Why Athletics' Jonah Heim Needs To Stop Switch-Hitting
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The A's offense has been really great over the last bunch of weeks, and Jonah Heim has emerged as one of the team's best bats against left-handed pitching.
There's no manager who loves matchups more than the A's manager, Mark Kotsay. Kotsay, like some other managers, will always load his lineups with lefty hitters to face right-handers, and will always pack in all righties to take on southpaws.
Since Heim has proven that he can hit left-handed pitching, he's been finding his way into the A's lineup even on days when Shea Langeliers needs a break.
Jonah Heim was mainly brought onto this team to serve as the backup catcher to Shea Langeliers and wasn't expected to have much of a role besides that. Given his opportunities to start, he's done a fabulous job.
ATH - Jonah Heim Solo HR (4)
— MLB Home Runs (@MLBHRs_) June 9, 2026
⚡ Game-tying HR ⚡
📏 316 ft | 💨 94.6 mph | 📐 48°
⚾️ 92.9 mph changeup (MIL - LHP Aaron Ashby)
🏟️ Out in 0/30 parks 👻
MIL (14) @ ATH (14)
🔻 10th#Athletics pic.twitter.com/AiurJMkQE4
One of Heim's biggest moments since rejoining the A's came in Game 1 of the Las Vegas Series against the Brewers. After a huge Nick Kurtz bomb to put the team within one run, down to their final out, Heim delivered one of the shortest home runs in MLB history.
The clutch hit sent the game into more extra innings, but his hit would get criticized on social media, because it would not have been a home run in any MLB ballpark.
Why Heim Needs To Hit Exclusively Righty
Although Heim has been super hot since coming back to the A's organization, one struggle he's had is hitting right-handers.
Against right-handed pitchers this season, Jonah Heim holds just a .150 batting average and .464 OPS in 40 at-bats. He has no home runs this season against righties.
On the other side, Heim bats to an incredible .318 batting average and a 1.112 OPS, which is top 10 in all of baseball against lefties. He also has all five of his home runs this season when he bats right-handed against southpaws.
We're callin' this a HEIM run 💥 pic.twitter.com/8KGJ7806pI
— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) June 10, 2026
One way that he could possibly even his splits and get everyday playing time, is by dropping the switch-hitting title.
It's not uncommon for switch hitters to get to the major league level and stop doing it because they usually hit better from one side. A recent example of that was Cedric Mullins. When he came up with the Orioles, he elected to stick to batting lefty for the rest of his career.
Heim Could Draw Trade Interest
Even though Heim was acquired via trade a few weeks ago from Atlanta, don't discount the fact that he could be traded once again.
Lots of teams are lacking catcher production, including the New York Yankees. A contender like New York that is lacking production from the injured Austin Wells, and isn't getting much out of Ali Sanchez and JC Escarra, could look at the A's backup catcher.
Even if the A's are looking to contend this year, if they get something solid in return for Heim, it could bolster their roster in perhaps a position of need.
Players that have homered in each of the first two games in Las Vegas:
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 10, 2026
Nick Kurtz
Tyler Soderstrom
Jonah Heim
Zack Gelof
It’s still the 6th inning 🤯 pic.twitter.com/gadqyhiLBI
Maybe the Yankees could part with a bullpen arm that could help the A's depth, and they could land their new starting catcher in Jonah Heim.
The first step for Heim to become a valuable hitter in this league might just be becoming a full-time right-handed hitter.
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Dylan Quinn grew up playing baseball, and also enjoyed watching and writing about his favorite team, the A’s. Being a diehard A’s fan from New Jersey is certainly not common, but he loves the team and all of the current and former players so much. Quinn currently attends school at Penn State Scranton where he plays baseball.
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