Bunts, outs and strategy
Of all the offensive strategies in the game of fastpitch softball, none is more time-honored than using the bunt as a means of advancing a runner into scoring position. In fact, you could say that offensive strategy #1 goes like this: get your leadoff hitter on base, then have the next hitter sacrifice bunt her over to second.
That’s the way it’s always been. And for many that’s the way it continues to be. Yet there is a question as to whether it really makes sense to automatically lay down the bunt when you get a runner on base with no outs, no matter the quality of the opposing team or where you are in the lineup.
Major League Baseball once did a study on the chances of scoring a runner from first base with no outs v. from second base with one out. It came from the study of 50 years worth of statistics. (MLB and the people who follow it intensely love to make with the stats.) According to Cindy Bristow’s must-have book Softball Strategies, Coverages, Signals & Charts, the chances of a runner scoring from first with no outs are 43%. The chances of scoring that same runner from second with one out are 45%. Is it really worth giving up an out automatically to increase your chances of scoring by 2%? It’s a good strategy sometimes — like when you’re in a tight, low-scoring game where you need to play for one run, when your team’s hitters are being dominated by the other team’s pitcher, or you’re in the part of your lineup where rallies go to die.
But it may not be such a good idea when you’re early in the game and you know you can hit the opponent’s pitcher. Why not play for a big inning by letting hitter #2 swing away? She may advance the runner a lot further than second, and you still have all three outs left to try to get her home. Even if she only gets to second, the chances of scoring go up to 60% with no outs. If she makes it to third, you stand a 70% chance of getting her in. I’d say 70% looks a lot better than 45% — and 60 feet away looks better than 120 feet. After all, from third all you need is a wild pitch to score.
I’ve even seen some teams waste two outs trying to bunt a runner to third. Let’s look at the stats there. Again, with a runner on first and no outs your chances of scoring that runner are 43%. If you expend an out to bunt her to second and then another to bunt her to third, your situation is two outs and a runner on third. Your chances of scoring now have actually gone down. Statistically, you have a 32% chance of scoring — 11% less than when you started. How does that make sense? Unless your team is so horrible at swinging the bat that they have no chance of putting the ball in play, you are better off trying to hit that runner around and in.
If you follow softball 101 and bunt her to second, you’re still better off swinging the bat and using a hit to advance her to third. The chances of scoring a runner from third with one out are 54%. That’s a slight advantage over the “house” for you gamblers. Does it really make sense to give up 22% to get that runner to third? I don’t think so. Half of 54% is 27%, so you’re basically cutting your chances of scoring almost in half by sac bunting the runner to third. Who in their right minds wants to cut their chances of scoring in half? Yes, you might get lucky with a wild pitch now and then. But the higher a level you play, the less likely you are to get that luck. In the meantime, you’ve given up a lot of outs — and potential runs — for no reason.
Bunting is a great technique for advancing runners when used intelligently. I’ve done it myself lots of times. But it can also be a liability. Do the math. Make your bunts more strategic and you’ll generate a lot more offense.
Red Sox manager Francona on building a winning team
Saw a very interesting article out on Jeff Janssen’s Championship Coaches Network site. It was part of an interview with Terry Francona, manager of the world champion Boston Red Sox.
Francona listed four things that are required to win at the highest level. (Actually there are more, but you have to be a paying member of his network to get the rest.) The four things listed are:
1. Establish your core values — things like being on time, respecting your teammates, etc.
2. You don’t have to have played to be a successful manager. You just have to be knowledgeable and a good communicator.
3. Create the right culture in the clubhouse. It’s really all about character.
4. Wherever you’re coaching is as important as the Boston Red Sox. Maybe not to the masses, but to the people you’re coaching. As a result, take your responsibility seriously and give it all you have.
It’s an article well worth reading in its entirety. Click on the link above to see it. But then remember to come back here!
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Class, honor, and life lessons
Tonight I had the opportunity to watch a potentially bad situation with a terrible mismatch handled with class and honor on both sides. To me it is the best of what sports is supposed to teach our young people, but often doesn’t.
The situation was this. Our high school team was playing a conference game against a team from what is probably the most disadvantaged school in the conference. It is well known that this school struggles each year just to field a team, much less one with skills. You didn’t see any $300 bats in the hands of their hitters, and not a single parent was in the stands on their side that I could see.
