Switch-Hitting Sluggers this Year

Now that Chipper Jones has become the 3rd switch-hitter ever to hit 400 homers, I thought I'd review how some swithc-hitting sluggers are faring this year:

Chipper has 18 homers to go with his enormous (but falling) average in 315 at bats. With 404 at age 36 (and the injury bug biting more often lately), he may fall just short of joining Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray in the 500 club.

Jones' teammate, Mark Teixeria, has hit 19 out in 363 AB, making them the most potent switch-hitting power duo in the game. Teixeria now has 189 at age 28, at about the same pace as a younger Jones, I'd imagine.

Switch-hitting board game magnate :) Milton Bradley has already equalled his career high with 19 homers in 288 AB his first year with Texas (in 2001 he had only 1 in 238 AB!) Carlos Beltran has always had good power, but never eye-popping numbers before hitting 41 in 2006. He followed that with 33 last year, but his 15 in 377 AB this years are back around his usual pre-2006 pace. He now has 251 at age 31.

And perhaps the best switch-hiting slugger of our time, perhaps the best since the Mick, is Lance Berkman. He has 22 in 352 AB so far this year, giving him 281 at age 32. And perhaps Nick Swisher deserves mention as an up-and-comer. The son of extremely weak-hitting catcher Steve has 14 HR in 333 AB this year, giving him 94 in less than 4 full years in the majors.