Up Your IQ: When to Play the Infield In

Cutting the Run Off

Every coach and player has been through the charade: A runner gets to 3rd base, your shortstop looks into the dugout and waits for the coach to tell him where to play - in, back, or halfway. As a coach, how a player handles this situation tells me a lot about his baseball IQ. There will be some situations where the coach needs to make the decision, but most situations should be fairly obvious.

The following all play factors when determining where to play the defense with a runner on 3rd -

• The score
• The inning
• The outs
• How well your team can hit
• How well your pitcher is doing
• How good the other team's pitcher is

In little league, a lot of players get taught that if there is a runner on 3rd and there is no force play (runners on 2nd and 3rd OR just 3rd), you bring the infield IN to try and prevent the run from scoring on a groundball. However, the situation is much more complex that this. We'll go through each of these factors, so next time you're at shortstop, you won't need to look into the dugout.

The Scenario

There are runners on 2nd and 3rd or just 3rd with less than two outs. 1st and 3rd is not the same. At high level baseball 1st and 3rd is a double play situation, so generally you will play the middle infielders back to try and turn two.

Defining "Infield In"

All infielders are playing on the infield grass like this -

Understand the goals for playing the infield in vs. the infield back. If we're IN, we want to cut off the run at home plate on a groundball. If we play in on the grass, we'll have a chance to throw the runner out at home if they are running the contact play.

If we're back, it gives us more range and we'll make more outs. The chances of us getting to the groundball are higher, but we are unlikely to get an out at home plate. This will help us avoid a big inning by the other team.

You can find definitions for base defensive alignments here -

The Score

When We're Winning 😁

The number one factor in determining whether or not you should play the infield in, is the score. If your team is winning the game by more than one run, there is NEVER a scenario in REAL BASEBALL where you should be playing the infield in.

Note - A "not real" scenario would be a tournament game where runs allowed is the tiebreaker and you know you can't give up the run. This is another discussion entirely, but part of the issue with tournament baseball is we don't teach kids that in REAL BASEBALL, it is ok to trade an out for a run when you're winning. There isn't a "runs allowed tiebreaker" over the course of an entire season.

If the tying or go-ahead run is on 3rd, then you'll probably play the infield in. Then we'll have to go to another factor to make the final call. But as a general rule of thumb you can follow these examples -

• Your Team 6, Other Team 1 - INFIELD ALWAYS BACK
• Your Team 2, Other Team 0 - INFIELD ALWAYS BACK
• Your Team 8, Other Team 7 - Might depend on the inning, Late in the game INFIELD IN, early in the game, a lot of runs are being scored, so probably INFIELD BACK. We'll need those outs and we know we'll score more runs anyways.

Assume we're the Diamondbacks in the video below -

Before the pitch, we're winning 4-1. This groundball is to our 2nd baseman and we give up a run, but we're still winning 4-2. If our 2nd baseman is in on the grass in the standard infield in positioning, this is a base hit , the score is now 4-3, and there is a runner on 1st with still only 1 out. Taking the out and just giving up the one run is the CORRECT PLAY.

When We're Losing 😞

Now when we're losing, we obviously have a bigger need to cutting off that run. We don't want to fall too far behind. If the score is 2-1 in the 7th inning, we really don't want to just give the opponent the run on the groundball. Chasing two runs is a lot harder than chasing one. We will definitely bring the INFIELD IN for this scenario. Follow these examples -

• Other Team 6, Our Team 4 - INFIELD probably IN
• Other Team 4, Our Team 0 - INFIELD IN
• Other Team 7, Our Team 1 - INFIELD probably IN, this one might depend on how much pitching your team has left. If it's early in a game you might start trading outs to save pitching for the next day.

Assume we are the Astros in the video below -

We're losing 2-0 in the 5th. We really don't want to go down 3, so we play the infield in. It is a risk because our fielders won't have as much range. This is why it's important to have quick feet as a middle infielder. Mauricio Dubon is able to cover enough ground while he is in and prevents the run from scoring.

All Other Factors

The score is by far the most significant factor in deciding to play the infield in or back. The rest blend together with the score to strategically place your defense.

For instance, early in a 0-0 game, just because the game is tied doesn't mean we will play the infield in. In fact, in most games you probably won't because it takes 1 run to win the game anyways. But if you are facing the other team's ace and you know your team might only get 1 or 2 runs on the day, you might want to try and cut that run off and play the infield in.

Maybe your team's bats are HOT. You've scored 6+ runs in the last 10 games. If you're losing 2-1 and it's only the 2nd inning, you might be ok giving up a run to make it 3-1, because your offense has been great and maybe you're facing a pitcher that isn't very good.

A personal preference for me when it comes to our own pitcher is that he needs to be throwing strikes. You have to earn cutting the run off as a pitcher. If you're all over the place, then I need my fielders to have the best chance of getting an out in case you finally throw a strike and they put the ball in play. So for me, if you're all over the place, I'm playing back even if it means we might go down 2 runs. We'll still have a chance to win as long as that inning doesn't turn into a 4 spot.

Sometimes teams are more likely to play IN the one out and BACK with zero outs. This is because the main purpose of playing the infield back is...

Why Play the Infield Back

The reason you play the infield back is to AVOID THE BIG INNING. This isn't just in youth baseball, but at all levels of baseball, you can consistently look back at a line score and say "it was just that one half inning that got away from us and that's why we lost." Well if the infield is back, the other team is less likely to get hits because your fielders have more range and therefore less likely to score 3, 4, or 5+ runs in an inning.

What you're trying to prevent is this being a hit -

Could you imagine your team gives up 2 runs on this when if the is back it's 0 runs? This ends up being a HUGE inning for the Yankees. It's the right play by the Orioles here because they're down 4-0. But if it's still 0-0 in the 3rd, you might be playing back here. This is when it's ok to look to the dugout to ask your manager where he wants you 😄.

Summary

Ultimately what encouraged me to write this up was that I have way too many players on my teams that think the infield should be IN when our team is winning by 3 or 4 runs. I want players to understand that outs are valuable, especially when you have a lead. Trading outs for runs will help you avoid big innings and win games. And like we always say, winning is fun 😃.