And I agree with you, Doc - the switch-hitting thing was cute when he had no power as a 17 year old trying to improve his draft chances, but I don't think it helps him much now.
It's not like he switch-hit all his life - he was a lefty for most of it and only took up switch-hitting as a JUNIOR in high school. It's never been a strong part of his game, and he has two different swings, so that doesn't help.
Just have him bat lefty, deal with him getting hammered by same-handed pitching for a coupla years (not like he isn't as a righty anyway), and move on.
Shin-soo Choo is utterly average against lefties - that'd still be better than where Franklin is now, but he can survive that because he's a lefty and only faces 150 ABs against LHP every year anyway.
He makes up for it by crushing righties, as I'd hope Franklin might.
Maybe Nick starts in AA, but it depends where they put Miller, IMO. And they seem fine with pushing Franklin - starting in AA and finishing in AAA could still put him well ahead of a 2013 cup of coffee in September. Let him perform first, and then we'll see.
And please - as a full time lefty, if you would.
~G
Also see: POTD Why Nick Franklin Must Bat Lefty. Exec sum: Franklin has a Griffey-, Ichiro-level swing from the left side ... and a worthless swing from the right side.
Lonnie of MC, reasonably so, doubts Nick Franklin's ability to see ML time in 2012:
...unlike G, I believe that Franklin will start 2012 back at Jackson with maybe a midseason promotion to AAA Tacoma.
The main reason that I say this is because although his AA stats are small, they still indicate that he is stuggling when he bats right-handed against lefites. The split is Grand Canyonesque (.226/.273/.419/.692 batting right hand, and .385/.429/.519/.948 as a lefty) 2011 was supposed to be the year where Franklin fixes his issues when he goes righty, but all of the injuries and crap that hit him did not allow him to make any sort of meaningful attempt. With a split that wide it is going to take at least a full year, and maybe more to either get his RH swing down, or bag the switch-hitting all together.
This is a non-trivial issue right now with Franklin, and I seriously don't see him even getting a cup of coffee until 2013.
I know that you aren't high on Brad Miller, G, but he has a big thing going for him. Zduriencik didn't pick him in the second round for nothing. Right now, I put a heck of a lot of faith into what Z is doing.
Maybe those splits are because he's a lousy hitter right handed. I read it on the internet :- )
You and I might reason our way to a consensus on Franklin's 2012 arc, my man, but Zduriencik's already called the lad out for spring training...
Better warm your camera up, dude...
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=== Giving Up Switch-Hitting? At This Time of Day? ===
Here's a fine article from Tim Kjurkian that points out some simple facts about switch-hitting. Such as the fact that it (1) usually helps you make the ballclub as a rookie, and (2) usually hinders your offensive production for the rest of your career.
Lance Berkman has switch hit all his life, and check this out:
- .587 - SLG from the left side (5,500 plate appearances, 13 seasons)
- .415 - SLG from the right side (1,700 plate appearances, 13 seasons)
Berkman spent his career as, nearly, Lou Gehrig from one side of the plate, and spent his career as, pretty much, Marco Scutaro from the other side.
Berkman says that if he had it to do over again, he would be a pure left hand hitter. And no wonder: Berkman's swing from the right side is a completely different swing, as is Nick Franklin's. If Franklin continues to switch, I will absolutely guarantee you a ceiling of "mediocre" for him from the right side.
On the other hand, many great LH hitters can mash LHP's. Junior, for example, slugged .503 lifetime against lefties.
Switch-hitting is just a career-long fight to keep both swings in tune, to deal with cutters and changeups and everything else ---> despite having two completely different swings to think about.
15% of ballplayers are switch-hitters, so why do the two best SW AVG's of all time rank only 53rd (Frisch) and 98th (Chipper) on the career AVG leaderboard?
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=== Got To Giiiiive a Little, Taaaaake a Little... And Let Your Poor Heart Breeeaaaak a Little, Dept. ===
It is a firm SSI belief that when power hitters switch, their battles against their own swings cost them more than they gain in pitch angles. Great power hitters -- Griffey, Manny, Pujols, etc -- they can hit same-side curve balls.
Switch-hitting is, in simplified-so-understandable terms, a rearguard action for batters without great talent. It's a way for Dexter Fowler to stay in the big leagues, not a way for Ken Griffey Jr. to hit 45 homers instead of 40.
