Fake Bunts - Giving up Strikes

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Jun 8, 2016
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As to the reasoning for coaches doing it with a runner on 1B, a lot of times I feel that the coach is trying to stay out of the line out double play.
 
Aug 1, 2019
962
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MN
I think fake bunt/steal is more effective when stealing third. A very good team will defend it. A lesser team (not even a terrible one) could be caught off guard with the 3B charging and the SS slow to cover (or 3B slow to get back). I'm guessing a lot of teams don't practice this defense too often.
And low risk since 2nd base is usually left uncovered. The runner can bail and retreat to 2nd if the SS looks like she'll be at 3rd in time to make a play.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
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Dallas, Texas
In higher level ball, hitters typically get one pitch that they needed to hit. After that, the pitcher has the advantage.
In the MLB, it's not uncommon to take a pitch if a base stealer is on. Before MLB became "home run derby," it was much more common.

As far as the advantage--the bottom line in batting is RBIs, not batting average. In softball, a base hit will almost always score a fast runner from 2B.


Fake bunt and steal 2B, hitters are taught to show bunt and hang out over the plate in an attempt to mess the catcher up.
I agree that that is ridiculous.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
I think fake bunt/steal is more effective when stealing third. A very good team will defend it. A lesser team (not even a terrible one) could be caught off guard with the 3B charging and the SS slow to cover (or 3B slow to get back). I'm guessing a lot of teams don't practice this defense too often.
Yep. You just gotta beat the ss.

We played a lot of really good teams that year and it really pi$$ed them off when we did it.

We were a no name team and they didn’t expect us to beat them. It was a lot of fun.

It didn’t hurt that we had a pitcher who is now the best p in the country, lol
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Yep. You just gotta beat the ss.
DD got thrown out at third this past weekend because she didn’t read that the SS was cheating over to cover. As soon I saw her go from my perch down the 3B line I let out a silent “No, expletive,expletive,expletive” in my head (at least I think it was silent..I didn't get any dirty looks from DD so I think it was....😂)
 
Last edited:
Jun 20, 2015
848
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part of this is coach needs to know his hitters. i have legit college players on my 18u squads, and there are some that i'll call the fake bunt because they don't mind being down in the count, and others that smash early in counts and don't deal well with being behind in count.

and this also is also a factor in line up.
 
Jun 19, 2020
83
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Our HS coach gives up strikes constantly on bunts. She has taken the bat out of her best hitters hands several times with runners in scoring position. I can't even count the number of pop up bunt double splays I saw this year. I don't like her approach, but one thing I am cautious of is saying too much in front of my daughter about it. In the end she has to either lay it down or execute when she is asked. We discussed it more than once as coach would get her down 0-1, 0-2. Its a crappy situation for the player no doubt, so we focused on 0-2 counts in the cage and game mindset. It helped how she interpreted the situation. At 12U try to spin it as a teaching moment, even if the coaching isn't ideal.
 
Oct 3, 2019
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Hi there -

Father of a 12U player (and rear't coach on team). My daughter has historically been a strong hitter. High contact rate with decent power. This spring, this has disappeared and she is striking out at a very high rate. In looking at her plate appearances - what I and some other parents have noticed is she is getting down in the count with a mix of take/fake bunt/poorly executed bunt signs. In several PAs yesterday she only had one real swing and was late each time. She's getting down on herself and is starting to get frustrated. She's also the ace pitcher on the team and has shown she can handle adversity well -- but starting to worried at the plate. She went from stat wise the best hitter last spring (also 12U) and is now at the bottom (against similar pitchers).

We are headed to the hitting coach tonight to get some tips on timing and I'm reading up on the in-depth "timing" thread here -- but wanted some practical advice on how to handle situations where coaches are playing smart ball to rattle pitchers and get runners over a base -- but in the process it's giving up nice strikes and then often has 2 (or 1) good pitches to swing on.

