Pat Venditte: Novelty Act or the Real Deal?

If you were to look around at major league teams’ starting lineups on any given day, odds are that the majority of teams will feature at least one switch-hitting batter. But throughout the game, just one team can boast the luxury of having a switch-pitcher.

Pat Venditte is the Oakland Athletics‘ ambidextrous pitching phenom. He is currently in camp with the A’s as a non-roster invitee, competing to earn a spot in the opening day bullpen.

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Venditte is not new to professional baseball. He was drafted in 2008 by the New York Yankees in the 20th round, as the 620th overall pick. The Yankees also tried to pull Venditte away from Creighton University in 2007 by selecting him in 45th round of the draft, but the young pitcher refused to step away from the college game. 2015 will be Venditte’s eighth year in the professional ranks, and first within the Oakland organization.

Watching Venditte warm up is quite the sight, as he switches his glove between hands without skipping a beat. His teammates have taken notice of how difficult it is to do what Venditte does, as Sean Doolittle noted to Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller.

"“It’s amazing. A lot of us pitchers will be shagging during batting practice and we’ll throw balls in with the opposite hand, but I can’t even begin to relate to pitching with both arms.”"

But is this dual-threat pitcher a novelty act, used to draw crowds and get people talking, or is he a legitimate major league talent?

Mar 3, 2015; Mesa, AZ, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Pat Venditte (74) throws during the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at HoHoKam Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Venditte’s career minor league numbers suggest that he is much more than a sideshow carnival act. Over his seven-year career, which includes a lot of lost time in 2012 and 2013 because of a torn labrum in his right shoulder (his natural throwing arm), he’s pitched in 242 games. He owns a 2.46 ERA, 1.074 WHIP, 4.18 strikeouts per walk ratio, and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings rate.

Venditte is also effective against both righties and lefties. Against left-handed hitters, Venditte has held opponents to a .203 average (124-for-608), and righties hit .231 (181-for-782). Although he’s naturally a right-hander, he seems better suited as a left-handed specialist, used to get big outs against left-handed opponents at crucial situations in the game.

There’s a couple things that are working against Venditte, however. One is his age. Venditte is already 29 years old, and will turn 30 on June 30th. He’s not exactly a spring chicken, but wear and tear means less to a guy who pitches with both arms. He won’t be overworked, because he can split his pitches.

Another factor not in Venditte’s favor is his pitches. His fastball tops out at maybe 85 miles-an-hour, but it is deceptive coming from the side-winding arm angle in which he uses. But just about every major league bullpen has multiple guys who roll out of bed throwing 95-plus, and soft-tossers like Venditte are not regarded as highly.

Despite the underwhelming fastball, Venditte complements it well with his secondary pitches. He throws a changeup and a slider with both hands. His changeup offers about a 10 mile-an-hour difference, which is a good speed differential to have to have from the fastball.

His slider is his out-pitch. It’s not a typical slider, which is usually only a few miles-an-hour slower than the fastball. Venditte’s slider is a sidearm frisbee that floats in around 68-72, but it features a great break that forces a lot of swing-and-misses and weak groundballs.

The third factor that Venditte faces is the depth of the Athletics’ bullpen. Venditte is not even on the 40-man roster right now, so him finding his way on to the Athletics’ opening day roster is extremely unlikely. There are a couple potentially open spots in the pen, as Doolittle is dealing with a shoulder injury, and other guys like Ryan Cook have struggled mightily in the Spring. Oakland could find a way to keep Venditte until Doolittle is ready to go again, but that seems like a longshot.

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Venditte has shown his value so far in Spring Training. In six appearances, he’s gone seven innings, given up just four hits, two walks, two earned runs, and struck out five. His ERA is 2.57 and his WHIP is a very nice .857.

In Friday’s Spring game against the Colorado Rockies, Venditte earned his first win by pitching two shutout innings, and giving up just one hit and one walk. He faced five right-handed hitters, and gave up both of his baserunners, but lefites were 0-3 with a strikeout against Venditte.

Venditte is looking to become the first full-time “switch-pitcher” in the modern era. Greg A. Harris, a right-hander by trade, once pitched to two batters as a left-hander, retiring both in his penultimate career game with the Montreal Expos in 1995, but he wasn’t a full-time ambidextrous pitcher.

One of the most famous switch-pitchers in baseball history is Tony Mullane, who pitched from 1881 to 1894, the “deadball” era, and won 284 career games. Mullane didn’t have a glove that could fit on both hands, like Venditte does, and pitched barehanded.

Venditte may not make the opening day roster, and the fact of the matter is, he may not find his way on the big league roster at all. But he’s not just a novelty act. He can really pitch, and he can really do it with both hands. He hasn’t pushed his way to Triple-A, and big league camp, simply because he is unique.

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