It appeared tonight that several of the players on this varsity team were in their first year of playing fastpitch softball. The pitcher looked to be a volunteer who probably rolled more balls in than she threw strikes. It is the same year after year. There is no summer ball or early training for the players on this team. Their coaches generally do all they can do to teach basics most coaches expect to be learned by 10U.
Prior to the game, there was an agreement that our side’s offensive inning would end after five runs scored unless there were three outs made first. It was a good thing, because three outs were never made before five runs, and at least a couple of times there were zero outs when the teams switched it up. Our coach instructed his team not to steal a base under any circumstance — again a good thing given that the softball gods tend to punish coaches who run on weak teams by having a key player turn or break an ankle. He also started his bench players, including a pitcher who has only seen limited action. A couple of starters never even saw the field.
Runners advanced only on walks or hits, and even then the baserunning was purposely not very aggressive. I know there are those who will say that you should never let up, you want your runners to always think aggressively, etc. But I disagree with them. This coach did the right thing in restricting it. He had to play the game because it’s conference, but he knew he didn’t have to be a jerk about it. The final score was still lopsided, but the players on the losing side were treated with dignity and respect for their situation. The umpires, too, were helpful in explaining to the girls why certain calls were being made so they could learn a little more about the game.
But that was only part one of the lesson. Part two was in the conduct of the players and coaches from the visiting team. They never once got down on themselves or each other. They seemed to have fun, and looked like they were grateful just to have the opportunity to play this great game, take a couple of at bats, and wear the uniform of their school. When the game was over they were all smiles, and during the concluding high fives between the two teams a couple of them got in line a second time just for fun.
This is a team that is very likely going to go 0 for the season. But that’s not what matters to them. They are part of a team, something larger than themselves, and for a few innings whatever other life challenges they have don’t matter. They’re there to play ball.
So many of us get caught up in the wins and losses. So many players and coaches like to use games like this to pad their stats or serve some other selfish purpose. Today was a reminder that what Grantland Rice said is really true:
“For when the One Great Scorer comes
A well-executed short game
This weekend I had the opportunity to see a very well-executed short game in action. Unfortunately it was while my own daughter was pitching, but give credit where it’s due. The opposing team did what many of us practice but either don’t try or don’t execute as well. Here are the essentials.
With a runner on first, the batter showed bunt. Pretty standard offense, right? The defense charged the bunt aggressively, and the batter pulled the bat back and proceeded to push the bunt right past the pitcher and the first baseman. By the time the ball was recovered the runner was on third and the batter was on first.
This team did it not once, but twice. It wasn’t really a bad defense, it was just very heads-up offense. The lesson in this is if you see the defense charging the bunt like there’s no tomorrow there may be an opportunity to wind up with more than a runner on second and one out. If your hitter can push bunt, or pull the bat back and slap it through, you could finish the play with no outs and two on — maybe even a first and third situation. One pitch later you’re likely to have two runners in scoring position — and a defense that’s a little freaked out on top of it. Your odds of scoring have risen considerably over the standard runner on second and one out.
Your comments welcome
Every now and then I think this bears mentioning. While I own the Life in the Fastpitch Lane and get to pick the topics, this is really not intended to be a one-way street. If you have thoughts, ideas, plays, reactions to plays, etc. to share, please by all means leave comments. I am eager to hear from you. We can all learn much from one another.
Giving more than a little hint
One of the core jobs of a coach is to help his/her players improve their performance. Sometimes, though, that desire can make things worse instead of better.
Take the third base coach who knows that 1) the pitcher has a tendency to throw high pitches and 2) the hitter has a tendency to go after high pitches she can’t hit. In his desire to help, the coach will shout out “Lay off the high ones!” Well, if anyone is paying any attention at all it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out what the next pitch will be.
On the other side, a coach who yells to the catcher to keep the ball down and out on the next hitter is also asking for trouble. A big part of pitching is keeping the hitter off balance and guessing. If she knows where the next pitch is going (assuming the pitcher can hit that spot!) it should be a whole lot easier to hit, because the zone she has to cover has narrowed considerably.
