What does picked off mean in baseball

Pickoff attempts are generally used to keep baserunners close to the bag, so they don't get a big lead before attempting to steal a base. Most pickoff attempts do not reach the fielder in time for him to tag out the runner, but certain pitchers possess better pickoff moves than others.

Left-handers, for instance, are generally much better at picking off runners than righties, because most pickoff attempts occur at first base. Lefties are facing first base before they pitch and can simply throw over, while right-handers must step off the pitching rubber and pivot before they throw.

However, some right-handers have mastered the art of picking up their foot while spinning toward first. Imposing a throw-over limit seems unnecessarily cumbersome. I don't see the delays caused by throwing over as being all that problematic. Reply to tooci4. I recall Orel Hershiser giving a rationale for pickoff throws that had little to do with actually catching the runner.

His reason? Throwing to first gave him a little more time to think and plan out how he was going to approach the hitter at the plate. Reply to Hyldan. The pitcher wouldn't dare throw over a second time, because thereafter the runner could indulge in a big lead, knowing that few pitchers would pay the cost of a ball for a throw over. But if there would never be a second throw, then the runner can start making this assumption to some degree after the first throw.

Therefore it might be better for the pitcher never to make that first throw, in order to maintain at least some doubt in the runner's mind. I don't know where the balance would really settle, but probably it would be different from today's. I'd like a better reason than saving probably a minute or less per game before I'd be keen to meddle with the game's balance. Reply to BrewersTT.

I don't think it's true that the runner would be able to indulge in a big lead. He can still be picked off that's no ball , and in fact the pitchers would probably stop throwing over the first time just to be on the safe side.

The saving in time could be rather large, and I think the fans would enjoy the tension of the situation. Reply to OkayFine. I think it's possible to account for the throws to first as a cause in making it easier to steal.

The runner gets a look at the pitcher's move to first, so after a pickoff attempt he can steal on it. Yes, that's speculation, but it fits the data. I was thinking the exact same thing. I don't think it would be an unreasonable assumption that the more throws to 1st a pitcher makes, the more likely the runner learns the pitchers move. Allowing him to confidently leave for 2nd, and steal it successfully. Reply to SaberTJ. I have heard that there are some basestealers who like to see the pitchers pickoff move once so they know exactly how large a lead they can get.

Another observation on why basestealers are caught more often with no throws may be because they don't get a large enough lead to begin with. Lefties throw to first far less often and runners are thrown out more often attempting to steal on them. I think it is safe to say that the correlation at least in that scenario is due to shorter leads. Reply to RobertHaverkamp. In the last table, looking at batter performance, I assume that the PAs are the same as the previous table, for number of throws.

Second, these may not be the same batters. It's possible the number two batter is more likely to get more multiple throws, with the leadoff batter on base, than the number four batter with the number three guy on base. You would need to control for batter ID, comparing how each did with various numbers of throws, and then seeing the changes for the group. Overall, interesting and thought provoking study. Reply to blcartwright. I enjoyed this analysis.

I'd love to see more of this type of thought process. Even if it's not perfect, you can read through the work and get your brain going. Reply to cberejik.

If a baserunner knew that the pitcher could only throw to a base 2 times without paying any price he would have a strong incentive to entice the pithcer to throw over twice and then try to steal every time after that. The only defense against a steal the pitcher would have is a pitchout which would be a ball anyway. Bill James must be a liberal as this proposed rule attempts to solve one problem by creating an even worse problem. We already lowered the mound, allow batters to wear armor encouraging them to crowd the plate , and warn the pitcher for throwing inside which he has every right to do also encouraging batters to crowd the plate.

Let's stop punishing the pitcher by destroying baseball as it was designed. Modern hitter's wear a cup for aesthetic purposes only. Reply to nd I hoped you'd address pitcher fatigue in the costs section of the analysis. A starting pitcher who allows, say, 10 baserunners, could end up making 30 throws to first base during a game a guess.

How many pitches is that equivalent to? I seem to recall that some older pitchers, when asked why they were able to throw so many more pitches in an average game than modern pitchers, gave that as a contributing factor. Reply to jdmurphy.

I am amused by the fact that you could intentionally walk a batter by throwing to a base 4 times instead of throwing to the catcher with the rule proposed by Bill James. This would make a lot of sense to do considering I have seen wild pitches and grooved changeups on intentional balls before. Reply to Werty If you want to speed up games, forget about throws to first to try to dissuade a steal, just raise the mound to give back some of the hitters' advantage back to the pitcher. That way a pitcher can just concentrate on the hitter, knowing he now has a better advantage against the hitter whether the runner on first stays there or steals 2nd.

Games across the board would take a lot less time and make for a more enjoyable game to boot. Reply to arfdolph. OkayFine - you may well be right that it would work out, but I fear the chance that it will go goofy somehow. He's just caught stealing. Catcher doesn't get credit for anything since he didn't do anything. Roadrunner is pretty much right on.

For whatever reason, the catcher retrieves the ball and gets the runner before he gets to 2 nd. If I do catch it, I go ahead and correct it. It can get pretty complicated at times. There is no requirement in the rules for the official scorer to count pick-offs for anyone. Anything anyone tracks is an actual statistic. FI, I track pick-off attempts, which is when the pitcher or catcher makes a throw to an occupied base.

I also track pick-offs for the pitcher and catcher. I also track pick-off attempts for runners, and how many times they are picked off. It all depends on what information the scorer is willing and able to track.