Pitcher throwing to unoccupied base

[w_sohl]

2nd base is unoccupied. I'm pretty sure you have a balk here because he didn't step off.

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by w_sohl

2nd base is unoccupied. I'm pretty sure you have a balk here because he didn't step off.

Why do you think that? He's making a play on an advancing runner.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by w_sohl

2nd base is unoccupied.

So what? A pitcher can't throw to an unoccupied base except for the purposes of making a play

[w_sohl]

I stand corrected. So answer me this, why does the pitcher throw to first in a first to second situation in every play like this I've ever seen? Is it just easier and less likely to commit an error?

[Rich Ives]

Easier. No balk possibility.

[ozzy6900]

I agree with Rich Ives in that it is extremely difficult (almost impossible) to balk to 2nd base. R1 breaking toward 2nd.... no balk here.

[BSBAL18]

So if R1 breaks for second early after the pitcher comes set, these threads are saying that the legal spin-move for a RHP that would happen for a normal pickoff attempt at 2nd, is legal, because he is making a play on an advancing runner, even though there is no runner. The pitcher is *not* required to stepoff before throwing to second because of the "making a play on an advancing runer".

I wonder why RHP pitchers dont use a coach in the dugout to show a runner stealing while the pitcher makes a slower leg-lift to throw home, just to see a visual sign from dugout that the runner is stealing so the RHP would initiate his spinmove for a pickoff.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by BSBAL18

So if R1 breaks for second early after the pitcher comes set, these threads are saying that the legal spin-move for a RHP that would happen for a normal pickoff attempt at 2nd, is legal, because he is making a play on an advancing runner, even though there is no runner. The pitcher is *not* required to stepoff before throwing to second because of the "making a play on an advancing runer".

I wonder why RHP pitchers dont use a coach in the dugout to show a runner stealing while the pitcher makes a slower leg-lift to throw home, just to see a visual sign from dugout that the runner is stealing so the RHP would initiate his spinmove for a pickoff.

Because in practice it wouldn't work very well. You might pick off a runner or two, but the pitching mechanics would be so messed up that you'd give up more than that over time.