July 1, 2011
Tips from the Pros: 'Be able to throw from different angles'
by David Laurila/
Portland Sea Dogs shortstop Ryan Dent says infielders should not be afraid to make errors. (photo: DVM Sports)
Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the June 2011 issue of New England Baseball Journal.
Infield defense and versatility are important, which is why 22-year-old Ryan Dent is a big-league prospect despite a less-than-stellar bat. The Portland Sea Dogs shortstop was primarily a second baseman when he was named the 2009 Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year.
In the latest installment of Tips From the Pros, Dent gives a tutorial on playing the infield:
On the key to being a good infielder: “For me, it all comes down to confidence. If you’re not afraid to make mistakes, if you’re not afraid to make errors — if you have the confidence in yourself to just go out and play the game — things will happen more smoothly and instinctually. Whether it’s a slow roller or a backhand play, I just go after it as hard as I can. The more repetitions you do and the more mentally focused you are on every pitch, the easier it is.”
On how to field a ground ball: “It’s more about footwork than anything. If your feet are in the proper position and you’re constantly moving and taking the right angles — that’s the most important part. If you have what they call dead feet, that’s when balls tend to eat you up. For me, it’s just getting that momentum toward first base and always having my feet moving. That way you can handle hops a lot better and make fewer errors.
“Your glove should be down. It’s easier to start down and come up than it is to start up and come down. If that glove is down and out front, and not tucked in — you always want it out front — you’ll have more success.
“The glove is like a part of your hand; it just kind of flows with you. It’s not like you’re trying to trap the ball as if you have a net. It’s more natural than that. The way you move with the glove is more of a fluid motion, almost like you’re dancing out there.”
On finding the right glove: “It’s more of a mental thing. I probably went through six different gloves during spring training. It can be the same (model) glove, but it feels different. There’s just something about the way it closes or opens. Personally, I like my gloves a little looser and floppier than most guys. I like it almost flat, as though it’s part of my hand. I can open and close it with my fingers, and once I get that comfort feeling, it’s almost hard to put down.
“At second base, you need a smaller glove to be able to redirect those turns from short and third; you need to be able to get the ball in and out. At third base, you get those hot shots hit right at you, so you might want a bigger glove. At shortstop, you’re in kind of an in-between area, but you’re turning double plays so you still need a small enough glove to be able to get the ball out as fast as possible.”
On arm action: “If you’re going to be a top-notch infielder, you have to be able to throw from all sorts of different angles. Sometimes you have to drop down for double plays, and on a slow roller, you’re catching the ball on the ground and throwing from that same angle. On balls up the middle, you’re often throwing off balance. On routine balls, you want that good four-seam action on your throws to first base. If you’re not accurate, and you can’t throw from different angles, you’re not going to be as successful.”
On body positioning: “You want to be on the toes of your feet as the pitch comes; you kind of want to have that bounce to your step so you’re able to move to your left or your right as quickly as possible. You always want to get on the left side of the ball as it is coming toward you, which helps you read the hops. The most important thing is to be light on your feet.
“You want to bend more from the legs. You never want to have your legs straight and be bending over from your back. You also want to be as low as you can comfortably get. If you can be at the same eye level as the baseball, you’re going to see it better and not get tricked by most bad hops.”
On where to train your eyes: “I like to focus right where the hitter makes contact with the ball. I don’t focus on the pitcher. I keep my eyes on him to see when he’s starting his windup, but then I focus on where the contact will be and my eyes react from there. If you watch the pitcher throw the ball to the plate, a lot of time, you’re not going to have that reaction time.”
On anticipating where the ball will be hit: “You kind of read the trajectory of the pitch. If it’s off-speed and going low, most of the time the hitter is going to roll over it, so you might want to cheat a little bit — make a little twist — to the pull side. If it’s a hard thrower and the pitch is on the outside, the hitter may be going the other way with it. But you don’t want to go too early, because if you guess wrong, you’re going to look like a fool. It’s really more mental, knowing what the hitter will be looking to do.”
On catching a pop up: “When a pop up goes into the air, you want to go where you think the ball is going to end up and you always want to stay behind it when it’s coming down. If you’re directly under it, a lot of times you might end up having to drift back and you might miss it. You want to see the ball in front of you and come up to meet it as it comes down.”
David Laurila can be reached at feedback@baseballjournal.com
