After talking to a friend of mine whoose a Pitcher over how life in the minors is, he dropped a bombshell on me.

After 2 years of being a Pitcher, they changed his position on him, this spring he will be a Firstbasemen.

I know that it is common for someone to change their position while in the minors from what they were drafted as, i.e. SS to OF, OF to P etc.

But how common is it for a Pitcher to be moved from being a Pitcher to a everyday position?

You always hear about position players being moved to the hill, but you rarely hear about it happening the other way around.

So I was just curious to get some input from y'all on here over the subject.

quote:

But how common is it for a Pitcher to be moved from being a Pitcher to a everyday position?

The first one that comes to mind and the most famous was Babe Ruth. After compiling almost 100 wins and stellar post season marks as a pitcher, Ruth was switched to outfield where he cemented his status as perhaps the greatest player of all time.

Rick Ankiel is the most recent one to do it. Here is a prediction - Micah Owings will be the next one to do it.

To answer your question, I don't believe switches from being a pitcher to some other position happens very often these days and is thus quite uncommon.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc_K:
But how common is it for a Pitcher to be moved from being a Pitcher to a everyday position?

You always hear about position players being moved to the hill, but you rarely hear about it happening the other way around.

So I was just curious to get some input from y'all on here over the subject.

Very rare. Your friend must be able to swing it big time. Ankiel has a tremendous bat, as your friend must. Otherwise, a pitcher-to-position player move would never happen at the pro level.

Doc,
It can be hard to read the tea leaves of any organization but, based on what I have seen this would be my reading:
1.) The down side is your friend's organization has made a decision that he isn't going to progress as a pitcher beyond his current level. In effect, he is done pitching in professional baseball, at least with that organization.
2.) The great, and unusual, upside is that rather than release him, someone in the organization sees other talents and skills. It isn't usual to see this type of position change but it great his organization is taking that step.
There are not too many second chances and he appears to be getting one. I hope he succeeds.

He must be a pretty good hitter or received a large signing bonus ....

quote:

He must be a pretty good hitter or received a large signing bonus ....

Signing bonus nope, what makes it even more rare I suppose is he was a LATE round pick when they drafted him.

Throughout High School he could rake, but I'm pretty sure he never touched a bat when he was in College.

I agree with other posters that it is really rare that pitchers get another chance by becoming a position player. He really must be able to hit and was lucky enough to have had a chance to demonstrate it or had some scouting notes from the scouts.

The only other examples I can think of are from the Major Leagues --- Stan Musial & Mark McGwire, both (like Ruth) to keep their bat in the lineup (although Musial had an injury that was going to inhibit his ability to pitch).

My son was told if he signed as a pitcher, he probably wouldn't be given the opporunity to move to catch, but if he signed as a catcher he would probably be given the chance to pitch, which he already has.

Clubs also groom utility men.

We have a friend which was drafted a couple of times as a pitcher and would not sign because he wanted to hit. After the second time of going draft and follow and playing at a JC, he did not get drafted a third time....

John Marriotti who played 2 years at Florida Gulf coast and at Coastal Carolina was drafted twice as a position player and signed in a 3rd draft as a pitcher. A solid hitter as well as a great pitcher.

I think it might happen more than we are aware of as I know some players that were drafted as pitchers who hit very well but still drafted as pitchers, only because pitchers are more in demand and usually better for trade value.
We don't hear about it often because pitchers (especially in college) usually haven't hit the ball much and lose time developing at the plate.

I would imagine the team might have evaluated his skills and decided to try him out as a hitter before a release comes rather than having to pick up an independent guy and pay $$ as a bonus. It might be more of an economic decision than anything else. The good thing he has been given a second chance.

Ok, really Tiger Paw Mom, I'm not stalking you..
But I do have a question here.
My son is in his first year at a D-1 out here in Cali. He is a RHP of good size and very naturally athletic (started 3 sports in hs).
He is expected to contribute in his first year.
As he was coming up through baseball all these years he was a shorstop and a very talanted hitter until one year the coaches found he could pitch, also the coaches' son wanted to be shortstop, so My son became a pitcher (he also played any other position as needed). The coach said he 'outgrew' the shortshop position. He liked to pitch, was pretty good at it and got better. The high school coaches never let him hit (pitchers did not hit on our team).
I was able to attend his intersquad this weekend and I saw our incredibly athletic shortstop (looked a lot like son). I found myself imagining my son out there in the position he had played most of his life. I was thinking 'what if he doesn't do well as a pitcher' will he be able to stay on the team, if not what a waste of talent. His pitching talents have been confirmed - it is just after watching him play all of his sports at very highly competive levels, the life of a picher seems a little boring. I think he actually enjoys focusing on just one thing - he is actually better already - denefitting from having a pitching coach for the first time.
What happens when a good athlete fails at pitching - is he just done?

iheartbb - does the college coach let players go two ways? If so, it may be a chance for him to get some field time, it may not be at short, but possibly another position.

With so many games in a week, two way players are in demand, though you may find that some coaches have not bitten the bullet and adapted players going two ways.

Homerun04, yes I read on the website about other recruits being refered to two-way players in the announcement of the 07 recruiting class. Said very nice things about sons pitching future, but nothing about contributing in any other way.

iheartbb,
Why would your son fail as a pitcher? If anything he will get better, because the coach saw something he liked in him, and is willing to teach him to be a contributor on the team. And because he will focus on just pitching he will get better.

The use of the DH eliminates the need for the pitcher to learn how to hit. IMO, it's really tough to be a two postion player in college ball.

All pitchers played other positions at one time, and most likely played them better than anyone else. Because of that, most likely he was given an opportunity others don't get. And because he was a pitcher is most likely why he got a chance possibly over someone else to play at the D1. Remember you only need one ss and a backup, at a D1 you need 15-16 pitchers, maybe more if 5 games a week are played.

As a HS freshman mine was a shortstop when he wasn't pitching, until suddenly someone decided one day he was a better pitcher than shortstop. He played ss position very well and a great hitter. After they took that opportunity away he was miserable, but it gave him an opportunity to just focus on pitching so he advanced pretty quickly. You will constantly find son on the field swinging the fungo, that has never left him. It is a bit more boring, yes it is at times, shagging balls in the outfield and bucket duty is not always tons of fun. But, ask him if he would give up that moment on the mound when all eyes are on you, and in control of the game, and I doubt he would trade that for the ss position.


If it will make you feel any better, I know of a player who rarely pitched in HS, was given the ball as a junior, got a scholarship to a top D1 and a year later a top draft pick. He struggled a bit for a few years, has taken time to learn how to pitch, but had an incredible year and headed to a bright future as a pitcher in MLB.