An Infield Line Drive is Caught

The batter hits a line drive, but the ball is hit right at someone, and that someone catches it. For the offense, this is a case of good process, bad result, and with runners on, it can actually turn into a disastrous result. Why? Well, when such a line drive is caught¹, that puts the batter out. But if there are runners on base, those runners now need to tag up very quickly, before they get put out as well.

Getting two outs on the same play is referred to as a “double play.²” With line drives, you can sometimes get an “unassisted” double play, where a single fielder gets both outs, usually by catching a line drive and then either tagging a runner as they go by, or by running back to a base (usually second base) before the runner tags up.

However, none of that is guaranteed. The defense’s ability to turn a double play off of a liner depends on how hard the ball is hit, where it’s hit, and how quickly the runners can react.