Barnhart-batting only left-handed

[foster15]

Maybe this was discussed last year when he quit switch-hitting, if so, I missed it.

But watching the Cubs broadcast last night, they brought it up and that was when I was first aware of it.

They brought up a great point that I never thought of. That is that maintaining two batting styles can weaken both. I always thought that Billy Hamilton should've just picked a side and gone with it, most likely left. It just seems to me that if you are a poor hitter from both sides of the plate, you should only concentrate on one side of the plate. Trying to improve your hitting, when you're a weak hitter to begin with must be double the difficulty when you're doing so as a switch hitter.

Anyway, my question is this. Does anyone out there have examples of any other major league hitter that tried switch hitting for a significant period of time and then chose only one side of the plate to hit from? And was there significant improvement from the side they chose, and was there improvement when they faced pitchers throwing with the same side that they are hitting from? Or is it 50-50 as far as some improve while others don't or get worse?

[dougdirt]

Maybe this was discussed last year when he quit switch-hitting, if so, I missed it.

But watching the Cubs broadcast last night, they brought it up and that was when I was first aware of it.

They brought up a great point that I never thought of. That is that maintaining two batting styles can weaken both. I always thought that Billy Hamilton should've just picked a side and gone with it, most likely left. It just seems to me that if you are a poor hitter from both sides of the plate, you should only concentrate on one side of the plate. Trying to improve your hitting, when you're a weak hitter to begin with must be double the difficulty when you're doing so as a switch hitter.

Anyway, my question is this. Does anyone out there have examples of any other major league hitter that tried switch hitting for a significant period of time and then chose only one side of the plate to hit from? And was there significant improvement from the side they chose, and was there improvement when they faced pitchers throwing with the same side that they are hitting from? Or is it 50-50 as far as some improve while others don't or get worse?

You missed it - he started it around the final month of the season last year.

[foster15]

You missed it - he started it around the final month of the season last year.

Yes, I did. Probably because by the final month of the season I had given up on the Reds. But is there a discussion thread about it? Not sure how to find it if there is.