Those are just two examples. A coach who tells a hitter to make sure she moves up in the box in an obvious bunt situation, or tells the baserunner to make sure she gets a good jump on the next pitch is taking the element of surprise out. Again, assuming the opponent is paying attention, the coach might as well just say flat out “Hey, we’re bunting” or “Hey we’re stealing.”
It can be hard to hold your tongue sometimes, especially when the outcome is really important. But you have to learn to do it. Otherwise, you’re doing more to help the other team than your own.
Short-term failure v. long-term success
On my way home from teaching lessons tonight I was thinking about how hard many pitchers work on different pitches. Yet when it comes to games, often they (or their coaches) are reluctant to use them. They find it’s easier to be successful win if they stick with fastballs rather than taking a chance on throwing changeups or movement pitches they’ve spent the off-season learning.
That’s the wrong attitude, though. For a pitcher to develop so she can compete at a higher level, she needs to use all her pitches in game situations, even if it causes her to struggle a bit for a while.
Yes, I know, it’s easy for me to say. I’m not the one watching her struggle, or watching my team lose a game while the pitcher tries to develop. But I have been. In fact, I used that very strategy with my own daughter, while coaching my own team. By her first year in 14U she had developed a drop, curve, and screw to go with her fastball and change. Before the season we made a commitment to limit the use of the fastball, and instead focus on the other pitches. It was tough for a while — the control was a little off, and the movement was less than ideal. She got knocked around a bit, but as the season wore on she got better. Today, changes and movement pitches are the core of her game.
I will admit during that season we did wind up using more fastballs than the original plan. It was a worthwhile compromise that helped the team win more games. But we still relied primarily on the movement pitches.
It can be tough sometimes to lose games you might otherwise win. But especially at the younger ages it’s important to sacrifice a few wins now for more wins later. Use those new pitches and let the pitcher develop. It’s the key to long-term success.
Kudos to the men in blue
I’ve made no secret about my feelings regarding teaching players to push the rules cheat. One of my biggest pet peeves is teaching baserunners to leave the base early on a steal under the premise that the umpires probably won’t call it.
Apparently it’s a pet peeve of one of the umpires at the game I was watching yesterday too. Late in the game one of the teams had a runner on first. This team is fairly well known for its aggressive play, and this was a speedy runner with a high likelihood of stealing. As the pitcher delivered the ball, the field umpire yelled out “dead ball, no pitch.” As we were wondering what happened — was it an illegal pitch? — he informed everyone that the runner left early and was out. It was the third out in the inning and killed a potential scoring opportunity since there was a good hitter at the plate.
Kudos to the Blue for keeping an eye on it. The team hadn’t had many baserunners so there wasn’t much evidence that it might occur. But he did his job and made the call.
Now, it may have been a mis-timing on the runner’s part, but I don’t think so. I think she was doing as she’d been taught — getting an early jump. How nice that instead of getting a free base she was out. Justice is served! Considering this runner probably didn’t need to get that jump to steal the base due to her speed, what a shame that she’d been taught to do it anyway (assuming she has).
Your best bet is play within the rules. They’re there for your protection, and to keep the game fair. It’s also the right thing to do.
Using the glove arm when throwing
I’m not sure when this started happening, but from my observations it seems like a lot of girls are learning to throw without using the glove arms effectively. Most of the time when that happens, they either let the glove hang down limply at their sides or they sort of sweep it down and then behind them.
Neither of these methods is very effective. At least with the second, there is some effort to use the glove side. With the first, where the glove hangs limply, there are a couple of problems.
One of the biggest is a lack of balance when throwing. The body likes to be in balance when making athletic movements. When the throwing arm is moving back then forward, balance can be affected — especially if there is nothing to offset the movement. If the glove arm just hangs down, it is not being used to balance the body. Therefore either some other body part is going to have to provide the balance — often the head — or the throw will be made off-balance.
Another problem is a loss of power in the throw. Some girls who do this have strong arms, so they believe they’re throwing as hard as they can. But they’re not. Pulling with the glove arm adds some attack to the throw, helping make it sharper. No matter how hard you throw, you will throw harder by using the glove arm.
The way to think of it is to picture a tug of war. You are manning the rope. The glove arm should pull back as though you are pulling on a rope. It pulls at the same time the throwing arm moves forward.
If you are throwing without the glove side pulling, or have players who are doing it, it’s time to make the change. It may throw them off a little at first, but the end result will be a better overall throw.
