Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones comparison

Inside Edge analyzes two of the game's best switch hitters -- Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones.

Pitch type breakdown

Both Jones and Berkman hit well against all types of pitches from the left side, but Jones is especially better against off-speed pitches:

Batting right-handed, Berkman is much better versus off-speed pitches than Chipper:

Plate coverage

Chipper covers the whole plate when batting left, while Berkman can be jammed inside:

Berkman has better plate coverage when batting from the right side:

How they are better than most switch-hitters

Although several switch-hitters’ multi-year averages are above .285, most do not hit that well from both sides. Jones and Berkman (along with Carlos Guillen, who’s having a down year) are the only active hitters who have batted over .285 from both sides of the plate since 2004:

Switch-hitters always enjoy a platoon advantage -- the tendency to hit better against opposite-handed pitchers. They avoid the especially unfavorable lefty-lefty matchups.

For both Jones and Berkman, hitting fastballs from opposite-side pitchers has been key. Chipper is hitting a whopping .500 (27-for-54) against lefty fastballs and .365 against righty heaters. Berkman has been around .400 against fastballs from lefties and righties both (.406 against LHP fastballs and .392 against RHP fastballs). Both hitters have also been able to pick up changeups very easily from both sides of the plate.

Why they've been so great this year

Both have hit better all around this season, but have really improved from the right side:

Jones is controlling the entire strike zone this season. Over the years, Chipper has been pitched primarily down-and-away, middle-away and down-and-in. Although he has always hit above .300 on mistakes over the middle of the plate, Jones was an average hitter in the parts of the zone that pitchers pounded. So far in 2008, he’s missing on fewer swings and putting more balls in play from the spots that used to give him trouble, making the whole strike zone dangerous for pitchers:

In Berkman's case, he simply hasn't missed his pitch this season. The Astros' slugger is vulnerable on pitches above his hands when batting left, and he is not the best low-ball hitter either, but he's crushed everything between the thighs and waist from both sides of the plate: