Chapter 14. Baseball Defense for The Bunt

When a baseball team is in the field, it must function as a unit to properly defend against the team at bat and have a good baseball defence plan. When the ball is hit, every player assigned to baseball defense has an assignment-a place to go, a maneuver to execute.

The fielders, of course, try to anticipate plays in advance and determine what will be done if a runner steals, if a pitch is bunted, if the batter lashes a hit to centerfield, etc. To make adjustments, the fielders consider several things: The kind of hitter at bat, the strength of the pitcher in relation to the hitter, the type of pitch to be used and the general strategic situation, such as the score and inning.

Take a look at some of the simpler aspects of a Team's baseball Defense.

The Hitter: If the batter hits consistently to left, the infield and outfield should move a step or two toward left field. If the hitter is short and light of build, he probably hasn't much power. Bring the outfielders in two steps, the infielders in one step.

The Pitcher: Does the pitcher overpower most of the hitters? If so, the baseball defense should move a step or two to right for right hand batters, a step or two to left for left hand batters. This move is made on the assumption that the hitters will be a little late with their swing against a strong pitcher. If the pitcher has average speed, but throws a lot of curve balls, the outfield should move up and toward left field a step or two. A hitter has to supply much of his own power when hitting the curve. He also will bring the bat around quicker.

The Situation: With a runner on 1st, none out and the score even, or the batting team ahead, the defense must be prepared for the Sacrifice Bunt. Specifically, the outfielders should be ready to back up the bases; the shortstop should be ready to go to 2nd, and the second baseman to 1st. The pitcher, catcher and the third and first basemen should get set to rush in on the bunt. The diagrams on pages 90-99 show the defensive positions that are taken to offset certain plays by the offense. Here is a word description of what occurs in each situation.

THE SACRIFICE BUNT WITH RUNNERS ON 1ST

In addition to the moves described in the preceding paragraph, it should be noted if the third baseman fields the ball, the catcher must swing to his left and go forward to cover 3rd.

The outfielders, on anticipating the bunt, move forward about three steps on the pitcher's downward swing. The left fielder, as soon as he is certain the ball will be bunted, circles to his right, running hard, until he comes to a point about 30 to 40 feet in back of 3rd. He's ready now to back up a throw to 3rd from anyone on the right field side of the diamond.

Fig. 40

Bunt Baseball defense with runner on 1st. If third baseman fields ball, catcher circles left after charging into diamond and continues along baseline to cover 3rd.

The centerfielder, after he's certain the ball will be bunted, charges to a point some 20 to 30 feet behind 2nd, where he can back up a throw to 2nd by the catcher, pitcher, third and first basemen.

The right fielder, after he's certain the ball will be bunted, makes a running circle to his left so that he will be some 30 to 40 feet behind 1st and in position to handle an overthrow to 1st. If he does pick up an overthrow, he can hold the batter at 1st and the lead runner to either 2nd or 3rd.

THE SACRIFICE BUNT WITH A RUNNER ON 1ST AND 2ND. (OR JUST 2ND)

The below diagram shows that the outfielders make the same moves when a batter sacrifices with runners on 1st and 2nd. The infield positions are different, however.

The pitcher is to field everything to his right to the foul line; the first baseman everything to the pitcher's left; the catcher anything he can reach in front of the dish.

Fig. 41

Bunt Baseball defense with men on 1st and 2nd (or 2nd only). Shortstop holds runner at bag before pitch, goes to normal position on pitch. If ball is bunted, he returns to bag.

Remember that the objective of the offense in this situation is to bunt the ball past the pitcher so that the third baseman will be forced to field it. This protects the lead runner. If the pitcher fields the ball, the third baseman pivots right and races back to the bag for a possible force*out throw.

To help the situation, pitcher and shortstop should hold the runner as close to 2nd as possible. (See Chapter 8). The second baseman holds his position until he is sure the ball is going to be bunted, then he races to cover 1st.

THE SQUEEZE BUNT

The Squeeze Bunt baseball defense is the same as that with a runner on 1st base, with one notable exception. The shortstop covers 3rd instead of 2nd. If the ball is popped up, the baseball defense then can throw to 3rd and double up the runner who was trying to score.

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