Yankees' J.C. Escarra working to make an unprecedented career change

Mickey Mantle became the greatest switch-hitter baseball has ever seen by taking daily hacks from both sides of the plate from an early age, his father and grandfather each pitching from one side as the young Mick figured out how to hone each of his special swings.

Generally, switch-hitting isn't taken up by the weak-minded. It requires even more extra work than you'd think, because all of a sudden, you're trying to keep two swings in order at all times.

Anyway, that's what J.C. Escarra is trying to do in the middle of the MLB season for the New York Yankees.

YES Network play-by-play guy Michael Kay revealed during Saturday's broadcast that Escarra is working on learning a right-handed swing.

Escarra bats lefty, just as Yankees starter Austin Wells does. For now, the Yanks have let that ride out as is.

Eventually, though, the Yankees could try to trade for a right-handed hitting catcher. That could come at the expense of playing time or even a roster spot for Escarra. He's trying to prevent that from happening.

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If Escarra can pull this off, it'll be immensely impressive. He'll surely get asked about it at some point, and maybe it's something he's tried in the past, given that Kay says Escarra is a natural righty at most things.

Still, in the middle of a season, it sounds like a tall task.

Escarra was an unlikely major leaguer to begin with, though, so he probably doesn't mind tough odds. He's going to put his mind to this task and see what he can accomplish.

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