Offense vs Defense

[obbay]

I am a little to close to the first baseman defense question.

where I live, 1B is under-appreciated. DD#1 was a 1B. she was a good 1B but had a cannon for an arm and hit well. she was quiet and typically got passed over in favor of bigger-mouthed kids or a$$ kissers.
DD#2 HS team has an excellent 1B but she plays LF. the player at 1B last year is a "power hitter" against weak pitching and cannot catch anything that wouldn't hit her in the shirt.

 

[55dad]

There are lots of good comments and observations in this thread. My opinions are:
1) Speed kills & you can't teach it. On offense, speed can help manufacture runs. On defense, that certain outfielder with wheels can keep you in a game.
2) Its tough to give an opposing team 4-5 outs per inning due to errors and still win games, so solid defense is high on my list. How many games are lost because of a big 2 out RBI hit right after an error that would have ended an inning?
3) Of course, there is no substitution for timely hits.
4) Its all about pitching at every level! lol

I think giving up hits because your fielders don't have the range to get to the ball is more frustrating than errors. This goes back to the OP. Do you want that slugger in rightfield over the speedster who turns the foul flyballs into outs, takes away the gap, and can charge in on bloop singles and turn some of them into outs? It is the plays the slower player never even gets to attempt that make the biggest difference IMO. They don't get scored as errors so at the end of the day this player personally gave up runs due to lack of range but those runs belong to the pitcher and her ERA and we lost a game!

I say all that, but on the other hand, homeruns are a thing of beauty to behold when your team is in a tight game!

 

[softball dad 6]

She ''only'' hit .450? Why is that unfortunate?

She is 14 and has improved her BA and SP every year while increasing the competition level. Our goal used to be to hit over .400 but with the numbers I see people posting here it looks like the average DD is hitting over .600 and slugging over 1.000.

 

[let it be fun]

She is 14 and has improved her BA and SP every year while increasing the competition level. Our goal used to be to hit over .400 but with the numbers I see people posting here it looks like the average DD is hitting over .600 and slugging over 1.000.

Didn't you know that all the DDs on here hit .600, the pitchers throw 60+, the slappers all run 2.7, and all of them have good power! Oh yeah, and that is at 12U!

 

[obbay]

Make no mistake, .450 is excellent in any league.

 

[CoachJD]

I am a little to close to the first baseman defense question. DD plays 1B. She always has been placed there because she is a very tall lefty. 1B is definitely an under appreciated defensive position. We like to say anyone can play 1B but not everyone is a first baseman. DD has 2 dropped throws in her last 200 games. Over the last four years she has improved catching bouncing throws form 0% to ~25% to ~50% to ~75%. Pitcher and infielder parents like to see her on first. One thing I have noticed is that umpires like to give the close call to the defense on a good play by the fielder and a good stretch by the first baseman. She is also quick on bunt coverage. Unfortunately DD only hit .450 and slugged .650 last year. She has good speed and a strong arm. I am pretty sure she needs to learn to play a corner outfield spot if she wants to play at the next level.

I think the reason 1B is under appreciated defensively is because people view it through the lens of analyzing a Major League player. 1B is the least valuable defensive position in MLB because even the worst players can all catch a ball thrown to them (not all can scoop, stretch, etc. well, of course). As we all know, at other levels of play (baseball and softball), this is not the case. Simply being able to be reliable at catching every ball that should be caught is a valuable skill because not every player can do this.

There are other issues, too. Coaches like to put the tall player at first, but for me, height is a bonus. You might not want to put your 4'11" player there, but there's no need to be 6' to play first, yet many coaches will throw the tall (or lefty) girl at first without considering whether she can actually play the position.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Simply being able to be reliable at catching every ball that should be caught is a valuable skill because not every player can do this.

By 16u you will have multiple players that can play 1B proficiently. At the younger ages this position is of the upmost importance. As they get older not so much.

 

[grcsftbll]

I've noticed that in 8U the strongest fielder plays 1B but by 10U that's already changed and they're at SS usually. On our 10U team we have probably 8 girls we could put at 1B who could do a passable job. Only 3 could probably do a passable job at SS.

 

[BobInMadison]

One time my DD 1 played on a team with a 6' tall lefty. One guess as to what position the 6' lefty played. One guess.

 

[Greenmonsters]

One time my DD 1 played on a team with a 6' tall lefty. One guess as to what position the 6' lefty played. One guess.

The best first baseman I've ever seen play FP was a 6 ft lefty. Fast and quick, strong accurate arm, great hands and feet, with a full-split stretch to boot. Infielders just had to get the ball barn door close to first base, didn't matter if it was in the air, bouncing, rolling, and you could put an out in the scorebook. A real difference maker on defensive skills alone; however it didn't hurt that she was a gap-power hitter who could bunt and pseudo- slap.