navarro | 520 | .272 | .315 | .393 | 99 | 98 | .280 | .324 | .402 | 104 | 99 | -5 | -1 |
Asdrubal Cabrera | 602 | .236 | .316 | .381 | 101 | 96 | .250 | .288 | .401 | 97 | 87 | 4 | 9 |
Jose Reyes | 655 | .289 | .327 | .404 | 101 | 105 | .281 | .326 | .383 | 96 | 95 | 5 | 10 |
Mark Teixera | 502 | .213 | .304 | .413 | 101 | 100 | .220 | .333 | .358 | 96 | 91 | 5 | 9 |
Melky Cabrera | 621 | .310 | .355 | .462 | 102 | 128 | .276 | .337 | .447 | 94 | 114 | 8 | 14 |
Danny Santana | 424 | .326 | .359 | .482 | 104 | 135 | .301 | .338 | .447 | 90 | 114 | 14 | 21 |
Jimmy Rollins | 602 | .246 | .326 | .407 | 104 | 105 | .237 | .318 | .362 | 90 | 87 | 14 | 18 |
While this data set only includes one year's worth of plate appearances, there are red flags for players who are well below league average in OPS+ even when they seemingly have the platoon advantage. If a stabilization point is reached, and the numbers do not improve, a player may increase production batting from only one side of the plate.
Whether it is a player's ego, or part of the routine, it is rare that a player abandons switch hitting. Shane Victorino is more the exception than the rule. In last year's American League Championship Series, he hit from only the right-hand side, and ended up belting a series clinching grand slam off Tigers righty reliever Jose Veras. Perhaps some of today's switch hitters should take note.
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All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference
Steven Martano is a contributing writer at Beyond the Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @SMartano.