Switch hitting by lefty throwers: J.T. Snow and Lance Berkman.

J.T. Snow? J.T was a lefty batter, wasn't he? Yes, starting in 1999 but J.T. Snow played his earlier seasons as a switch hitter. We'll get back to him.

Spanning Multiple Seasons or entire Careers, From 1903 to 2018, Switch-hitter, Throws LH, (requiring OPS+>=0, PA>=5000 and HR>=0), sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	HR	From	To	Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Lance Berkman	144	7814	366	1999	2013	23-37	1879	6491	1146	1905	422	30	1234	1201	160	1300	66	1	54	147	86	48	.293	.406	.537	.943	3798D/H	HOU-NYY-STL-TEX
2	Nick Swisher	113	6308	245	2004	2015	23-34	1527	5369	805	1338	307	11	803	817	42	1373	56	13	53	131	13	15	.249	.351	.447	.799	9378D/H1	OAK-CHW-NYY-CLE-ATL
3	David Segui	110	5451	139	1990	2004	23-37	1456	4847	683	1412	284	16	684	524	56	687	14	19	45	131	17	19	.291	.359	.443	.802	*3D/H79	NYM-MON-TOR-SEA-TEX-CLE-BAL
4	Lu Blue	109	7223	44	1921	1933	24-36	1615	5904	1152	1696	319	109	695	1092		436	43	168		0	151	85	.287	.402	.401	.803	*3/H8	DET-SLB-CHW-BRO
5	Bob Bescher	108	5276	28	1908	1918	24-34	1228	4536	749	1171	190	74	345	619		549	48	74			428	54	.258	.353	.351	.704	*78/H9	CIN-NYG-STL-CLE
6	Melky Cabrera	103	7130	137	2005	2018	20-33	1754	6500	852	1856	361	44	807	493	38	850	26	47	64	167	99	37	.286	.335	.418	.753	*789/HD	NYY-ATL-SFG-TOR-CHW-KCR-CLE
7	Dave Collins	93	5507	32	1975	1990	22-37	1701	4907	667	1335	187	52	373	467	16	660	38	64	31	59	395	139	.272	.338	.351	.689	7H983D	CAL-SEA-NYY-TOR-OAK-DET-CIN-STL

Only seven switch hitters since 1903 who threw lefty, which means that they were left handed. They tend to play left field or first base.

101 batters who throw right handed meet that criteria.

Spanning Multiple Seasons or entire Careers, From 1903 to 2018, Switch-hitter, Throws RH, (requiring OPS+>=0, PA>=5000 and HR>=0), sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+

Top 20:

