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Yes, the player may surely switch sides; he may do so as long as the pitcher is not in the "ready position" (see rule 6.06),and, shall be called out if the batter attempts to switch sides during the pitcher's windup.(Incidentally, there has always been a popular myth in the Baseball culture that a batter can only switch sides before there are two strikes. This is just a false statement). Read your baseball rulebook!
Yes, he can. It usually happens when the opposing team changes pitchers. Generally, left-handed hitters hit better against right-handed pitchers (and vice versa), so if a switch hitter is batting left-handed against a right-handed pitcher, and the other team changes to a lefty in the middle of the at-bat, the switch hitter will usually move to the right side of the plate to counter this.
There is no rule in the MLB rule book that states how many times a batter can switch sides during an at bat. However, once the pitcher steps on the rubber, whatever side the batter is on is the side he must bat from for that pitch.
Per above, there is no rule in the rulebook that states that he cannot change from one batter's box to the other in the middle of an at-bat. The only rule about switching boxes is 6.06b which says that he cannot switch boxes if the pitcher is in the ready position. Otherwise, no problem.
yeah they can i have done it before
addendum - PBUC 'Pat Venditte rule' Pitcher must indicate which arm he will use to throw the next pitch and then the batter must take either box. I am not sure what rule number in the PBUC that this falls under. If anyone has it please add it for me.
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MaxineA batter can change sides of the plate as many times as they choose. Just like a manager can change pitchers as many times as they choose.
No a batter cannot change sides, unless the opposing team brings in a new pitcher that throws with the other hand.
Although managers may make unlimited batter substitutions, the same does not apply to pitchers. Unless he is injured, once a pitcher is brought into a game, he must face at least one batter before he can be taken out. The hitter can switch sides if there is a pitching change, but he can only do it once.
Where is the rule in MLB that states a batter cannot switch sides multiple times when batting? I have seen this answer countless times and no one specifies a rule.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
There is no official rule governing this issue. All the rule books state is that a batter cannot switch sides at the plate when the pitcher is set to deliver a pitch. This means that he/she may switch as often as he/she would like as long as the pitcher is not in his/her motion. There is nothing stating the number of times that he/she may switch sides at a single at bat. That is only a myth.
Yes although I've never seen it happen before because that pitcher would probably have to have and keep both arms loose as well as be really effective and accurate with both. But there are no rules preventing a pitcher from switching which hand he throws the pitch during any time during a game even the same at bat (it would be nice if someone perfected it, they would prolly be able to push their pitch count to the 200's which is pretty much a guaranteed full game every time out).
No.
Otherwise you would get this situation:
1) Batter bats a specific side of the plate to get an advantage over pitcher.
2) Pitcher switches pitching hand to negate the advantage.
3) Batter changes side to regain advantage.
4) Repeat steps (2) and (3) ad infinitum.
To prevent this, baseball has decided that step (1) is the end of the loop.
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