Of course, I'm not saying that Eddie Murray didn't exist. But as a general rule, turning around and hitting from the other side is essentially a passive, defensive strategy.
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=== Show Yer Work, Dept. ===
One person assumes that, after another year and 100 AB's against LHP's, Franklin is going to learn to hit them.
Another person -- that person being Dr. D -- assumes that Franklin (like Lance Berkman, Carl Everett, Jason Varitek, and many other ML stars) is never going to learn to hit LHP's. That's because Franklin does not have a major league swing from the right side. We showed our work here.
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=== Feasibility Studies, Dept. ===
For Nick Franklin to give up switch hitting, the starting point would be whether Nick Franklin was on board. With his lack of practice, Brian Roberts doesn't think he could hit even .100 against lefties.
Supposing that Nick Franklin himself liked the idea, they definitely should move him to LH-only because of these specific reasons.
When a hitter has a Griffey-, Ichiro-gorgeous swing, you don't waste 25% of his swings by putting him in the other batter's box. What would you think of Ichiro switch-hitting? Of Griffey? It would be a travesty, right?
If Franklin was enthused about it, if you told him it was his quickest path to the bigs, I'd convert him yesterday. So what if he struggles, early on, at LH-on-LH. What are you losing, really? He doesn't hit RH-on-LH anyway.
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=== Precedents ===
Bop around the internet and you find all sorts of articles encouraging players to give up switch-hitting -- Dexter Fowler, Matt Weiters, Lance Berkman, even Jason Varitek. Mickey Mantle considered giving up switch-hitting. The radio announcers in Seattle used to ask Julio Cruz about hitting left hand only.
Ted Williams said that even Mantle should have been a RH hitter all his life, and then he'd have had better numbers. Teddy was thinking of the chess game between pitchers and hitters, and how the hitter can't "capture" that game as easily if he is busy trying to figure himself out.
Finding players who did give up SW, as late as AAA baseball, not many people come to mind. Reggie Jefferson started hitting LH-on-LH in the middle of his ML career, though his managers responded by platooning him. :- )
Who can you guys think of who gave up switch? (Edit to add, apparently J.T. Snow, Todd Hundley and Orlando Merced also gave up switch-hitting during their major league careers.)
What I wouldn't give, for them to send Franklin to the AFL and just SEE what he'd do LH-on-LH for 25 at-bats.
Comments
... supply some fodder for thought :)
"(.226/.273/.419/.692)"
Heck with those numbers Little Nicky could have been a regular in M's lineup this year. Oh wait! Most years...
But seriously aren't his RH numbers about a 30 point improvement over last year?
Would love to see Nick ditch the switch-hit. Can't think of any reason not to at this point. His mechanics and performance are a mess as a RH and he only converted recently. As a lefty he looks like a potential Grade A prospect.
Franklin would hardly be a lost cause. You're right Stalk, IMHO.
Personally am not talking numbers. As with Berkman, you're talking about a player with a Ken Griffey swing from one side, and a Franklin Gutierrez swing from the other.
My take and $4 will get you a mocha, and you can get the mocha without my take. :- )
Why the down on Franklin? He is a young, switch hitting ss. He has produced more positive in the Mariners' minors and mlb in the past two years than anyone else.
Kudos to the SWITCH HITTING kid from Florida. Keep pushing young man.
The mocking of his being proclaimed the worst pick of the first round was pretty clear even at the time, and only got louder as he mulched the MWL.
We - or at least I - just don't see the point in having him switch-hit is all. It tends to make it harder to produce top-end performances from your natural side (in Nick's case, the LH side) and it takes a long time to do it effectively. He HAS power. He originally took it up as a junior to help his draft stock, since he was a skinny stick who'd never lifted weights in his life and was not projected to have power.
Now we're not about minimizing weaknesses, we're looking to maximize strengths. His strengths are all on the LH side of the plate. Just let him focus on hitting that way rather than changing sides, vision, swing, etc.
Let him build himself into an All-Star, left-handed SS. Messing around with switch-hitting, something he's miserable at anyway, just seems like a waste of time. He CAN'T be worse against lefties as a lefty himself than he is as a righty.
~G