Yankees' Anthony Seigler is ambidextrous catcher/outfielder (video)
Yankees prospect Anthony Seigler is a switch-hitting catcher, which isn’t terribly unusual. But he’s also capable of being a switch-throwing fielder.
Seigler made headlines as a high schooler in Georgia for his ability to pitch with both arms, striking out 29 batters in 25.2 innings. But when the Yankees took him in the first round of the 2018 draft, it was as a catcher, and Seigler has played almost exclusively behind the plate (as a righty) in five seasons in the minors. But on Wednesday night against the Akron RubberDucks, Somerset Patriots manager Raul Dominguez used Seigler for two innings in left field, and when Seigler took the field he did so with his glove on his right hand.
In the bottom of the seventh, Seigler made a catch on a fly ball that would have been a totally routine play if not for the fact that his glove wasn’t on the same hand it was for the 1,300 innings he’s spent playing catcher as a pro. Then, the next night, Seigler was back behind the plate, showing off his strong right arm as he threw out a runner attempting to steal.
Anthony Seigler is a switch-thrower ????
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 4, 2023
Wednesday: makes a catch as a left-handed left fielder
Thursday: throws out a runner as a right-handed catcher@SOMPatriots | @Yankees pic.twitter.com/9qkH2N45Rr
“When I was younger, I always played outfield lefty, so there was no doubt that if I ever got the opportunity to do it in pro ball, it was definitely going to be lefty,” Seigler told MiLB.com.
Seigler hasn’t gotten many opportunities to show off his ambidextrous throwing abilities. He plays catcher exclusively as a righty (lefty catchers are extraordinarily rare in professional baseball) and he’s seen hardly any action in the outfield. His only other appearance in the outfield as a pro was in 2021 with the High A Hudson Valley Renegades. He was only out there for two-thirds of an inning and did not have a ball hit to him.
The fly ball hit to him on Wednesday night was the only action Seigler saw out there. With any luck, he’ll get more opportunities in the outfield and a chance to show that his left arm in the outfield is as strong as his right arm behind the plate.