What Position Should I play in Baseball?

by

If you are looking to start playing baseball one of the most important decisions you will make is the position you will pursue playing.

While you may have visions of chasing down fly balls in center field or throwing out runners at second base from the catching position, it is important to take a realistic look at your skill set and determine the position that is the best match for you.

As the talent level increases the older you get, the more skilled position players become.  If you are a younger player, you may have the possibility to experiment with various positions which is the best way to determine the best fit.

That being said, let’s take a look at the positions in baseball to help you find the best position to pursue:

What are the 9 positions in baseball?

Below are the nine positions in baseball along with their corresponding position numbers that you will see on an official scorecard:

  1. Pitcher
  2. Catcher
  3. First Base
  4. Second Base
  5. Third Base
  6. Short Stop
  7. Left Field
  8. Center Field 
  9. Right Field

Outside of these 9 positions, you will also have relief pitchers, a closer, and utility players that are capable of playing multiple positions.

From Little League to High School, teams don’t have the same type of depth as the college or professional level, so you may only have a few backup players that are expected to play almost any position on the field if needed.

Key Tip: Are you right or Left-Handed? 

If you are left handed you need to be strategic on pursuing a position early on in baseball that you will still be able to play as you get older. Left handers should try to stick to the following positions if possible:

  • Pitcher
  • Center Field
  • First Base
  • Right Field 

 Left-handed pitchers have a unique edge and are highly sought after since the majority of people are right-handed. If you want to play in college or eventually at the professional level, a left-handed pitcher typically will get more opportunities even if they aren’t as physically gifted or throw as hard as a right-handed pitcher because of their unique skillset.

In Center, First, and Right Field, left-handers do not lose any time by rotating their bodies into throwing position while trying to throw out an advancing runner. While at the little league level this may not be that important, the older you get the more coaches will prefer to play left-handed players at one of the above positions.

What skills are needed for each baseball position?

 Let’s take a look at what the typical skillsets are for each of the 9 positions to see if you can match up your talents with one in particular:

1. Pitching

Skillset Required:

  • Athletic
  • Flexible
  • Accurate
  • Strong Arm
  • Mental Toughness

Typical Body Type:

  • Long, Tall, Lean

Pitching is the most important position in a baseball game and with the importance comes much responsibility and pressure. The first thing you need to determine before you consider pitching is to figure out if you have thick enough skin to be responsible for a large portion of a game’s outcome. 

As a former pitcher myself, there is no better feeling than when you pitch a great game and lead your team to victory. On the other hand, there is no worse feeling than when you struggle to find the strike zone or get hit all over the yard by the opposing team and your team suffers defeat.

That is why from my perspective the first thing to consider if you are considering pitching is to take a deep look into your mental makeup and ask yourself if you want to be the one that bears the most responsibility on the field. If the answer is yes, then Pitching is one of the best positions in all of sports.

 Once you determine if you have the mental makeup for pitching, the next thing to consider is if you have the physical ability to pitch. Do you have a stronger arm than most of your teammates?

Are you pretty accurate at throwing to a target? If the answer is yes to those questions, that is a great headstart. If you have a below-average throwing arm or struggle with accuracy, pitching may not be the best place for you on the ballfield and there are plenty of other positions to help showcase your strengths.

If you check the box on mental makeup, arm strength, and accuracy, pitching is one of those positions that you can consistently improve on the more you practice.

Pitching takes almost an equal amount of athleticism as it takes skill, and the more you refine your delivery and improve your mechanics, the better you will typically get at throwing strikes and improving your velocity off the mound.

If you are playing little league baseball etc I highly recommend pitching as a supplemental position to try out even if it isn’t your primary position.

Athleticism takes over the older players get and you may not be skilled enough for a position in the field, but as a famous baseball quote states ‘you can never have enough pitching’ so you will likely find your way onto a team if you can get batters out.

