Last night I had a coach ask me if his batter could switch from right to left handed batting during an at bat. I told him that once the at bat begins you can't switch unless a new pitcher comes in. I don't even think the kid was a switch hitter and the coach told me that basically he wanted the kid hitting righty while his player stole third and then to move over and hit lefty. I remember that there's a rule that deals with this, but the main thing I can remember is if it's an ambidextrous pitcher and a switch hitter and they keep changing, the ump is to make one of them declare and then stay that way. Was I correct in that the rule is for the batter to remain on the same side of the plate until the at bat ends? I don't have time to look this up this morning and your help would be appreciated. I do have to admit that I thought this coach had a good idea with what he wanted to do, even if it at best skirted the spirit of the rules, and at worst was completely illegal.

Legal, providing the batter does it before the pitcher is ready to pitch. G.

As Gee said, it is legal before the pitcher is ready to pitch. The pitcher cannot switch during a batter.

legal
 

As long as the pitcher is not ready to pitch, he can switch every pitch if he likes.

Correct about the ambidextrous pitcher. The batter and pitcher can only switch once per at-bat. I don't know that this is covered in the rules... J/R addresses it.

-Jeremiah

It's legal. Sorry, bad call on your part.

The only thing the batter can't do is switch during the pitch.