Yes...OF play is important

The more I watch young players, the more I realize that good OF play is a unique skillset. It is really hard to find young players that are really good in the OF, where you can tell they take pride in their ability to track down baseballs. Maybe it's a product of being in the north, where the cold weather months make kids more focused on offense rather than defense. One thing I know as a college baseball coach is that you need to be able to play defense, otherwise you'll be competing with about 8 other guys for that one DH spot in the lineup. Players should work to be a complete player, not just an offensive guy. 

As an outfield coach, my goal is to develop outfielders where I feel that all three could play CF if needed. If I have three guys out there that can cover that type of ground, we won't have many holes. To get guys to this point takes a lot of detailed practice and work. When you have a good outfield/defensive group, you then allow your pitcher to be more aggressive in the strike zone which keeps the tempo of the game up, and keeps pitch count down. 

It is true that there is a lower percentage of outs recorded in the OF, but it is crucial to be prepared for those limited opportunities; the ball will find you as soon as you start taking pitches off mentally. For me, outfield play is as detailed as teaching the swing... but for this post, I am going to keep it simple in terms of a couple goals to aspire to when it comes to tracking down baseballs. Here are the goals: 1) play fast from the beginning, 2) beat the ball to the spot, don't meet it, 3) catch the ball above your eyes. Here is what each of these goals mean to me. 

1) Play fast from the beginning. Too many OFers coast to the baseball. We need to play fast from the beginning knowing that it is always easier to slow down, than to speed back up. I correlate OF play a lot to baserunning. Like in baserunning, the first 2-3 steps are vital in being able to get to the spot. We need to have explosion in our initial moves to the spot. What can help with this is getting into a proper pre pitch setup. Here, the OFer steps into his set up position, or hops, to get his legs engaged under him and ready to move. How we are set up is also crucial. Many outfielders start too wide with their feet. If we start too wide, and then need to do a drop step on a ball hit over our head, we only become wider. Being too wide restricts ability to be explosive on those initial steps. I like outfielders to be about shoulder width apart with their feet in their set up. Another thing that is important when it comes to getting the best reads to be explosive is what the outfielder does with his eyes when the pitch is delivered. I tell outfielders to get their eyes locked in on the hitting zone as soon as the pitcher starts his delivery. If we track the ball all the way from the pitchers hand to the hitting zone, we could have a delayed read. 

2) Beat the ball to the spot, don't meet it. This fits right in with play fast from the beginning. As an outfielder, my goal should be every time to get behind every baseball hit in the air. In order to do that, I need to play fast from the beginning, and continue to play fast all the way to the spot. Many guys play fast from the beginning, but then as they feel like they are getting close to the spot, they begin to coast. Outfielders should see how many times they can play through a baseball in the air. In order to do that, you need to not only play fast from the beginning, but also continue to bust it all the way to where you believe the baseball is headed. If we can do that, we then can get in an athletic position where we can work through the catch, and catch the ball above our eyes.  

3) Catch the ball above our eyes. Outfielders should ALWAYS work to catch the ball above their eyes. What’s below my eyes I can't see, and I don't like catching a ball blindfolded. If I use my feet to get to the spot properly by playing fast from the beginning, and by beating the ball to the spot not meeting it, I then can catch the baseball above my eyes. It seems pretty simple that by catching the ball above your eyes, your success level will be much better, but there are many players that struggle with this concept. If there is a ball sinking or diving on an outfielder, keep it as simple as "take your eyes to the baseball." Not only will you be working to get your eyes below the baseball to help secure the catch, but also where your eyes go, your body will follow. 

Here is a good picture of what that looks like:





Here is a good example of what it SHOULD NOT look like. This is Kyle Schwarber of the Cubs during game 3 of the NLDS. Several things that he should have been aware of: 1) the wind was blowing hard towards the foul line, 2) it was a ball off a lefty bat which naturally will slice towards the line some (add in the wind with that, the ball is going to take off.) Schwarber did not play fast from the start (you actually see him attempt to speed up at the end...too late); he did not put himself in a position to beat the ball to the spot; also, although it looks like he had the ability to catch the ball above his eyes, the ball was slicing really hard, so it was still a tough play because he did not play fast from the start to the end. This ended up being a costly play as runs eventually scored. Schwarber is not a natural OFer, and he has been working hard to be better out there. This shows that the details are always important, and that we can never take a play off. 

Like I mentioned above, there is a limited amount of outs recorded in the OF. The key words are "outs recorded." There are still many chances in terms of not letting a single get stretched into a double, limiting free bases by hitting cuts, making the opposition work 90 feet at a time so it takes multiple hits to score a run. For me, we need to be able to make the spectacular plays, and be able to get OF assists, but that is just icing on the cake. The most important part of OF play is the ability to read balls off the bat well, have good angles, play fast, and get the ball back into the INFers as quick as possible. If our MIFers are turning a ton of double plays throughout the course of a season, that is part reflection of the OFers being able to keep the opposition 90 feet at a time. 

There is a lot that goes into good OF play. It needs to be taught with as much detail as the swing, but for now, have a couple goals in the OF. These seem to work: 1) play fast from the beginning, 2) beat the ball to the spot, don't meet it, and 3) catch the ball above your eyes. 

Yours in Baseball,
Burm

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