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	HR	From	To	Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Mickey Mantle	172	9907	536	1951	1968	19-36	2401	8102	1676	2415	344	72	1509	1733	148	1710	13	14	47	113	153	38	.298	.421	.557	.977	*8397H/645	NYY
2	Chipper Jones	141	10614	468	1993	2012	21-40	2499	8984	1619	2726	549	38	1623	1512	177	1409	18	3	97	253	150	46	.303	.401	.529	.930	*57/H6D9	ATL
3	Reggie Smith	137	8051	314	1966	1982	21-37	1987	7033	1123	2020	363	57	1092	890	115	1030	33	8	86	150	137	86	.287	.366	.489	.855	983H/5D47	BOS-STL-LAD-SFG
4	Ken Singleton	132	8559	246	1970	1984	23-37	2082	7189	985	2029	317	25	1065	1263	125	1246	17	29	60	248	21	36	.282	.388	.436	.824	*9D7H/8	NYM-MON-BAL
5	Eddie Murray	129	12817	504	1977	1997	21-41	3026	11336	1627	3255	560	35	1917	1333	222	1516	18	2	128	315	110	43	.287	.359	.476	.836	*3D/H57	BAL-NYM-CLE-ANA-LAD
6	Mark Teixeira	126	8029	409	2003	2016	23-36	1862	6936	1099	1862	408	18	1298	918	91	1441	111	0	64	158	26	7	.268	.360	.509	.869	*3/DH957	TEX-ATL-LAA-NYY
7	Bernie Williams	125	9053	287	1991	2006	22-37	2076	7869	1366	2336	449	55	1257	1069	97	1212	39	12	64	223	147	87	.297	.381	.477	.858	*8D/9H7	NYY
8	Bobby Bonilla	124	8257	287	1986	2001	23-38	2113	7213	1084	2010	408	61	1173	912	128	1204	28	5	97	169	45	57	.279	.358	.472	.829	597H3/D81	CHW-PIT-BAL-LAD-FLA-NYM-ATL-STL
9	Tim Raines	123	10359	170	1979	2002	19-42	2502	8872	1571	2605	430	113	980	1330	148	966	42	39	76	142	808	146	.294	.385	.425	.810	*7H8D/49	MON-CHW-NYY-OAK-BAL-FLA
10	Mickey Tettleton	122	5745	245	1984	1997	23-36	1485	4698	711	1132	210	16	732	949	72	1307	30	21	47	86	23	29	.241	.369	.449	.818	*2D39/H7	OAK-BAL-DET-TEX
11	Augie Galan	122	7005	100	1934	1949	22-37	1742	5937	1004	1706	336	74	830	979	29	393	25	62		72	123	25	.287	.390	.419	.810	*78H/35496	CHC-BRO-CIN-PHA-NYG
12	Jorge Posada	121	7150	275	1995	2011	23-39	1829	6092	900	1664	379	10	1065	936	78	1453	74	1	47	186	20	21	.273	.374	.474	.848	*2DH/34	NYY
13	Chili Davis	121	9997	350	1981	1999	21-39	2435	8673	1240	2380	424	30	1372	1194	188	1698	15	20	94	232	142	98	.274	.360	.451	.811	D897H/31	SFG-CAL-MIN-KCR-NYY
14	Roy White	121	7735	160	1965	1979	21-35	1881	6650	964	1803	300	51	758	934	66	708	29	53	69	123	233	117	.271	.360	.404	.764	*7HD/89534	NYY
15	Carlos Santana	119	5461	198	2010	2018	24-32	1277	4554	655	1123	264	15	673	836	44	905	25	0	46	120	42	18	.247	.363	.442	.805	*32D/5H97	CLE-PHI
16	Carlos Beltran	119	11031	435	1998	2017	21-40	2586	9768	1582	2725	565	78	1587	1084	104	1795	51	18	110	203	312	49	.279	.350	.486	.837	*89D/H73	KCR-NYM-SFG-STL-NYY-TEX-HOU
17	Victor Martinez	118	8166	246	2002	2018	23-39	1973	7297	914	2153	423	3	1178	730	119	891	53	0	86	264	7	7	.295	.360	.455	.815	D23/H	CLE-BOS-DET
18	Howard Johnson	118	5715	228	1982	1995	21-34	1531	4940	760	1229	247	22	760	692	105	1053	17	9	57	61	231	77	.249	.340	.446	.786	*56H/789D43	DET-NYM-COL-CHC
19	Ted Simmons	118	9685	248	1968	1988	18-38	2456	8680	1074	2472	483	47	1389	855	188	694	39	11	100	287	21	33	.285	.348	.437	.785	*2DH3/759	STL-MIL-ATL
20	Pete Rose	118	15890	160	1963	1986	22-45	3562	14053	2165	4256	746	135	1314	1566	167	1143	107	56	79	247	198	149	.303	.375	.409	.784	37549H/8	PHI-MON-CIN

Hall of Fame: Mantle, Jones, Murray, Raines. Plus, Rose at the bottom.

Among lefty throwers Lance Berkman is the only one whose OPS+ would put him in this group. Berkman hit 366 home runs.

Among the righty switch hitters with the highest OPS+ five hit at least 400 home runs and two hit more than 500. The fewest number of home runs was 160.

So Lance Berkman was a natural lefty who learned to also bat righty ... but not very well. There are two obvious reasons that lefty batters have an advantage:

1. standing about a step and a half closer to first base

2. about 72% of pitchers are righty and batters from either side of the plate tend to hit better against opposite pitchers. The least effective of the four possible match ups for batters is lefty against lefty.

Berkman splits:

I	Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+
	vs RHP	1754		5989	4936	936	1501	338	25	316	1001	63	34	967	1017	.304	.420	.575	.995	2837	93	47	0	39	142	46	.325	111
	vs LHP	866		1825	1555	210	404	84	5	50	233	23	14	234	283	.260	.360	.417	.777	648	54	19	1	15	18	10	.286	66

OPS:
vs RHP .995
vs LHP .777

	AB	HR	AB/HR
vs RHP	4,936	319	15.5
vs LHP	1,555	50	31.1

Berkman's home run rate was twice as good batting lefty.

Maybe Berkman should have batted only lefty. Let's get back to J.T. Snow.

Jack Thomas Snow was a wide receiver for Notre Dame and the LA Rams. His son Jack Thomas Snow, Jr., known as J.T., was a first baseman primarily for the Angels and Giants.

J.T. Snow
Position: First Baseman
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
Snow was a switch-hitter during the early portion of his career.

That information in baseball-reference.com is obviously inadequate in this case. Some data that is listed as lifetime for a player should be listed per season, including:

Bats
Weight
Height

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Snow

Batted: Switch

Threw: Left

While a switch-hitter earlier in his career, Snow batted exclusively left-handed after 1998.

_____________________

Snow played from 1992 to 2008 but we'll look only at his primary seasons:
1993-1996 Angels ages 25-28
1997-2005 Giants ages 29-37

So there may be some age bias in the numbers; Snow may become less effective simply because of age. Snow abandoned switch hitting after six seasons in the majors ages 25-30. In 1999, his second season with the Giants, Snow started batting lefty against all pitchers.

