Pitcher Vicente Bellozo, of the Miami Marlins, checks on baserunner J.J. Bleday, of the Sacramento Athletics, before starting a plate appearance against Luis Urías.

A Plate Appearance Starts

As always, when a batter comes up to the plate to start a plate appearance, the count is always 0 balls and 0 strikes. With runners on, when the pitch timer starts, it counts down from 18 seconds.

The runner(s), meanwhile, will start getting a head start in running to the next base(s). This is called “leading off,” and it’s a critical part in the base-running element of the game, as it gives the runner the chance to either steal a base, or to more easily advance on a base hit. The longer the leadoff, the greater chance that the runner is going to draw a pickoff throw, which we will discuss later on. For now, the important thing is that unless time is called, any time a runner is off base, they are at risk of being tagged out.

When there is a runner on base, a pitcher who was previously pitching out of the windup will generally start to use a new pitching motion: the stretch. Unlike the windup, the stretch starts with the pitcher’s stance being perpendicular to the plate, and generally involves a much less complicated motion, especially in terms of not having a leg kick or big arm motions. This allows the pitcher to deliver the ball more quickly, which in turn makes it more difficult for the runners to steal bases. Most of the time, relief pitchers will pitch entirely out of the stretch, as they will often be called into the game with runners on base, and thus will have little use for the windup.