Major League Baseball

Switch-hitting in 2022: A modern revival or baseball's dying art?

Published May. 9, 2022 4:49 p.m. ET

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

Switch-hitting is sexy.

There’s just something about seeing the term "switch-hitter" in a scouting report that makes a player’s profile all the more enticing. It’s not just about maintaining a permanent platoon advantage or affording a team greater roster flexibility; it’s also the remarkable coordination required to do one of the hardest things in sports — hitting a baseball — using both sides of your body.

Granted, it’s obviously not as difficult or as rare as switch-pitching (shout-out to Pat Venditte and Jurrangelo Cijntje), but switch-hitting is still an underappreciated feat of physical dexterity, particularly when done successfully at the highest level of the sport. After all, we regular people have all tried to do things with our weaker side, and it almost always feels awkward, goofy and uncomfortable.

But the best athletes in the world are just that for a reason, and switch-hitting is one of the many unbelievable displays of physical aptitude that we have come to accept as standard practice in the game we love.

Switch-hitting is almost as old as baseball itself. The first switch-hitter was Bob Ferguson, who played for the New York Mutuals in 1871, which is largely considered to be the first year of organized professional baseball. Somewhat amusingly, though, Ferguson switch-hit not for platoon purposes but depending on the game situation and how he felt in the moment.

Still, he was the first to utilize the strategy for any reason. Historians suggest that switch-hitting did not catch on quickly at the time, in part because no one wanted to emulate Ferguson, who wasn’t particularly well-liked.

Even so, it didn’t take long before teams started to understand the value of facing opposite-handed pitching, and more players began to give switch-hitting a shot. By the turn of the century, about 10% of the league’s qualified hitters were batting both ways.

Over the next half-century, switch-hitting’s popularity fluctuated. Stars of the switch-hitting variety came and went, including Hall of Famers Max Carey, Dave Bancroft, Frankie Frisch and Red Schoendienst. In the Negro Leagues, legendary speedster Cool Papa Bell and iconic catcher Biz Mackey were switch-hitting stars in their own right.

By the late 1940s, the number of established switch-hitters in baseball had dwindled considerably.

Then, in 1951, a 19-year-old from Oklahoma named Mickey Mantle debuted for the New York Yankees. That season, only three switch-hitters qualified for the batting title — or 4% of all qualified hitters — which tied for the lowest total in 70 years. But Mantle took over the league in startling fashion, destroying pitchers from both sides of the plate unlike any other hitter the game had ever seen. By the time The Mick retired in 1968, switch-hitting was, unsurprisingly, back on the upswing.

The next generation brought Hall of Fame catcher Ted Simmons and the Hit King himself, Pete Rose. Next came Eddie Murray’s 504 home runs — 362 from the left side, 142 from the right. And while known more for his otherworldly defense, Ozzie Smith benefited significantly from switch-hitting en route to 2,460 career big-league hits.

In fact, from 1985 to ‘87, the St. Louis Cardinals had five switch-hitters regularly penciled into their lineup, the most of any team in MLB history: Smith, Vince Coleman, Tom Herr, Willie McGee and Terry Pendleton. Two other Cooperstown-bound players, Tim Raines and Roberto Alomar, also starred during that time. By the end of the ’80s, switch-hitters accounted for nearly a quarter of qualified hitters across MLB.

Then Bernie Williams, Lance Berkman, Carlos Beltran and Chipper Jones carried the art of switch-hitting into the 21st century. Mark Teixeira and Jimmy Rollins continued to show that switch-hitters could come in all styles, shapes and sizes. José Ramírez has become the gold standard among today’s switch-hitters.

OK, thanks for following my brief history lesson. Why, you might ask, did I want to write about switch-hitting in the first place?

Well, switch-hitting might be at a turning point this century. It seemingly plateaued in 2008, when 9% of qualified hitters switch hit, before peaking at 18% in 2018 and then dropping back down to 13% in 2021, which is about the rate we've seen so far in 2022 (12.5%). More importantly, though, 2021 brought the breakouts of two players who represent very different possibilities for the future of switch-hitting: Baltimore Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins and Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco.

Before the 2021 season, Mullins decided to give up switch-hitting and bat only from his natural left side. All through the minors and in the early stages of his big-league career, Mullins posted far better numbers batting left-handed.

This isn’t all that uncommon. Switch-hitters often have a preferred side, but having the permanent platoon advantage is worth the relative struggle from one side — and it still beats having to face same-handed pitching. So to give up switch-hitting in favor of facing same-handed pitching for the first time in years at the highest level of the sport? That’s bold.

