To hear the coaches, it sounds as if the Angels will be starting 13 players when they face the Boston Red Sox in their American League Division Series opener tonight. The Angels will start five right-handed batters and four switch-hitters.

"A switch-hitter is like two different players," says Angel manager Mike Scioscia. "We love switch-hitters."

Adds Salt Lake Bee batting coach Jim Eppard, "Having a lot of switch-hitters is an enviable advantage for any team."

Earlier this year, the Angels started six switch-hitters, four of them with batting averages above .300. And with the organization's emphasis on situational hitting — not slugging — those "ambidextrous batters" (as Latino ballplayers call them) can manufacture runs and mess with an opposing manager's mind. And the headaches get worse when players like Kendry Morales can hit home runs as easily from one side of the plate as the other.

The theory of switch-hitting is simple. Because of the rotation of the baseball, curve balls and sliders thrown by a left-hander will always break toward a right-handed batter, just as breaking balls from a righty will bend into a left-handed batter. Hitting a baseball that's moving toward you is easier than hitting one that's moving away, so the edge goes to the switch-hitter.

And that's especially true today when pitchers can throw hard sliders that zoom in at 85 mph, then snap away like Whiffle balls.

"The key," says Angel batting coach Mickey Hatcher, "is the players have to be good hitters from both sides of the plate."

And that takes time, talent, work and savvy coaching.

"It's twice as much work for them," says Eppard. "We have to make sure they get their swings in from both sides of the plate. As a coach, I treat them as if they were two separate players. Take (left fielder) Reggie Willits. He likes to pick on his right side a lot. I tell him, 'Hey, leave the right-handed guy alone. He's trying as hard as the left-handed guy. He might not be as good, but he tries just as hard.' "

Most all of the current crop of Angel switch-hitters came through Salt Lake City and played for the Bees. Many also spent time playing as rookies with Provo and Orem.

Some seemed to come out of the womb as switch-hitters. Others, like third baseman Chone Figgins, came to the art late.

"I started when I first signed," says Figgins. "They made me do it. It was one of those deals. And this has been a year when we haven't faced too many lefties, so it's been a battle for me. If you're not constantly going back and forth as a switch-hitter it can be tough. But I wouldn't have it any other way."