Defense, Defense, Defense

I hope the 21 Day Challenge is continually helping you to work toward being a better ballplayer. Today’s task is to focus on your defense. That’s right, put down the bat today and pick up your glove.

Bring the Leather

We all know the saying about how defense wins championships. Well, with baseball, there’s more to it than that. This wonderful game is a game of failure. A hitter who has a batting average of .300 is considered a good player. That’s just 3 for 10 at the plate. I don’t know about you, but 30% was an F on any test I ever took in school.

What I’m trying to say is, you are going to have bad days at the plate. You may face a pitcher who is on a roll and dominating hitters. You may be working on your swing and not feeling comfortable at the plate. Whatever it is, being a consistent hitter is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports.

However, the one thing you can definitely bring to the park every day is your defense. No matter how bad you are doing at the plate, you cannot take your at-bats with you into the field. Your team is going to need you to make all the routine plays and the occasional spectacular play. You never want to give the opposing team extra outs. So, break out the leather and get to work. (This means you pitchers, too.)

Positional Breakdown

Tasks for infielders

1. Ground balls hit directly to you, to your left, and to your right
2. Throws to first
3. Double play balls
4. Fielding bunts

Task for outfielders

1. Fly balls hit directly at you, to your left, and to your right
2. Fielding base hits on the ground
3. Hitting cutoff men
4. Backing up bases

Tasks for pitchers (PFP)

1. Fielding comebackers
2. Fielding bunts
3. Covering first base on ground balls to the right side
4. Backing up bases

Good luck!