Up Your IQ: Executing a 3-1 Count Steal

Runner in Motion on a 3-1 Count

This is a standard baseball play that is effective at all levels of baseball. It’s especially effective at the youth and high school levels where pitchers don’t necessarily get hitters to swing and miss as much. That being said, I think there should be more of this run at the college and pro levels. You are starting to see more Major League teams try to get back to this instead of just waiting on homers. Here, we are going to look at everyone’s responsibilities on this play. Find the do’s and don’ts for both baserunners and hitters below.

The scenario

Runner on 1^st base, less than two outs, 3-1 count on the hitter.

As a player, you need to understand right away why your coach is calling a steal on a 3-1 count. The reason he is calling this steal is to get the defense moving around on the field to open holes in the defense for your hitter in a good hitting count. Then if a ball does get through a hole, the likelihood is very high for the baserunner to go 1^st to 3^rd on the hit.

This can essentially turn what would be a ground ball double play into a hit. The reason we do this on a 3-1 count (and a lot of times 3-2) is because we’re expecting a good pitch to hit. The pitcher doesn’t want to walk you and is likely to throw something in the middle third of the plate.

How the Play Should Work

1. The runner steals on the pitch and then...
2. The batter swings at a fastball in the strike zone, resulting in a hard hit ball that allows the runner to go 1^st to 3^rd or...
3. The batter takes a ball, resulting in ball 4 or...
4. The batter can take or swing at an off-speed pitch in the strike zone (explanation below).

This is what the play looks like when executed correctly -

Baserunner Responsibilities

As a baserunner, you need to treat this play like a hit and run. There are VERY FEW SCENARIOS (has to be a swing and miss or called strike) that you actually steal the base on a 3-1 count. What this means is –

1. You ABSOLUTELY CANNOT get picked off.
2. Your jump doesn’t need to be good. A good jump is extra and may help us get 1^st to 3^rd, but it’s extra. We are counting on a hard hit ball in play.
3. You should look in to home plate on the steal. Find the ball immediately out of the pitcher’s hand and track it. If the ball is hit in the air, you need to see that so you can get back to first and not get doubled off.

This is not a time to try and time up the pitcher’s set time and get a perfect jump. It is DEFINITELY not a time to run an early steal. Like we said above, you are just getting in motion to move the shortstop or 2^nd baseman and open some holes for your hitter. Then, hopefully you go 1^st to 3^rd on a hit. If you are thrown out stealing, it’s on the batter because of the reasons listed below.

Batter Responsibilities

If you are the batter and you see your coach call a 3-1 steal, he has confidence in YOU to make a good decision to swing and to make contact on a strike. If he doesn’t call a 3-1 steal, you might be someone who swings and misses a lot. Remember, just because a runner is "stealing" does not mean we always HAVE TO take the pitch. This is a very common youth baseball mentality that isn't always true.

As a batter in this 3-1 count scenario, this is your decision tree –

Any Pitch Outside of the Strike Zone

Take it. It’s ball 4 and everyone is moving up.

A Fastball in the Strike Zone

You HAVE TO swing. Remember what we said about the runner. He is not trying to get a good jump on this. He’s just trying to get started for you to hit. If you get a fastball in the strike zone in this count it means –

1. The ball isn’t going to take very long to get to home plate from the pitcher because it’s a fastball. Our runner is already losing ground to the ball speed.
2. It’s in the strike zone, so it’s a better pitch for the catcher to throw our runner out on.

If you take this pitch, your baserunner might be out by 20 feet. This is what it looks like when the batter doesn’t swing at a fastball strike in this situation –

By Major League standards, Brendan Donovan gets thrown out stealing by a mile. Like we said, in this count, he's not trying to get a great jump and is relying on the Herrera to swing at a good pitch to hit. By all accounts, this was a good pitch to hit and Herrera needs to be swinging here.

Ideally, because of the reasons above, we don’t want to swing and miss at the pitch either. You need to protect your runner. However, at least a swing provides some interference to the catcher’s timing.

IMPORTANT NOTE – If you do swing and miss as the hitter DO NOT fall across home plate. It will be called interference on you. You will be out, which will really suck because you were in an advantage count, and the baserunner will have to go back to 1^st base.

An Off-Speed Pitch in the Strike Zone

Generally speaking, we tell hitters they DON’T need to swing at this. If it’s a change-up or a curveball, it’s going to take more time for the pitch to get to home plate. It also will upset the rhythm of the catcher a bit too. However, if you start seeing power arms, we might say you have to swing. If a guy has an 85mph slider, that’s firmer than a lot of younger pitcher’s fastballs. Our base approach would be that you can take the off-speed.

This doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to swing at it. If it is a breaking ball in the strike zone, odds are it’s a hanger in a 3-1 count because he’s throwing it to just get it over the plate. If you see it early, and it’s a hanger DRIVE IT.

Summary

Ultimately, this should be an indefensible play. We should either walk or at the very least get a good swing off in a good hitter’s count with our baserunner getting a head start.

As a team and individual, your goal should always be to put as much pressure on the other team (in this case, the pitcher and defense) as possible. If the other team knows we like to run 3-1, they might feel the need to throw a fastball to give their catcher a chance to throw the guy out. This means our hitter is probably getting a better pitch to hit. If you and your team can execute this regularly, you are dictating the game. The more the game is played on your terms, the more wins you will rack up.

And WINNING is fun 😊.