2.Catching

Skillset Required:

  • Athletic
  • Flexible
  • Quick Feet
  • Quick and Accurate Arm
  • Intelligent
  • Soft Hands

Typical Body Type:

  • Medium Height, Thick Legs with Flexible Hips

 Like Pitching, Catching is another position that is involved in almost every play in a baseball game and has a significant impact on the outcome of games. Catchers are known to make excellent coaches and managers at the college and professional levels due to their experiences calling games and managing all the different pitchers.

In addition to calling pitches, catchers also manage runners on the basepaths and try to control the flow of the game from behind the plate. You may not notice a good catcher at a baseball game, but if there is a bad catcher, you will see a high volume of passed balls or pitchers shaking the catcher’s signs off repeatedly. 

Catching requires a physical skill set that isn’t a fit for every player though.

As a catcher, you are in a deep squat position for almost the entire game, so the first thing you need to consider is if you have the ability to get into a deep squat comfortably. If you struggle with flexibility in your hips or suffer pain when you get into a deep squat, catching is probably not the best position to pursue.

If you have good flexibility, the next thing you need to evaluate is your overall arm strength and quickness. When runners are on base and attempting to steal, it is important to have quick reflexes and be able to get into the throwing position immediately and throw the ball toward a base.

If you are slow getting up out of the squatting position you will have a difficult time throwing out any runners. 

If you are pretty athletic and hopping out of a squat isn’t an issue, the next them to evaluate is your arm strength. If you have above-average arm strength, flexibility, and athleticism, catching could be a great position for you to consider.

Catchers are a special breed, but if you have the physical skill set to play the position you can be very valuable to your team and have a high impact on the outcome of games.

3.First Base

Skillset Required:

  • Good Hand-Eye Coordination
  • Excellent Vision
  • Solid Receiving skills
  • Average Arm Strength

Typical Body Type:

  • Right or left-handed
  • Tall with a good wingspan

First Base requires the least amount of athleticism on a baseball field, and like catching is another position you typically only notice when there is a bad first baseman.

As a pitcher growing up, I played a ton of first base because I wasn’t the quickest or most agile runner and first base could also give my arm a break since you aren’t typically throwing a ton during the game.

First Baseman needs to be able to catch balls at a variety of angles including balls that are short-hopped into the dirt or high and away from the base. First basemen are typically taller than other positions since coaches want to give their infielders a large throwing radius to throw the ball to.

 You don’t need to be that fast to be a first baseman, as most of the movement required is only within a 10-foot radius or so.

First baseman need to be able to scoop balls (or make “picks” as they are commonly called) out of the dirt and time short hopped throws that come from infielders that are making throws from different angles. 

Here is a good video on some of the type of first baseman picks that you will see from time to time:

4.Second base

Skillset Required:

  • Agile
  • Lateral Quickness
  • Good Hands
  • Average Arm Strength

Typical Body Type:

  • Short, athletic build, right-handed

Normally one of the shorter players on the team, second baseman, doesn’t have to have an above-average arm because they are normally never throwing the ball further than 90 feet. 

If you don’t have a great arm but good fielding skills and legit side-to-side quickness, second base could be a great position for you to consider.

Most of the second basemen I played with could also play shortstop or third base, but they typically had the worst arm out of the three so they played second base.

Second base gets a ton of action and the position also hits toward the end of the lineup on most teams, so the expectations for batting average and other hitting stats are typically lower than shortstop and third base.

Most second baseman are under six feet tall but there has been some exceptions like …..

5.Third Base

Skillset Required:

  • Quick Reflexes
  • Strong Arm
  • Accurate
  • Athletic
  • Lateral Quickness

Typical Body Type:

  • Athletic build, Medium Height, right-handed

Third Base is known as the “Hot Corner” because of the frequency of hard-hit balls being hit in this position’s direction. When a hitter pulls the ball down the line, these line drives are hard ground balls typically are hit in excess of 100 MPH and third baseman need to be on high alert and have quick reaction times in order to field the ball successfully. 

