When the Dodgers signed 33-year-old veteran switch-pitcher Pat Venditte to a minor league contact on November 26, 2017, they did so not because of the novelty that he was – and still is – the only switch-pitcher in Major league Baseball in the 21st century, but because he is a good relief pitcher regardless of which arm he uses – period.

Granted, it’s impossible to watch the Omaha, Nebraska native and New York Yankees 20th round draft pick in 2008 out of Creighton University pitch from both sides of the rubber and not think This is kind of cool. But the simple truth is that when the Dodgers signed him, he already had 41 major league games under his belt in 2015 and 2016 – 26 with the Oakland Athletics, eight with the Toronto Blue Jays, and seven with the Seattle Mariners.

Even though Venditte’s numbers weren’t all that good before coming to the Dodgers (2-2 / 5.73 ERA), they were very good once he became a Dodger.

In his 45 relief appearances with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2018, the extremely polite and soft-spoken switch-pitcher posted a 4-2 record with an outstanding 1.75 ERA over his 51.1 innings of work, good enough to earn a May 12, 2018 call-up to the Dodgers. And even though Venditte would log quite a few frequent flyer miles between L.A. and OKC over the next five months, he posted an 0-0 record and an excellent 2.57 ERA in the 15 games and 14.0 innings in which he appeared with the big league Dodgers.

A good relief pitcher indeed.

In his 14.0 MLB innings pitched in 2018, Venditte allowed four runs on 11 hits, while walking three and striking out nine. He allowed only one home run to some guy named Joey Votto. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As a result of Venditte’s success with the big club, it came as no surprise when, this past Tuesday when MLB teams were required to submit their 40-man rosters in advance of MLB’s Rule-5 Draft December 9-13, the Dodgers released right-handers Tom Koehler and Erik Goeddel, and left-hander Zac Rosscup, while keeping Venditte.

Because Venditte is pre-arbitration eligible in 2019 (until 2021) and doesn’t become a free agent until 2024, keeping him and letting the other three go will save the Dodgers a boatload of money. And while it is abundantly clear that the Dodgers are still in desperate need of bullpen help prior to pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training on February 13, 2019, they now have more money to work with to do exactly that.

Pat’s son Dom became a big brother on November 1, 2018 with the birth of his baby sister Ella Pearl.
(Photo credit – Pat Venditte)

The disclaimer here is that February 13 is still a very long way off and there absolutely positively will be additional trades and acquisitions between now and then. But as of this moment, and regardless of which arm he uses, Pat Venditte is still a Dodger.

…and that’s a good thing.

Play Ball!

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(Author’s note: ThinkBlueLA.com did an exclusive interview with Pat Venditte during spring training 2018, during which he went into detail about currently being MLB’s only switch-pitcher. Click here to read that article).