Should Oriole infielders switch positions? | MAILBAG

Question: I heard an analyst on the MLB Network say that his opinion was that defensively, Gunnar Henderson was better suited for third base than shortstop.  I know the O’s have a surplus of third basemen, but it got me to thinking that Jackson Holliday was a shortstop his entire career before being switched to second base, so if Henderson did move to third, the O’s would already have someone to play shortstop, and that Jordan Westburg has had experience at second base. Crazy as it might sound, would this position switching make any sense?  From: Dan E. 

Answer: Dan, I don’t think mass position switching makes a lot of sense, and I would be shocked if the Orioles tried it, especially with the likelihood of a shorter spring training.

The Orioles only have a surplus of third basemen if Jordan Westburg returns healthy, and we need to see if he’s healthy when spring training begins.

Holliday has put in lots of work improving at second base, and he has improved, so I think it’s better to leave Holliday at second, Henderson at short and Westburg at third for 2027.

Question:  Why is it that so many left-handed hitters like Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, Dylan Beavers, have so much trouble with left-handed pitchers? Right-handed hitters don’t seem to have trouble with right handed pitchers. From: Rusty Wallace  — Annapolis

Answer: Rusty, the answer has always been that left-handed pitchers are able to spin the ball and move it away from left-handed hitters, making it harder to hit.

Another answer might be that growing up left-handed hitters don’t see as many left-handed pitchers. About 10 percent of the population, including my mother, was left-handed, and when I played ball as a kid, I rarely saw a left-handed pitcher. I’m a right-hander who does a few things left-handed.

Skilled left-handed hitters don’t have any trouble against any kind of pitchers in high school. It’s not until they get into pro ball, it seems, that this is the case.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.