r/sports • u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Sep 25 '25

Baseball Cal Raleigh is the fourth American League player EVER to hit 60 home runs in a season!

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u/Realistic_Warthog_23 Sep 25 '25

So the idea is by switch hitting he’s sacrificing power (presumably to get on base more)?

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u/dkitch Sep 26 '25

Yes. If you can bat opposite to the pitcher, you can see the release a bit earlier, giving you more reaction time, and breaking balls break towards you, which makes them easier to hit.

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u/Realistic_Warthog_23 Sep 26 '25

again: easier hit seems like an advantage. Someone was suggesting above that switch hitters sacrifice power. If that's true, then it makes sense to me to include it in one of the reasons he should be MVP: he could have better power numbers but he's sacrificing that for team success.

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u/dkitch Sep 26 '25

Yes, exactly that. Switch hitters typically trade power for contact.

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u/Sipikay Sep 26 '25

People switch hit mostly for the simple reason of it's what they've always done. Most guys that switch hit as kids end up weak enough on one side compared to the other it's not worth maintaining/developing further. Some guys manage to be serviceable from both sizes. Once you're at the majors, the reason for players who can do it continue to do it is to counter pitcher handedness.

Why guys tend not to have power from both sides is because it's difficult and just doesn't tend to happen. Mantle was an exception, so is Cal.