Third baseman also need to have a strong and accurate arm to throw the baseball across the diamond which is over 127 feet from third to first base. 

Third basemen typically aren’t as agile as shortstops or second basemen and there is less range needed to play since there is less ground to cover.

At the Major league level, shortstops that lose athleticism over time tend to move from shortstop to third base so more athletic players can take over at shortstop. Two of the most famous players in baseball history, Cal Ripken and Alex Rodriguez, both played shortstop early in their careers but ended up moving to third base toward the backend of their careers.

6.Shortstop

Skillset Required:

  • Very Athletic
  • Lateral Quickness
  • Strong Arm
  • Fast
  • Soft hands

Physical Characteristics:

  • Medium Build, Fast Twitch Athlete, right-handed

Shortstop is where you will typically find the most athletic player on the team play due to the number of balls that are hit into that part of the field. Shortstops cover a large amount of ground and they need to be very athletic in order to get themselves into a solid throwing position from a variety of off-platform angles.

Most shortstops at the youth level are often the best player on the team and hit in the 3-hole as well. As a shortstop, side-to-side lateral quickness and a strong arm are critical as shortstops get many ground balls deep in the infield between second and third base. 

Here is a good video of some of the best throws from shortstops:

7.Left Field

Skillset Required:

  • Good Speed
  • Strong Arm
  • Good field awareness

Physical Skills:

  • Variety of body sizes, moderate athleticism, right or left-handed

Left Field is where players that aren’t particularly great at any one position often get sent to play, but it is a position that gets plenty of action due to the high volume of right-handed hitters that pull the ball. 

Left fielders need to have a good arm so they can hit the cutoff man on a line or throw the ball directly into third or second base. Left fielders also need to have good field awareness as many fly balls or bloop singles get hit into areas that take some skill on judging the best angle to take toward the ball.

In the big leagues, many fly balls end up in foul territory, and left fielders need to have the ability to gauge the distance between third base and the stands.

One of the most famous plays in baseball history was the foul ball that was hit down the left-field line that drifted into foul territory totally changed the trajectory of the world series between the Cubs and Marlins:

8. Center Field

Skillset:

  • Fast Runner
  • Good Vision
  • Good Arm
  • Great Instincts
  • Physical Description:

Variety of sizes with great athleticism

Center Field is another position where coaches put their best athletes. Center Fielders cover the most outfield ground and serve as the captain of the outfield. This means that balls that are in the gaps are typically caught by the center fielder who will call off the right or left fielders.

Center fielders need to have great athletic instincts and be able to react quickly when the ball is hit off of the bat. When the ball is hit on a line drive directly at the center fielder, it can be difficult to judge the speed and distance and center fielders need to be able to quickly adjust to different ball trajectories.

Some of the all-time great Major League Baseball players played center field like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Joe Dimaggio, and Ty Cobb.

9.Right Field

Right field has a stigma of being the position where coaches stick their worst fielders in youth baseball, but at the high school and up to the professional level right field is where some of the best outfielders can play.

Right fielders have the strongest arm out of the outfield positions and make long throws to second, third, and home plate in situations where runners are trying to push the limits and score.

Many right fielders aren’t the fastest runners but they need to be good fielders and have the ability to quickly exchange the bal into their throwing arm and put the ball on a line to the cutoff man or to the intended base.

Occasionally right fielders will field hard-hit balls and still have enough time to get the runner out at the first base for the rare 9-3 putout.

Here is a clip of some of the best 9-3 putouts of all time:

Summary

This guide should give you some ideas on how to determine what the best position you should play in baseball would be.

If you are a little league or youth baseball player, try experimenting with several positions before finding a permanent position.

The older you get, the harder it is to switch positions so take advantage of exploring different positions while you can. Once you find the best baseball position for your natural ability and skillset, then it’s time to start refining your craft to put you in the best position for success in that position for years to come!

Other Popular Articles:

What is an RBI in baseball

What is OPS in baseball

What is a war in baseball