What should baseball outfielders know about left-and-right-handed hitters? Yes, if you are playing center field and the ball hits your left side... For those who only know what they see on television, playing...
For those who only know what they see on television, playing outfield in a baseball game could look very simple. But when you look deeper into what all goes into being a solid and productive outfielder, you'll start to see that knowledge of the game is very vital to be successful.
For example, a detail that most may not be able to pick up by watching a baseball game on television is the flight of a line drive hit to the outfield. In the blink of an eye, the ball is delivered from the pitcher's hand to the plate, the batter swings and connects and the ball is in flight towards an outfielder. But similar to a bad swing on the golf course, a hard-hit baseball will have a tendency to slice in one direction or the other. Which direction the baseball will slice in depends mainly on if the hitter is left-or-right-handed.
Ohio University head baseball coach Joe Carbone has coached 36 athletes to professional baseball contracts in his 18 years on the job. In those years, he's taught several athletes the proper way to play a slice off the bat.
"If you are playing center field and the ball is hit to your left side and it's a right hand hitter, chances are that it's going to tail to the right fielder so you have to overplay it that way," he said. "Left hand hitters hit to your right side, it is going to tail towards the left so you have to overplay the ball that way."
To better illustrate what Carbone is saying, lets use the right fielder as an example. If a right hand hitter is up to bat, when he hits the baseball to right field, the fall will tail to the right fielder's left. Meaning, the ball will tail towards the foul line. Now, if there is a left hand hitter at the plate who hits the ball to right field, the ball will also tail towards the foul line. This happens because in order for a left hand hitter to hit a ball to right field, he would have to get our in front and pull the ball in that direction.
The best tip for an outfielder in these situations is to know the game. So, when the right fielder is chasing a ball hit by a right hand hitter, even though at first glance it appears to be an easy play, the right fielder should give extra hustle knowing that the ball will continue to tail away. This concept also works if the ball is hit to the right of the right fielder by the right hand hitter. In this case, the right fielder should be aware of the slice and be prepared for the baseball to tail back towards him.
A lot of young outfielders make the mistake of over running a ball hit in the gap when they are not prepared for it to slice back. This basic premise of knowing the slice is exactly the same (only in opposite format) for the leftfielder. For him, balls hit by left hand hitters will tail toward the foul line.
