Making the Major Leagues is incredibly hard: just a tiny percentage of those who decide to play the sport professionally ever participate in an MLB game.
Being an All-Star is even more difficult.
However, those who have tried switch-hitting say that succeeding at both sides of the plate might be the hardest thing to achieve as a hitter.
That’s precisely where Cleveland Guardians switch-hitter and perennial All-Star and MVP candidate Jose Ramirez excels.
Most switch-hitters are markedly better hitting from one side of the plate than the other.
It’s only natural.
Well, not Ramirez.
The Guardians third baseman is equally great at hitting left-handed and right-handed.
In fact, he has done something to this point that only two other switch-hitters in the history of the game have achieved.
“JRam finds himself in elite company with only two other switch-hitting stars,” Bally Sports Cleveland tweeted, with a graphic.
JRam finds himself in elite company with only two other switch-hitting stars ⭐️#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/5na6sl4Wok
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) August 21, 2024
Mark Teixeira, Mickey Mantle and Ramirez are the only switch hitters tu slug at least .500 from both sides of the plate among those with a minimum of 1,500 plate appearances over their careers.
In Ramirez’s case, his consistency is evident: he has a .286/.345/.505 line with a .850 in 1,815 plate appearances vs. lefties (as a right-handed hitter), and a .275/.356/.502 line with a .857 OPS vs. righties (hitting from the left side of the plate).
Those lines are almost exactly identical, which goes to show how consistently dominant Ramirez is and has been over the course of his brilliant career.
Just to be compared with those two names (particularly Mantle) is an incredible achievement.
NEXT: Guardians Outlast Yankees In 12-Inning Marathon