Well, the gamble paid off in epic fashion. Mullins made his first All-Star Game and was a beacon of light in an otherwise dark season for Baltimore. Most remarkably, while facing southpaws from the same side for the first time in years, Mullins acquitted himself quite nicely. His .788 OPS against left-handed pitchers was 15th among left-handed hitters (minimum 100 plate appearances) and a better mark than those of traditional lefty sluggers such as Freddie Freeman, Rafael Devers and Joey Votto.

Like many hitters across MLB, Mullins is off to a relatively slow start in 2022, at least by the sky-high standards he set last year. His .762 OPS isn't quite as gaudy as last year's .878, but when you realize it’s good for a 125 OPS+ (comfortably above league average), you realize his start hasn’t been all that disappointing after all.

Mullins’ ambitious decision — and subsequent breakout — got me thinking: Could we start to see other switch-hitters in today’s game ditch their weaker side in hopes of greater overall success?

There’s no shortage of switch-hitters with markedly extreme splits who could hypothetically benefit from this move. Ozzie Albies, Ketel Marte and Dylan Carlson are spectacular right-handed hitters but merely OK from the left side. Others, such as Ian Happ and Yoán Moncada, are solid left-handed but struggle to match that production from the right side. Nearly all of those players are around the same age as or younger than Mullins, so you’d think it's not too late for them to also try to fully lean in to their stronger side.

That said, it's unfair to suggest that a switch-hitter should give up the practice based solely on his splits. It's easy to point to how well it worked out for Mullins, but that's hardly a solution with much precedent. Only a handful of switch-hitters have ever given up swinging both ways in the middle of their careers, and none of them saw immediate positive results to the degree Mullins did.

Still, I’m curious to see if Mullins’ gambit inspires other players to give it a shot — and if we start to see fewer switch-hitters as a result.

On the other hand, the incredible debut of Rays rookie Franco last season suggests that we might be entering a new golden age of switch-hitting. Franco, the nephew of 12-year MLB veteran (and switch-hitter, of course) Erick Aybar, had been hyped practically since he was a kid, and his arrival at the big-league level did not disappoint. He finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting, despite playing only 70 games, and then signed a monumental, $182 million extension before turning 21.

So far this season, Franco hasn’t seemed to have gotten the memo that hitting is supposed to be extra difficult in 2022 — especially if you’re somehow still the youngest player in the league. Instead, he has been absolutely raking from both sides of the plate and has been one of the most productive switch-hitters in baseball, alongside Ramirez, Happ, Francisco Lindor, Josh Bell and Tommy Edman.

And there are many more switch-hitters on the way. Since Franco received a $3.8 million signing bonus as the top player in the 2017 international class, several other switch-hitters have signed for huge bonuses as well.

As a matter of fact, the two highest bonuses in the 2019 class — both more than $5 million — went to switch-hitters, Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez and Athletics shortstop Robert Puason. Dominguez in particular has taken the prospect (and trading card) world by storm.

What's more, two of the top players in this year’s international signing class — Washington Nationals outfielder Cristian Vaquero ($4.9 million signing bonus) and Yankees shortstop Roderick Arias ($4 million signing bonus) — are switch-hitters, with Vaquero becoming a switch-hitter only recently, after primarily working out for teams using his left-handed swing.

The class after that? It includes another switch-hitting shortstop in Felnin Celesten, who is expected to sign with the Mariners.

On the domestic side, the 2022 MLB Draft is also littered with switch-hitters. Two of the best college hitters bat from both sides: Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee and LSU outfielder Jacob Berry. Lee could be in the mix to go No. 1 overall to the Orioles. Among prep position players, infielder Tucker Toman out of Hammond High School in South Carolina is another switch-hitter who could go in the first round in July. (Interestingly, Arizona catcher Daniel Susac, who is also in the elite tier of college bats, arrived on campus as a switch-hitter but has recently focused on hitting right-handed. Maybe that’s a point in the Mullins category?)

Finally, and not to be forgotten, the top prospect in baseball entering the 2022 season was Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman, a switch-hitting catcher with elite offensive potential who was the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft. His MLB debut should be coming soon.

As I said, there are plenty more switch-hitters on the way.

So what’s it going to be? Will Franco’s ascension reinvigorate the art of switch-hitting like Mantle did 70 years ago? Or will Mullins’ choice to go to his stronger side convince others that maybe switch-hitting isn’t the way to go?

I sure hope it’s the former, and switch-hitting experiences a revival rather than becoming a lost art.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.