When should a first baseman field a cutoff throw in baseball?
When a first baseman should field a cut-off throw will always depend on where the ball is hit and what kind of arm strength the outfielder has that it’s hit to. So if the ball is hit deeper to the outfielder, then the first baseman should move out towards the outfielder so that he can get to the relay throw faster as opposed to the ball bouncing to him. If the outfielder’s coming in towards the home plate for a play at the plate, then he needs to learn how to back up. So the first baseman needs to give the throw a chance to get all the way to the catcher, because he may not need to cut it off. Lastly, if the outfielder has a poor throwing arm, then he has to know that and he has to move out whether the outfielder comes in or not, he’s got to be able to go out and meet the outfielder and get the throw, because maybe he has the better arm and the sooner he can get the ball, the sooner he can make a good strong throw to the next base.
