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Switch Handed Pitchers


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Here, found an article about him

Yankees Weigh Their Options and Draft a Pitcher With Two

 

 

Pat Venditte can pitch with either arm. He struck out 99 batters in 95 2/3 innings this season.

 

 

As the only ambidextrous pitcher in college baseball, Pat Venditte can choose which arm he throws with. But when it comes to professional baseball, he has only one immediate choice: the Yankees.

 

Venditte, who turned from curiosity to prospect in his eye-opening junior season at Creighton, was taken by the Yankees on Friday in the 45th round of Major League Baseball?s first-year player draft.

 

?You try to find people who are unique and special, like a left-handed-hitting catcher or a switch-hitting third baseman,? the Yankees? scouting director, Damon Oppenheimer, said. ?When you?ve got somebody who?s a switch-pitcher who can get people out, that?s as unique as it can get. Let?s take a shot.?

 

Venditte, a reliever, threw 43 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings during one stretch this spring. He went 8-2 over all and set a team record with a 1.88 earned run average, and he struck out 99 batters in 95 2/3 innings.

 

Throwing from 88 to 91 miles an hour as a right-hander and relying on a slower, sidearm slider as a left-hander, Venditte pitched with both arms in 30 of his 38 games this year. He recorded strikeouts from each side in 10 of them.

 

Only one pitcher has thrown with both arms in the major leagues since the 19th century. Greg Harris, a right-handed reliever for 15 seasons, threw left-handed and right-handed in an inning for the Montreal Expos on Sept. 28, 1995, right before he retired. Montreal allowed him to do it as a novelty. But Venditte is considered legitimately effective from both sides.

 

Venditte, 21, told teams before the draft that he preferred to return to Creighton for his senior season, so he dropped about 20 rounds from where his unique talent might have otherwise placed him, according to scouts. Oppenheimer said that rather than make a contract offer now to change his mind, the Yankees would evaluate how Venditte pitched this summer in the Northwoods League, a college-level league that uses wooden bats and can offer a clearer gauge of his professional potential.

 

The Yankees have until Aug. 15 to sign Venditte. Their scout responsible for evaluating Venditte, Steve Lemke, said that he would probably not rate him as a prospect from either side, but the two arms together made him too intriguing to pass up.

 

?When you combine the two, it?s something we don?t ever see,? Lemke said. ?In the middle innings, you don?t have to make a switch for someone to come in for a left-hander ? he can do it. He can really save a bullpen on a certain day.?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/sports/b...&ei=5087%0A

 

Sweet.. found a video of him on youtube

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There was a kid at American Heritage HS down here that pitched with both hands. I can't remember his name, this was maybe 2-3 years back, but I do know he was drafted so he is probably somewhere in the minors. I doubt he still pitches with both hands now though.

 

peter taraskevich, the twins took him later in the draft. i think he signed but don't qoute me on that

 

i faced him multiple times.....good hs pitcher. don't think he projects to the majors or anything like that (his fastballl and breaking stuff was good, but not great....decent but hitable), but he did a hell of a job for high school

 

their coach runs a great program though so i'm sure he'll get a decent shot somewhere

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