Always Know the Situation

Parents and Coaches,

We spend lots of time and money teaching mechanics to our young players. While good mechanics are important, they’re useless without an understanding of the game while it’s being played.

If you didn’t see the play I’m referring to, take a quick look here:

Now, what struck you the most?

First, what a heads up base running play by Javier Baez. It’s a great testament to never giving up on the play because you never know what might happen.

But what really struck me was how caught off guard the first baseman was. This guy is a professional first baseman, and he didn’t even know the situation.

Look at the video clip again - how many outs were there? That’s right. There were two outs!

That means all the first baseman had to do was ignore the base runner, walk back to first and touch it. It would have been a force out for the third out of the inning, and what the other runner did wouldn’t have mattered.

Instead, he chased the batter, then threw a last minute too-late toss to the catcher, and didn’t get either out.

How many times have we seen similar plays in youth baseball?

Teach the game, teach situations, and above all, make sure your players know the situation before every single pitch!

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Have a great weekend!