E-mail Print

Click here to see the video: Baseball Fielding: Outfielders Backing Up the Play

Coach John Marshall: The responsibilities of an outfielder are pretty simple: keep the ball in front of you, get the ball back into the infield quickly, but also to be aware of what's going on in the game, and that means backing up. On every play, the outfielder should be moving – if you're not moving, you're not doing your job. That means backing up plays on the infield and backing up your fellow outfielders.

For the corner outfielders, whenever the ball is hit to the center fielder, they should be moving towards center field to back up a potential play. For the center fielder, that means backing up any play to left field or right field. On a play to third place, the left fielder should be moving in, to back up a potential overthrow at third base.

On a play at first base, the right fielder should be moving in to back up a play at first base. On a play at second, it's the center fielder's responsibility to move in. Those include not only plays on the infield, but on stolen base attempts, and any time when the pitcher is throwing the ball towards second base.