BTW - in batting practice with fast paced front toss - it usually takes 2-3 swings and then she starts peppering line drives to the outfield. We've tried batting cages but she's struggled with timing those up. She's very coachable and is diligent in her preparation. Setting aside what the hitting coach will cover tonight -- any advice on how to deal with situations where you are regularly "behind in the count" due to take/bunt signs (and yes - i've told her she needs to be proficient at bunting to play HS)?

thanks
I hate it! At that age, kids need to be aggressive at the plate. I advocate for being ready to hit that first pitch because it might be the best pitch they see. Wasting it on a fake bunt is sacraligious in my opinion.
Hi there -

Father of a 12U player (and rear't coach on team). My daughter has historically been a strong hitter. High contact rate with decent power. This spring, this has disappeared and she is striking out at a very high rate. In looking at her plate appearances - what I and some other parents have noticed is she is getting down in the count with a mix of take/fake bunt/poorly executed bunt signs. In several PAs yesterday she only had one real swing and was late each time. She's getting down on herself and is starting to get frustrated. She's also the ace pitcher on the team and has shown she can handle adversity well -- but starting to worried at the plate. She went from stat wise the best hitter last spring (also 12U) and is now at the bottom (against similar pitchers).

We are headed to the hitting coach tonight to get some tips on timing and I'm reading up on the in-depth "timing" thread here -- but wanted some practical advice on how to handle situations where coaches are playing smart ball to rattle pitchers and get runners over a base -- but in the process it's giving up nice strikes and then often has 2 (or 1) good pitches to swing on.

BTW - in batting practice with fast paced front toss - it usually takes 2-3 swings and then she starts peppering line drives to the outfield. We've tried batting cages but she's struggled with timing those up. She's very coachable and is diligent in her preparation. Setting aside what the hitting coach will cover tonight -- any advice on how to deal with situations where you are regularly "behind in the count" due to take/bunt signs (and yes - i've told her she needs to be proficient at bunting to play HS)?

thanks
Our high school coach commonly calls for bunts against really tough pitchers. Last year against a rival team, where both teams had committed pitchers and 3 of their 4 meetings went extra innings, almost every single girl was up there bunting. But, aside from those extreme situations where a pitcher is almost unhittable, I would never advocate for fake bunts or even taking a pitch. They should be up there with an aggressive mindset, especially at the younger ages. What's worse than starting out in a hole with the count, while also struggling? Unless you can appeal to the coach to stop calling for a bunt or a take, there's only one way to get out of a slump and that is to hit the ball. Even being safe on a bunt does not accomplish instilling confidence in a hitter.
 
Jan 1, 2022
4
3
Does getting behind in the count making hitting harder? Yes, way harder. Same is true for getting ahead in the count, it makes hitting easier. Why, because so much of this game is mental and with 2 strikes we chase stuff while trying to "defend the plate". With a 3-0 count we can sit on fastball middle.

See the table below on how count correlates to BA and OPS for MLB hitters. These are the best hitters in the game. If you look at D1 softball you see similar falloff.

1688401859358.png1688402043662.pngt. This means that the player has to do things for the benefit of the team rather than the benefit of the player.
It's common in the MLB for a batter to take a pitch or two if the runner is a base stealer. Generally, the #2 batter on a team is an excellent contact hitter who doesn't strike out.

Does it make hitting harder? if the kid is taking a pitch, I don't see how it makes hitting harder. The pitcher may not throw a strike in the first place, and even if it is a strike, the batter may not be able to hit it. For a kid who knows how to handle a bat, it's not that big of a deal to hit with one strike.

And, of course, exactly how many times a game is there a runner at 1B?

On the other hand, a runner creates a lot more confusion and expands the hitting lanes. And, of course, it is much easier for a runner to score from 2B than from 1B.

A fake bunt plus a steal OF SECOND (not third) doesn't make any sense. All you do with a fake bunt is cause the SS to move toward the bag.
 

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