Quote:
Originally Posted by Déjà Bru
You are making some great points here and helping me, and perhaps others, to crystallize thinking about the squeeze play. I am going to call it a night now but I will check in tomorrow again if there are any other comments. I have a crucial question about defense . . . oh heck, let me ask it now and save time.
It's this. When setting up a squeeze play, I would imagine that certain defensive alignments are more conducive than others to the success of the play.
So, if you see Corners In, or First/Third In (since you cannot control the direction of the bunt in the game), do you call off the squeeze play? Is Infield In (which includes 1B and 3B) also a bad sign?
Conversely, if you see a Shift, Guard Lines, or IF Deep, do you jump for joy and hit the Squeeze Play button, given the other requirements are in place?
'Night. Talk to you guys tomorrow.
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With the infield or corners playing in, I would definitely look for better bunting ratings from the batter as well as speed from the runner than if they aren't in. However, I can't really think of many spots where I would look at a squeeze play as an option unless it was a spot where the defense would be playing in such as when the tying or go ahead run is on 3rd base late in a ballgame. Other than those limited situations I think that the squeeze play is a losing play compared to just hitting away. I mean if the infield is playing back then most ground balls will score the runner anyways so it would take a pretty inept hitter who also happens to be an elite bunter before I'd consider bunting instead of just hitting away in a spot like that.