Why shortstop 6

Second baseman are typically great defensive players with the worst bat on the team. Dustin Pedroia was an amazing player and a great example. Second baseman have to be very quick and agile defenders and have value on the bases. Andrelton Simmons is one of the best defensive shortstops ever, and shows off the athleticism and skill needed to play the position at the highest level.

Nolan Arenado is a great example of a third baseman who is a threat at the plate and yet also an excellent defender. So, what is it? Using the number system above for each position, the play is always referred to by the players who touch the ball:.

Using this system, you can look for a record of how every play went down, and sometimes they are very strange when the ball gets thrown away for an error, or other runners take off for the next base after one throw is made.

Rundowns, especially, have crazy scorebook references. Left fielders need to play excellent outfield defense and thus must be fast and have a great glove. What is the DH in baseball? The Designated Hitter is a player who only hits, and this position exists only in the American League.

The DH hits in place of the pitcher, who does not bat in the American League. Pinch Runners enter the game to run the bases in place of another player, but this is not really a position — more just a role. Same goes for pinch hitters, who replace a hitter already in the game to bat for them.

As players and parents, making informed decisions on your path in baseball is key, and being honest with oneself is an important part of this process. If the starting shortstop on Varsity is a great player, then being too rigid and not willing to play another position can mean that sitting on the bench is the only other option.

Be flexible and willing to try other positions, because your favorite one may not always be available. I also see players and parents fall into the trap of playing too many positions at the high school level, where scouts may not be sure where they fit in. But playing too many positions with average skill is NOT better than playing positions with a high level of skill.

This answer is highly subjective baseball the positions take different levels of skill and athleticism, but a few positions stand out: pitcher, catcher, shortstop and centerfielder.

The shortstop has to be the combination of the best fielder, thrower and mover meaning great footwork and range of all the infielders.

The center fielder has to cover the most ground in the outfield, so he has to be the best fielding outfielder and is typically the fastest player on the team. The catcher has a very demanding, physically difficult position that also requires lots of mental toughness, and the pitcher is subject to high injury risk and needs high levels of skill, explosiveness, mental toughness and intelligence to get high-level hitters out.

The typical answer for this is the right fielder, because they will have the longest throw to third base of all outfielders. Aside from the pitcher, the strongest arm probably belongs to either the third baseman or right fielder, though it is never a firm rule and varies by team.

Typically the centerfielder, who is usually a slightly slimmer-built player who can cover lots of ground in the outfield. But, in modern baseball the shortstop and second baseman are often very fast as well.

In fact, the shortstop position now receives the most ground balls out of any position on the field. This statement is still true today. When scoring the play, official baseball scorers do not care where on the field the position is played — only what position the player is assigned. In order for baseball stats to be as accurate as possible, official baseball scorers all need to evaluate each play by a certain set of rules.

In order to keep consistency, official scorers need to mark down the numbered position as the position the player was assigned — not by where he is standing on the field. And when you think about it, this rule makes sense. Due to the official scorers needing to keep consistency when managing the official scoring, the original shortstop position that was a number 6 while in the short outfield is still considered position number 6 while in the infield. Some folks believe the name comes from the position the fielder takes on the field while others believe it stems from how the location of this position is designed to stop ground balls short of the outfield.

Another reason is due to this player originally being a cut-off man between the outfield and the bases. I'm the owner of Baseball Training World. I live in Denver, Colorado and I enjoy playing baseball on two different adult baseball teams in the surrounding area. But Tatis is nearing the big leagues at a time when teams have become more accepting of shortstops who have to shop at big-and-tall stores.

When Correa and Seager were coming through the minors, their size and lack of foot speed led many scouts to question whether they would stay at shortstop. Seager has proven that his arm and deep positioning make up for a less-than-ideal first step, while the ever-driven Correa has gotten quicker and faster thanks to intensive workouts.

As one scout explained, Correa has willed himself to stay at the position. Tatis is faster than either Correa or Seager were when they were prospects, and he seems to face less skepticism from scouts about his ability to stick at the position. Eventually, he may outgrow shortstop, but if he just makes steady improvements in making the routine play, he should stay at the position for years to come.