Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte not just a novelty act

MESA, Ariz. – The novelty never seems to wear off for fans, opponents and even teammates when Pat Venditte takes the mound.

The first thing you notice is his six-fingered glove. With its two thumbs, it allows Venditte to take advantage of a skill no one else in baseball has – an ability to pitch either left- or right-handed.

In his first appearance with the A's this spring, he faced two batters.

One each way.

"We were just going to clean up the inning with him, but with the lefty coming up the next inning, I just couldn't resist. We had to send him out there for that," manager Bob Melvin said. "I got a few boos when I took him out. I should have yelled, 'Well I wasn't going to let him go out in the first place!'"

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After seven minor league seasons in the New York Yankees organization, the switch-pitcher has a fresh start with the A's. Signing a minor-league contract at the age of 29, Venditte knows his chances of making the major league roster out of camp are slim.

Still, he's been perfect so far - five batters up, five down after his perfect inning pitched Thursday against the Chicago Cubs.

He knows he needs to do something to stand out in camp – although that shouldn't be a problem because he's hard to miss.

"There are so many guys who are trying to do this and it does help to be different," Venditte said Thursday. "Whatever happens I just want to have good performances and show that I can help this team."

Why not?

The origins of Venditte's switch-pitching go back to when he was three years old and his father first taught him to play catch. "He thought that if there could be switch-hitters, why not a switch-pitcher?"

A natural right-hander, Venditte says he just kept practicing to the point where it didn't matter which hand he threw with. "It wasn't always pretty," he admits. "By the time I was a sophomore in college I started to see some dividends from it. But it took 17 years to get there and taken this long to get this opportunity here."

He throws three pitches – a fastball, slider and changeup – from each side. And like any pitcher, there are some days he feels better than others with his repertoire. Unlike the others, he has another option.

"We were in an intrasquad situation the other day where the first hitter I had faced as a righty and I didn't have the command I need to get these guys out," he said. "Luckily, left-handed I was feeling a bit better so when a switch-hitter came up … it was an easy choice for me to go left-handed. There are certain days like that."

In cases when a switch-pitcher faces a switch-hitter, MLB rules dictate that the pitcher must designate first which way he'll throw. So when the batter has the advantage of adjusting, Venditte relies on scouting reports to determine which side he wants to face.

Thursday, Cubs manager Joe Maddon conferred withplate umpire Brian Gorman when switch-hitter Dexter Fowler came to bat. Venditte motioned that he'd pitch left-handed to Fowler, so the Cubs center fielder retreated to the dugout for the appropriate helmet.

The rules weren't as clear when he pitched in college for Creighton.

"There was one game against Nebraska when we had a battle back and forth where the switch-hitter would get in and get out (of the batter's box)," he recalled. "It wasn't even that big of a deal. I don't remember what they decided that night."

If he does make the A's roster at some point, he won't be the first switch-pitcher to take the mound in a major league game.

Venditte said he vividly remembers sitting in his living room as a nine-year-old when the Montreal Expos' Greg Harris pitched right- and left-handed in the same game.

"When you're nine you're thinking I'm going to get to the major leagues too -- there's no chance that I'm not -- and I can't wait to do that too one day."

Throughout his minor league career, Venditte has been effective with both arms. He has parlayed his platoon advantage to a 2.46 career ERA with an average of 10.1 strikeouts and 2.4 walks per nine innings.

"But at the end of the day it's all about production," he said. "More than anything, I want to show them during spring training that I can help them win games."

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