- Feb 3, 2011
- 1,880
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I watched a power hitter execute a perfect sac bunt on the 1st pitch Sunday. I saw the same thing from a strong #4 hitter last week.
With rare exception, SS covers 3B on the steal.
Who covers 3rd?
- Thread starter GA42sDad
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I watched a power hitter execute a perfect sac bunt on the 1st pitch Sunday. I saw the same thing from a strong #4 hitter last week.
With rare exception, SS covers 3B on the steal.
Ours too. For the most part she is playing anywhere from 10-25' up the line depending on the situation and the team we are playing. So if a runner is on 2, SS covers. If no runner on 2 but is on 1, LF covers 3rd on a bunt to keep the runner from taking a free base and the other Ofers rotate around to back up.
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Not to argue the point.. guess Ive been gambling that we will know if they are bunting or not based on box position but suspect that will burn me at some point and Ill come back and agree 100% with you guys that 3rd should ALWAYS expect bunt but for my own curiosity that power hitter and strong #4 - where were they in box when they bunted?
I agree that if we guess wrong and girl does bunt when we expect a hit it will be an easy girl on 3rd AND 1st for the offense with 3rd covering the throw... just about to start 12U and the more I think about it the less inclined to gamble on knowing if its a bunt or not... and I suspect it will be harder to guess a bunt or not as they get older... having SS cover at all times makes sense if we cant tell if it will be a bunt or not... I see where you guys are coming from on the "assume and play as if its a bunt"
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Outfielder covering a base......
If any opponent of ours ever has an outfielder cover a base, our runners will either beat them there, or we will MAKE an overthrow happen. It won't happen everytime, but we practice it....we have signs for it....and we score a BUNCH of runs with it. We are delighted to see an opponent using outfielders to cover bases. Of course, there are holes in every bunt coverage if you have good players/hitters/baserunners. With a good hitter up, and runner on 2nd wit a little speed, they will most times beat the ss to 3rd, unless.......the ss is cheating toward 3rd, which opens up a bigger lead for runner, or bigger hole for batter. These are just a couple of examples why the offense has big advantage with runner on 2nd.
Bunt coverage is tough to call. There are many ways to do it, and all need to be mastered, so your team is ready for anything. This is a good discussion.
If any opponent of ours ever has an outfielder cover a base, our runners will either beat them there, or we will MAKE an overthrow happen. It won't happen everytime, but we practice it....we have signs for it....and we score a BUNCH of runs with it. We are delighted to see an opponent using outfielders to cover bases. Of course, there are holes in every bunt coverage if you have good players/hitters/baserunners. With a good hitter up, and runner on 2nd wit a little speed, they will most times beat the ss to 3rd, unless.......the ss is cheating toward 3rd, which opens up a bigger lead for runner, or bigger hole for batter. These are just a couple of examples why the offense has big advantage with runner on 2nd.
Bunt coverage is tough to call. There are many ways to do it, and all need to be mastered, so your team is ready for anything. This is a good discussion.
Please don't take this as a challenge since it isn't. I'm just trying to understand. Are you saying that a majority of your baserunners can cover 120' faster than most outfielders can cover 90'? Even allowing for the jump on pitch, I don't think I've seen this happen to us yet. We've had a few that were close but my LFer's one of the fastest on our team and also plays 3 when not in the OF. Assuming that she wasn't, we would probably go another, more traditional route but this works for us just fine.
Edit: I'm not saying it hasn't happened to us, just that I can't recall it off the top of my head. If it happened more often, we would change it. As for overthrows, that'll happen no matter who's covering so I don't think that should be a factor in the decision.
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If you start having your runners take a bigger lead because ss is cheating we will get you out on second base after the catcher receives the ball. Either with a str8 throw down to second or a pitcher to second throw. The guys that tell their runners to come down as far as the 3rd basemen is playing get picked quick. Just saying that you can't necessarily exploit a coverage the way you are suggesting.
Not on everybplay.
I'm sorry, typed too fast, and didn't say enough. I didn't mean to imply these things happen every play, and can never be stopped. I should also disclose that my team doesn't play at the highest levels. we're more of a B+/A- team. We teach the runners to read the outfielder asap. I count on the fact that much of the time the outfielder doesn't react instantly. More times than not the runner is off ahead of the fielder, and is able to beat them. You are right, though, if the fielder reacts correctly, they get there first. as for the overthrows... you are right, but with an outfielder in their correct position, they are able to backup the infielder on an overthrow. If the outfielder is at the base, thare is no backup.
My team is not a power team at all. we have to go station to station, and manufacture runs any way we can, so we look for things like that to help out. Again, they don't always work, but we are able to exploit it often.
I'm sorry, typed too fast, and didn't say enough. I didn't mean to imply these things happen every play, and can never be stopped. I should also disclose that my team doesn't play at the highest levels. we're more of a B+/A- team. We teach the runners to read the outfielder asap. I count on the fact that much of the time the outfielder doesn't react instantly. More times than not the runner is off ahead of the fielder, and is able to beat them. You are right, though, if the fielder reacts correctly, they get there first. as for the overthrows... you are right, but with an outfielder in their correct position, they are able to backup the infielder on an overthrow. If the outfielder is at the base, thare is no backup.
My team is not a power team at all. we have to go station to station, and manufacture runs any way we can, so we look for things like that to help out. Again, they don't always work, but we are able to exploit it often.
We're talking about on a steal with a bunt or fake bunt, or at least I thought we were. sorry about that. In my scenario the 2nd baseman is covering first with the 1st baseman crashing, 3rd as well with ss covering. Nobody is at 2nd base. the hole I wanted to point out, and I didn't do it well was up the middle with the 2nd baseman and 3rd out of place. I just wanted to make the point that there is no perfect way to cover bunts, and steals with a runner on 2nd base. You are right, there is a possible pickoff there.
Since 3 is always playing up and expecting the bunt, our OFers are as well. That's why they rotate around on the bunt if a runner's on 1 so that the CF will be in position, or at the least, close enough to backup a throw to 3 in LF if a throw has to be made. I'm not saying it's perfect or right, just that we have had a lot of success with it and it happens to work for our team.
Edit to Add: Our CF also happens to be our fastest on the team which is why this probably works for us.
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