Overview
A switch hitter bats left-handed against right-handed pitchers and right-handed against lefties, maintaining a platoon advantage in every at-bat. This allows better recognition of breaking ball movement and avoids the discomfort of inside pitches. The first switch hitter in NPB is generally held to be Isao Shibata of the Yomiuri Giants, who began taking left-handed at-bats in 1962 when he moved from the mound to the outfield and finished with 2,018 hits and 579 stolen bases. Hiromi Matsunaga, who played across four teams (Hankyu, Orix, Hanshin, Daiei) and accumulated 1,904 career hits, is called the finest switch hitter NPB has produced. Kazuo Matsui hit .332 with 36 home runs and 33 stolen bases for Seibu in 2002 before moving to MLB in 2004. Norifumi Nishimura (Lotte, 363 career steals) and Tatsuhiko Kinjoh (Yokohama and others, a .346 average in 2000) are also among NPB's best-known switch hitters. Developing equal proficiency from both batters' boxes takes an enormous amount of repetitive training, but a start in childhood is not the only route. Matsunaga switched in 1980, his third year with the club; Norifumi Nishimura did so in 1982 at his coaches' urging; and Tatsuhiko Kinjoh took up switch hitting as he converted to a full-time batter after signing. Reaching the top level after converting as a professional is far from rare. As a result, only a handful of switch hitters exist in any given NPB generation.