Double switch (baseball)

In baseball, the double switch is a type of player substitution, usually performed by a team while playing defense. The double switch is typically used to make a pitching substitution, while simultaneously placing the incoming pitcher in a more favorable spot in the batting order than was occupied by the outgoing pitcher. (On the assumption that the pitcher will be a poor hitter, the incoming pitcher will generally take the spot in the batting order of a position player who has recently batted, so as to reduce the chance that the pitcher will make a plate appearance in the next few innings.) To perform a double switch (or any other substitution), the ball must be dead.^{: Rule 3.03}

Beginning in 2022 the National League adopted the designated hitter. Pitchers no longer took a spot in the batting order, and that rendered the double switch virtually unneeded.