Baseball - Switch Hitter vs. Switch Pitcher

[Bob Moyer]

http://www.bugsandcranks.com/the-clubhouse/switch-hitter-vs-switch-pitcher/

[Mike Cutler]

Interesting.

Don't know the rules for MLB, but when I played ball a zillion years ago, your first at bat determined which side of the plate you stood on for the remainder of the game. You definitely couldn't change sides of the plate in the middle of an at bat.
I can't remember ever seeing a switch hitter change sides of the plate in the middle of an at bat, or a game in MLB. Could happen I guess.

I've known guys that could throw with either hand, but there was always a more dominant hand for pitching. To be able to use either hand effectively as a pitcher would be amazing.

[Bob Moyer]

Interesting.

Don't know the rules for MLB, but when I played ball a zillion years ago, your first at bat determined which side of the plate you stood on for the remainder of the game. You definitely couldn't change sides of the plate in the middle of an at bat.
I can't remember ever seeing a switch hitter change sides of the plate in the middle of an at bat, or a game in MLB. Could happen I guess.

I've known guys that could throw with either hand, but there was always a more dominant hand for pitching. To be able to use either hand effectively as a pitcher would be amazing.

On another forum, it was posted that the batter can not change; a rule supposedly instituted because of Pete Rose.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I believe this means a batter cannot change in the middle of an at-bat. they certainly can change from one at-bat to the next.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

From wiki answers :


Yes, the player may surely switch sides; he may do so as long as the pitcher is not in the "ready position" (see rule 6.05),and, shall be called out if the batter attempts to switch sides during the pitcher's windup.(Incidentally, there has always been a popular myth in the baseball culture that a batter can only switch sides before there are two strikes. This is just a false statement). Read your baseball rulebook!
Answer


A batter may switch sides during an at bat, But may only do so once. He cannot change multiple times during the same at bat. Once he switches sides he must remain there for the remainder of the at bat.
Answer


Yes, he can. It usually happens when the opposing team changes pitchers. Generally, left-handed hitters hit better against right-handed pitchers (and vice versa), so if a switch hitter is batting left-handed against a right-handed pitcher, and the other team changes to a lefty in the middle of the at-bat, the switch hitter will usually move to the right side of the plate to counter this. He can only do this once per at-bat, but since the opposing team can't change pitchers again until the at-bat is through, there wouldn't really be any need for him to change again anyway.
Answer

There is no rule in the MLB rule book that states how many times a batter can switch sides during an at bat. However, once the pitcher steps on the rubber, whatever side the batter is on is the side he must bat from for that pitch.

[Chris Padilla]

I saw this played out several times on ESPN...very interesting! At least in that game, it seemed the batter could switch sides of the plate as often as he wished. He struck out on a big curve ball anyway. :)

I've always thought that a batter can switch sides as much as they wanted to provided the pitcher hasn't already started his wind-up...or stepped on the rubber.

It might be interesting strategy to switch sides after every pitch...perhaps befuddling the pitcher a bit...but I think it would befuddle the batter as well.

I say: "Pick a side and sitck with it!!" ;)

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I believe that's right - he can go where he wants until the pitcher is 'set'.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/batter_6.jsp