Hitting with runners in scoring position

I gave you this drill on the other thread but I will repost some of it.

One drill: During batting practice have your infield and outfield in place. Start with a runner on 1st. Your batter is trying to execute a hit N run on the first pitch. Runner on 1st goes on first movement of the pitcher and the hitter has to try and put the ball in play.

Next that same runner holds at 2nd. The next pitch to the batter has to be put in play on the backside to advance the runner from 2nd. The runner on 2nd is put into a postion to make a decision as to whether to advance based on where the hitter puts the ball in play.

With a runner now on 3rd, the hiiter is now required to hit a deep fly ball or get a base hit to score that run from 3rd.

This drill will work hitting situations, base running and pitch recognition to be able to hit to certain parts of the field.

The last 5 pitches thrown once the runner from 3rd has scored. I would challenge the hitter to hit the ball where you as the coach believes he has the hardest time adjusting to certain type pitches and taking the ball to that area of the field.

Once the hitter has completed his at bats, he then moves to 1st and you recycle. This may help you with your clutch hitting situations.

I do basically the same thing with my 2nd round of BP (first round is bunt to 2nd, bunt to 3rd, squeeze, and then cuts). The key is to explain to the kids what it takes to do these things. For example (and your philosophy might be a little different) on the hit and run, I don't tell them they have to hit to the right side, I tell them I want them to hit the ball HARD ON THE GROUND somewhere. When hitting behind the runner, you have to convince them that just because it's a strike, it's not the pitch they want. They are looking for something middle of the plate away. Lay off the inside pitch here. When scoring the runner I DO NOT ask them to hit a fly ball. At the HS level, a kid trying to hit a fly ball will pop up more often than not. I tell them to hit the ball hard and focus more on the runner getting the right reads. Just my thoughts.

I follow something very similar to OCB, however I add a wrinkle. I start each batter with a set number of swings (say 8). If the batter fails to execute he does it again, which counts as an extra swing. So a guy who pops up the Hit and Run does it again on his second swing. Fail again and you do it on the third swing.

It only takes a few "blown opportunities" for a guy to realize that he wasted his whole BP trying to execute the "stupid stuff". My routine teaches the importance of each situation (and the expected results) plus puts pressure on them to execute.

One other thing...I start with a sac bunt. Fail with the bunt, they not only do it again, but I deduct a swing. Sort of a double penalty, but that gets their attention and gets them focused immediately!

OCB- I like the drill... when do you do it? Practice or PreGame? How many times a week?

schwammi I like the idea about the number of swings. Will use it.

quote:

Originally posted by Hit it hard:
OCB- I like the drill... when do you do it? Practice or PreGame? How many times a week?

I do the drill at practice. During pre game if you are using a soft toss net to warm up I use verbal ques with each toss, like hit n run, move the runner from 2nd to 3rd and so on. If I have a batting cage to throw BP pre game I do the same.

This helps to get their minds focused on situational/clutch hitting and in time will mentally prepare them to just relax and do whats needed come game time.

As for how many times a week that is up to you. I dont know enough about your practice plans. Me personally because of the way I organized my practices I did this drill everyday.

You know the old saying, baseball is 90% mental. I wanted to apply drills that not only helped work the skill side but also prepared my players mentally. Im a real firm believer that its the little things that help win games.

We have used the baserunning Bp drill for over 30 years. It will work well for both hitters and baserunners because they will be prepared.
After that Bp session, we would then discuss on base situations. Preach that most pitchers will be forced to find the zone with runners on and have hitters look for hittable strikes early in the count. If the pitcher can't find the zone, he risks placing more runners on.
Moving the runners thru situational hitting is good, but base hits and gappers will get you more runs. Thats why preparation both physically and mentally will go a long way.

Tough question, because its very hard to quantify anything because of such a small sample size. I think the money ball approach may be accurate here - "its all luck"