Saturday, January 5, 2008

1st and 3rd catcher peek?

All teams practice their 1st and 3rd defenses. My question- should the catcher take a peek at the runner at 3B to check whether or not he is going?

As a former catcher I am well aware of how difficult it is to throw a runner out at 2B by simply coming up and throwing as quickly as possible. So, how is a catcher supposed to throw a runner out at 2B after first taking a peek. Well, it is in fact possible if a couple details are understood.

A runner at 1B should not be able to get his normal jump with a right handed pitcher because of the fake to third move that is available to him. If the runner at 1st is aware of this move it should create enough of a time lapse that a catcher would be allowed to check the runner at 3B before throwing. However, I would contend that most base stealers are not accounting for that move. If that is the case, you absolutely can not check the runner at 3B.

So, should a catcher check a runner at 3B before throwing?

I would answer like this.

A) If you as a defense believe in always checking the lead runner in a 1st and 3rd, you better also believe in the fake to third back to first play.

B) If you as a defense don't think you can check because runners that are running don't delay their read, you better have a pre=determined read that you're defense is aware of. You simply can not attack both the runner at 1st and the runner at 3B if you think runners at 1st are trying to get the best jumps possible.

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