The Future Phenom?

This week's back page of ESPN The Magazine, Rick Reilly came through with another excellent story. Pat Verditte is a 23-year-old pitcher for the Charleston Riverdogs, the single-A club for the Yankees. But, he is not your ordinary pitcher. Verditte throws lefty and righty. Above is an 8 minute video of this kid facing a switch batter in a game. It's pretty funny. After this game there was a new rule which most minor league umpires call the: "Verditte rule". This rule now states that at the start of the at-bat the pitcher must declare his throwing arm, which then the batter can pick his side, and allowing both players to switch only once during the at-bat. This kid throw about 90 mph righty, and has 4 pitches from both arms. Last season he earned 23 saves with a 0.83 ERA. Why is he still in A-ball concerns me. But, after Riley's article this week and could turn some heads and start pushing this kid up a couple of levels. An absolute great story!