On your next venture to an amateur ball game, try something.  Count the amount of times a throw from the outfield travels over the head of an infielder positioned to be the cutoff man. Then, check how many runners advance to the next base because of the throwing misjudgment on the part of the outfielder.

At the younger ages of baseball, using the cutoff man as an outfielder is a must.  Rarely do younger athletes have the quality of arm to justify skipping the relay man.  Also, there are few situations that an outfielder would need to throw through to a base to get a lead runner.  Hitting the cutoff man is a simple procedure but strangely fails to end up in much baseball instruction.

The Importance of a Cutoff Man

The importance of throwing through a cutoff man from the outfield is obvious to a baseball outsider if explained correctly.  Therefore, if the importance is clear to someone who doesn’t watch a lot of baseball, the urgency should be glaring to those who play and coach the sport of baseball.

The problem of a missed relay man makes a significant impact on an inning when there is at least one runner on base.  To illustrate, let’s say there is a base hit to right field with a runner on first base.  The right fielder gathers the ball and sees the base runner round second and head towards third base.  He then throws the ball over the second baseman's head in an attempt to get the runner at third.  Because the throw misses the second baseman who was positioned to be the cutoff man, the ball sails on to third with the runner sliding in safely.  In addition, the hitter watches the ball fly on to third trots easily into second base.  The defense now must deal with the dilemma of runners on second and third rather than first and second.  There is no possibility for a double play and a base hit will now likely score two instead of one.  So how important is working on baseball drills that center on hitting a relay man?   One or two runs often mean the difference between winning and losing.

Baseball Instruction: Teaching the Relay

1.      Coaches from day one must emphasize the importance and value of outfielders throwing to the cutoff man. It must become an automatic expectation for all players on the team when any ball is hit to the outfield.

2.      Emphasis without drill work is useless.  The good thing about working on relay baseball drills is that it can be incorporated into other baseball drills and activities during practice time.  Coaches need to stop play when a missed cutoff man occurs.  This way, mistakes aren't let slide and players begin to see the importance. 

3.      One simple way to help outfielders understand where to throw the ball is to position infielders between the outfielder and the desired destination of the throw.  Outfielders will then learn to anticipate an infielder being a certain spot based upon continued repetition and focus. 

4.      Infielders need to be loud and direct outfielders as to their location on the diamond.  Voice cues in combination with a physical presence will help athletes in the outfield remain calm and relaxed as they chase down balls.