There are a number of situations that occur in baseball games that your team can take advantage of to score more runs. Today we are going to talk more about these situations, and EXECUTION – knowing when, where and why to use these situations. This is important to every team’s success. In order to win, you have to score. Situational hitting allows you to do both.
The Hit-and-run
Ideally on a hit-and-run, we’re trying to move the runner from first base to third base with the hitter being safe at first.
The runner is treating it like a straight steal. Hitting a ball between first and second on the ground so that the runner can advance from first to third is what you would want.
Best counts for a hit-and-run are 1-0, 1-1, and 2-1. This play is used with no outs or one out. Forcing a hitter to swing with two outs is not a high percentage play. It is an advantage to move a runner to second base with two outs to put him in scoring position. But do it with some type of steal, not a hit-and-run.
Let’s take a look at how it works on the field.
Situation 1: Less than two outs
In this situation, there are less than two outs. The best situation for the hit-and-run, as far as the count on the hitter, is 1-0, 2-1, and 1-1 count. A count where the hitter is ahead is always favorable. The runner must take a peek into the hitter the whole time so if the ball’s popped in the air that he knows whether it’s going to be caught and he has to get back.
The hit-and-run can be used with any of the following six situations.
- the pitcher throws a high percentage of strikes
- you want to get runners moving
- you want to put pressure on the defense
- you have the slow runner on base and/or at the plate and you want to stay out of a double play
- good contact hitter at the plate
- a shortstop and second baseman both vacate their positions to cover a steal
When a hitter comes to the plate with two strikes, he wants to move up on the plate, shorten up on the bat, and shorten up on the swing.
It’s important that he puts the ball in play.
The hitter must protect the outer part of the plate because many pitchers look to that area with two strikes and the pitch down and away is the most difficult spot for most hitters to handle.
Protecting that spot may also involve anticipating a breaking ball in the outer half of the plate.
Situation 2: 1 Out and Runner on second
And a runner on second and the one out. The hitter is looking for a pitch that he can drive to the right side to be able to either moving him in the scoring position or possibly scoring.
Let’s take a look at how it works on the field.
A very popular saying in baseball, you try to get runners on, get them over in the scoring position, and then get them in.
The hitter is looking for a pitch on the outside part of the plate that he could hit the ball to the right side. Thus moving the runner from second over to third.
Runner on third, less than two outs. Infield is up. We’re looking to hit a fly ball to score this runner from third. Any time the infield is up, you want to try to hit the ball in the air to the outfield to score that run.
The hitter is looking for a pitch with the infield up that he can hit into the air and possibly score the runner from third.
If you are looking for more hitting tips techniques, be sure to check out our complete hitting drills collection. And to help your team score more runs, dive into our collection of simple, fun and effective baserunning drills.