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Venditte’s craft draws praise from Mariners
- Updated: September 15, 2016
No matter which hand switch-pitcher Pat Venditte picks up a baseball with, he will fire it off without a second thought. That’s an alien concept for anyone who grew up throwing with one hand — even those who now making a living out of it.
“I’d probably look like an amateur country line dancer dancing to hip-hop,” right-handed reliver Tom Wilhelmsen said of pitching with his left hand.
Venditte’s bullpen mates know how special he is. The 31-year-old may not be the most dominant Seattle reliever right now, having given up nine earned runs in the 10 innings he’s pitched for the Mariners this season, but he’s the first full-time switch-pitcher to throw in the Majors during the modern era of baseball.
“As soon as he came in, I was picking his brain,” reliever Nathan Karns said, “asking him all these questions about shoulder maintenance, how does his body feel throwing with both arms? The capability to learn that, to feel comfortable doing that and then executing at the highest level, it blows my mind. It really …
