Combining the strengths of your hitters and the combined defense of great pitching and effective fielding can deliver wins. A great baseball strategy uses all three elements—hitting, pitching, and fielding—to outperform the other team.
Whether your team is out in the field on defense or at the plate hitting, strategic play is required to win.
What makes a good baseball strategy
A good baseball strategy doesn’t revolve around one thing. There are multiple factors involved which change throughout the course of the game.
While some teams are stronger hitters or have lights out pitching, it’s important to find a balance that plays to those strengths while also focusing on improving the areas your team is weak.
Because of the unique characteristics of each team, applying an identical strategy to any set of 9 players might not work. You’ll have to adapt to who is available on the day of the game. That said, there are foundational elements that must be applied when building a winning strategy.
The best baseball strategies use the following tools
Scouting the other team: Research the team you are playing before you face them. This might mean attending games when your team is having a night off or sending another coach to take notes on your behalf. With so many games being recorded on video these days, it’s also possible to watch games from home. Video has the advantage of being able to pause and review specific plays.
Mindful planning: Use the data gathered from scouting and share it with other coaches and team members. If a batter has a tell or chases specific pitches, sharing that with the starting pitcher can lead to additional outs.
Practice: This seems obvious, but intentional practice is a big part of building a great strategy. The basics are important, but here again, using what you learned about the opposing team can provide focus and clarity around practice. Does the pitcher throw hard or have lots of off speed stuff? Does the team have more lefty batters than other opponents? Knowing what your facing allows you to change up how the infield sets up or what type of hitting to focus on in the batting cage.
Execution: When game day rolls around, use your preparation to inform decisions before and during the game. Just know that things don’t always go according to plan and you may need to adjust throughout the game.
Reflection: After the game, review what worked and what didn’t. Make adjustments and adapt to improve future practice sessions.
Winning baseball batting order strategies
Deciding who bats where in the lineup is a big part of offensive strategy in baseball. The baseball batting order makes a huge difference in who faces the pitcher the most in game. It also plays a role in determining the probability of getting runners on base.
It used to be that the guy with the highest batting average was generally the first batter in the lineup. This is because they also tended to be the player who got on base the most. With more updated analytics, it is understood that patience at the plate and the ability to get walked also play a factor in determining the batting order.
In general the top 3-4 positions should go to the best hitters on the team. Best might mean get on base, it might mean best bat-to-ball contact, or it might mean most powerful swing. The strongest guys are usually in the 3 or 4 position to make sure anyone else on base has a shot at coming home.
The bottom half of the order typically either follows a best to worst approach or if you’re more strategic, think about what would happen if players get out. How likely is it that your 8 or 9 hitter are going to lead off an inning? Look at past games and see which inning batters are getting out. Construct the lineup to improve your chances of getting guys on base in the innings that come after your strongest hitters bat. The real goal here is to figure out how to get back to those top 3-4 positions as often as possible during the game.
Pitching and Fielding: effective defensive strategies in baseball
Pitchers are the centerpiece of defensive strategy in baseball. How you structure your team depends on the style of pitcher on the mound. This includes the type of fielding to emphasize as well as the placement of fielders around the diamond.
Every pitcher has its unique movement, and it is developed after years of practice. Some pitcher throws pitches that dip; the result produces more ground ball numbers, and other players help by providing a strong infield.
On the other hand, when lots of fly balls are hit, other defensive team players must master flagging down fly balls.
One amazing strategy that you might have noticed in different games is that pitcher throws the fastball that a hitter cannot play.
The pitcher uses the same ball action as the previous one in the next ball, but the ball has a much lower speed than the last ball. The hitter is ready to hit the ball of high speed, swing the bat earlier than he should have and miss the ball.
Some pitchers pitch increased numbers of high fastballs and then delivered a curveball into the dirt that disturbs the playing rhythm of the hitter and fools him.
Taking the help of the media is also one of the best strategies to look for the hitters’ weaknesses. Many teams record the game and then watch the moves of the hitters carefully. Then pitchers design the strategy according to every hitter’s unique features.
How fielders react to the hit ball also decides the fate of the game. Special fielding strategies help the fielders in getting the hitters out.
Depending on the left or right-handed batting, the fielders will switch the field. Also, it is highly predictable where the ball will fall.
The fielders must know where the ball will be thrown – inside or outside – and the field must be changed according to it.
