Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks announced this morning that he’s giving up switch-hitting and will bat exclusively right-handed from now on, following in Shane Victorino’s footsteps last season for the Red Sox.
Hicks has been switch-hitting since little league and bristled at the idea of changing as recently as spring training, but he’s always been much more productive as a right-handed hitter facing left-handed pitching. For his big-league career--which is a relatively small sample of 118 games--he’s hit .179 with a .546 off righties compared to .227 with a .735 OPS off lefties.
However, it should be noted that his production off lefties thus far has involved Hicks having the platoon advantage, which he won’t have when facing righties as a right-handed hitter. Still, given how lost Hicks has looked from the left side of the plate it’s hard to imagine the move not improving his overall production.
