Watch Oakland’s new switch-pitcher Pat Venditte in action

By David Just

The Oakland A’s have purchased the contract of switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, according to MLB.com.

Like a switch-hitter, Venditte can pitch with both of his arms and will switch between them during innings.

The 29-year-old pitcher owns a 1.36 ERA in the Pacific Coast League. Right-handed hitters batted .208 against him while lefties had a .095 mark.

Here’s more from MLB.com about the unusual pitcher:

Venditte will be the first ambidextrous pitcher in Major League Baseball since Greg Harris accomplished the feat in 1995. Harris, a natural right-hander, recorded outs with his left and right arms on Sept. 28, 1995. Venditte wears a special glove that has six fingers and room for his thumb on either side, and he typically pitches with whichever arm will allow him to have the same-side advantage against a given hitter.

When Venditte meets switch-hitters, things can get a little awkward. Here’s a video from 2008 of Venditte pitching for the Staten Island Yankees when a switch-hitter came to the plate.

Here you can see him warm up before an inning, spending half of his practice pitches with his left arm and the other half with his right.

More of Venditte’s backstory is told in this local news report:

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