His best hitting season was probably 1997, his first with the Giants and still switch hitting. Career highs:

HR: 28
RBI: 104
OPS+ 135, which is an average

But look at his 1997 splits, they're ridiculous, especially for a switch hitter:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	146		477	398	73	124	30	1	27	88	5	2	73	85	.312	.415	.595	1.011	237	7	1	0	5	9	6	.333	124	165
vs LHP	88		160	133	8	25	6	0	1	16	1	2	23	39	.188	.304	.256	.559	34	1	0	2	2	4	3	.253	29	52

vs LHP:
one homer in 133 AB
BA .188
OPS: .599 (1.011 vs RHP)

1998, last season switch hitting, OPS difference 301 points; PA vs LHP way down:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	122		415	362	55	96	26	1	14	73	1	2	48	63	.265	.347	.459	.806	166	13	0	0	5	2	3	.283	113	113
vs LHP	55		85	73	10	12	3	0	1	6	0	0	10	21	.164	.259	.247	.505	18	0	0	0	2	1	0	.208	36	36

1999, first season batting only lefty; some improvement vs LHP:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	146		475	401	68	117	19	1	21	75	0	3	68	75	.292	.394	.501	.895	201	12	2	0	4	7	1	.311	118	130
vs LHP	99		193	169	25	39	6	1	3	23	0	1	18	46	.231	.313	.331	.644	56	4	3	1	2	0	4	.295	58	67

2000, OPS point difference only 102; 4 HR vs LHP:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	141		479	407	63	119	27	2	15	69	1	2	55	90	.292	.370	.479	.849	195	14	3	0	14	6	6	.329	106	117
vs LHP	81		148	129	19	33	6	0	4	27	0	1	11	39	.256	.351	.395	.747	51	6	8	0	0	0	2	.337	82	92

2001, only 57 PA but finally better vs LHP, including .306 BA:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	95		291	236	38	55	11	1	7	27	0	0	49	65	.233	.368	.377	.745	89	2	3	0	3	10	4	.287	99	100
vs LHP	37		57	49	5	15	1	0	1	7	0	0	6	16	.306	.386	.388	.774	19	0	1	0	1	0	0	.424	106	105

2002, only 89 PA but again better vs LHP, age 34 season:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	129		405	352	34	88	20	1	4	43	0	0	45	68	.250	.336	.347	.682	122	9	3	0	5	5	2	.295	94	84
vs LHP	52		89	70	13	16	6	1	2	10	0	0	14	22	.229	.382	.429	.811	30	2	4	0	1	0	2	.298	130	121

2003, even with only 63 PA reverted vs LHP, 0 HR:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	99		333	282	44	80	17	3	8	45	0	2	45	43	.284	.387	.450	.838	127	7	4	0	2	0	3	.309	108	124
vs LHP	46		63	48	4	10	1	0	0	6	1	0	10	12	.208	.387	.229	.616	11	0	4	1	0	0	1	.278	55	69

2004, revival, especially vs RHP:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	98		359	299	55	101	28	1	11	51	4	0	49	51	.338	.437	.548	.985	164	4	6	2	3	0	1	.375	106	159
vs LHP	47		58	47	7	12	4	0	1	9	0	0	9	10	.255	.379	.404	.784	19	1	1	0	1	0	0	.297	65	107

2005, age 37 seasons; 4 HR none vs LHP:

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
vs RHP	109		370	330	39	92	16	2	4	36	1	0	31	53	.279	.350	.376	.725	124	6	6	1	2	1	1	.320	105	96
vs LHP	27		40	37	1	9	1	0	0	4	0	0	1	8	.243	.282	.270	.552	10	0	1	1	0	0	2	.310	56	49

Career splits:

I	Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+
	vs RHP	1546		5061	4359	647	1218	245	14	164	705	17	18	605	819	.279	.368	.455	.823	1983	108	38	8	51	52	41	.308	110
	vs LHP	821		1492	1282	151	291	48	5	25	172	3	5	155	323	.227	.320	.331	.651	424	28	26	16	13	9	16	.281	67

Snow	AB	HR	AB/HR
vs RHP	4,359	164	26.6
vs LHP	1,282	25	51.3

Home run ratio similar to Berkman's, almost twice as good vs RHP.

After 160 PA vs LHP in his best season, 1997, Snow was over 100 PA vs LHP only in 1999 and 2000, then never again close. In those two seasons batting only lefty he improved greatly vs LHP but then only seasons with few such PA and improvement didn't last.

Maybe if Snow had abandoned switch hitting earlier or never started, he would have developed the ability to hit well vs LHP or maybe not. It's not unusual for established lefty batters to never become proficient vs LHP.

Lance Berkman may not have helped himself by switch hitting his entire career but it may not have mattered. Many lefty batters hit badly against lefty pitchers.

Stan Musial had OPS vs LHP only 5% worse than vs RHP: .927/.976. Barry Bonds 6.2%. On the other hand these lefty batters were over 19% worse vs LHP: Vic Wertz, Norm Cash, Ryan Howard, Jim Thome. Thome is in the Hall of Fame.

Click this link to view data for such players through the 2013 season.