In baseball when the batter hits the ball, how does the defensive players know to which base they?

Question

are supposed to throw to. Say a grounder infield, why do they throw to first base first then to second. Which base is more important? Sorry if the question is confusing.

Answer 1

It depends on the situation and other factors.

Number of outs: if there's two outs you throw it to the easiest base which is usually first.  Otherwise you try to get a force on the lead runner.

Score: If you're winning by a lot you want to make sure you get an out.  You want to throw to the base that gives you the best chance to do this.

Location of the fielder:  If his momentum is carrying the fielder toward first (say the second baseman) then he should probably throw it to first since it's a much easier throw.

Speed of the runner: If it's a slow runner on base you can try to throw him out.  If it's a fast runner you might be better off getting the batter out.

Basically the defensive players have enough experience they know where to throw it.  A good defensive player will ask themselves before the ball is pitched "If it's hit to me what am I going to do with it?"

Answer 2

The way your question is written it appears that there is a runner on 1st base but no other base.  If possible you want to take out the lead runner. In this example the player who has fielded the ground ball would go to 2nd before throwing to 1st.  The player taking the throw at 2nd only needs to touch the bag as the runner has been forced to 2nd because the ball was hit on the ground.  The player taking the throw at 2nd would then throw to 1st.  

The only player that might go to 1st before throwing to 2nd would be the 1st baseman and then only if the ball was hit right near 1st base.  In this example the runner going from 1st to 2nd is no longer forced, as the hitter is out at 1st and the player taking the throw at 2nd would have to tag the runner.  

Answer 3

The infielders will always be looking to the get maximum benefit for their team while limiting the opponent's opportunities to score. For exampe, if there are runners on first and second and the ball is hit hard to the shortstop, he will throw to second base and try for the double play. But, if the ball is hit slowly he may just throw the ball to third because they will only get one out, so it is best to get the lead runner.

Before each pitch, an infielder should be going over their option - if its a line drive, or a sharply hit grounder, or a slow roller, or they have to go their right or left...

Some of the factors that go into the decision: how many are out? what bases have runners? what is the score? is the batter fast? are the baserunners fast? are you playing with infield in, at double play depth or regular...

Lots of practice and lots of communication between the fielders are needed to make sure they do throw to the right base.

Answer 4

Kinda confusing question, but I think that what you mean is under what circumstances should the fielder throw to which base. Well, when there is 0/1 out's and a ground ball is hit, logically the fielder would throw to second to try to turn a double play, but if they can't get the second base runner because of a hit and run or whatever it is, they would try to get the out at 1st. But if there is two outs, you should definitely go for the safe out at first.

Answer 5

If there is nobody on base, then when you  field the ball, have to figure out if you can throw the batter out at first or not, depending on where you get the ball, how fast the runner is and how hard you can throw. If you can get him, you throw to first to try to get him out. If there is no way, you throw to second to keep the runner from trying to get there.

If there are already runners on base, the basic rule is to try to throw out the lead runner first, if you can, because he is the closest to scoring. There are exceptions to that but that is basic. Sometimes you go ahead and let a runner on third score if you can get out two other runners and get closer to ending the inning. Strategy comes into play there, depending on the score and who is coming up to bat.

So, your question is not at all simple to answer and a lot of experience in playing baseball and instincts are involved.

Answer 6

there is whats called a force-out. that is if there is a runner on first and the ball is hit, they can throw to 2nd base and get the 1st base runner out simply by touching the bag. in this situation the player who cought the ball would first throw to 2nd base becasue the base runner has lead off 1st base therefor has a shorter distance to run to snd base that does the batter who has to run althe way to first base. they would throw to 2nd base first then to 1st to turn a double play  

Answer 7

Well, I suppose the best way to explain it...is that they throw it to whichever base a runner is going to.

If nobody is on base, and the batter hits a ground ball, then the throw goes to first since that is where the hitter is runner.

If there is a man on first, the throw goes to second, then to first.

Of course there are all kinds of situations that can dictate otherwise, but that's the basic thought of it.

Answer 8

They will always try to first get the lead runner, either by forcing him out (throwing to 2nd on a grounder, making him out by force because he can't stay on 1st base anymore) or tagging him out (throwing to the plate when a grounder is hit with only a man on 3b, tagging him out at the plate.)

Answer 9

umm, well if there was 1 out then they were doing a double play. 2nd base is more importent becasue its closer to home then 1st base. I guess they threw it to 1st casue maybe it was easier.

Answer 10

i dont understand..