The many benefits of small ball

LSU baseball teams of the past have been mostly big ball teams that did not bunt often and when they did they often weren’t very good at it. Good teams can play big ball and small ball as the situation calls for. So far this season, LSU has been good at both

Fielders are most comfortable backed up to the grass and making plays that require no thought as to where they are going with the ball. Bunts often create split second decisions for first basemen, third basemen, catchers and pitchers to make. Errors happen much more often when fielders have to make decisions under pressure.

Bunting with runners on base creates even more decisions. Who is crashing from first or third? Who will cover the vacant base? When does catcher field a short bunt with a runner coming from third on a squeeze? How much less accurate is a pitcher fielding a bunt who has to spin and throw? Do you watch a good bunt and hope it rolls foul? If the second baseman is running over to cover first, it becomes a much harder throw for the pitcher. If all the infielders aren’t on the same page, sometimes you even see throws to empty bases. Throwing to a first baseman who is firmly planted on first showing you his glove as a target is a much, much easier throw for a pitcher than throwing to a second baseman covering first who is on the move and not set yet, sometimes you have to even lead them. How many times have you seen a pitcher fire the ball into right field on a spin throw after fielding a good bunt?

There is another benefit to having so many different players who can bunt, and bunt for base hits. The deeper a first or third baseman plays, the harder it is to hit by them. Thats where they will be when Jared Jones bats. But this year LSU has a handful of players comfortable bunting for hits if they see either corner fielder set up too deep. This can bring the fielders in a few yards to respect the bunt, which lessens the fielders angles and reaction time on sharply hit ground balls.

But the best advantage of bunting, if executed correctly at the right moment, is the pressure it puts on defenders whom have to make split second decisions on who fields the ball and what base to go to. Good bunting can make some good fielding college teams look like high school teams.

I wonder if we start seeing some slash hitting where we show bunt and then slash hit at the charging defender. We have some really good contact hitters that could be good at that. And that just gives the third baseman yet another decision to make. You dont want to be charging in at someone swinging away.

Of course I guess it’s like everything else in baseball. People love the bunt call that works and hate the bunt call that did not work. So far, Jay has been calling most bunts at the right time. More importantly, his players have been executing them correctly. It adds such a new dimension to LSU baseball.