Baseball Umpire and Rules Discussions




Dropped Third Strike by the Catcher March 25 2015, 1 Comment

           UmpireI was watching my son's game last night at the high school level. I saw something during the game that caused me confusion, can you straighten me out as to what and when a batter can run a dropped 3rd strike.

you are not alone a lot of people are confused including the players on this situation. There are a couple situations when the batter can or cannot run after dropped third strike.

1. He can always run after dropped third strike if there is no one on first base.

2. Cannot run I dropped third strike if there are less than two outs and first base is occupied.

3. This one is the one that seems to cause most confusion if there are two outs and regardless if first base is occupied or not a batter can run on a dropped third strike.

Note to go along with the question.  The catcher need to know not to make a play on a runner that takes off to first with first occupied and less than 2 out.  The umpire will help but it is his responsiblity to know not to throw.  Then with 2 outs and the runner moving to first that batter/runner must be put out OR they can put out any runner that is in a force play situation.  It does not have to be the batter/runner that is played on for the 3rd out.

Hope this helps.

Ump Arnald Swift