When switch hitting becomes a detriment

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.

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

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

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.