May 7, 200422 yr In your opinion, what is the easiest position in baseball and why? Of course every position in the pro's is extremely hard, however some are easier than others and i'd like to hear everyones opinion on what position they think is the easiest.
May 7, 200422 yr DH, even though it isn't as easy as it seems. Defensively the easiest position is left field. But it still takes skill.
May 7, 200422 yr Definitely the right or left fielder. I'm not gonna hate on first base because I used to play it. :thumbup
May 7, 200422 yr id say right field and then first base....at least in my teams in little leauge we use to always put the guy with the worse skills in Rf then first base but it does take skill to scoupe up the the balls in the dirt...
May 7, 200422 yr Definately RF. RF doesn't get as much action as any other position. CF gets the most action in the OF, he has to lead the OF, keep it together. LF gets fairly enough action. ALL IF positions get action at one point or another in a game. IF everything goes by much faster than the OF. The most minimal mistake in the IF can cause the runner to be safe at 1st. Im not going to hate on 1B mainly because its basically like 3B just the opossite corner, and less action. Another thing to put in account is if any other IFer throws a bad throw, the 1Bman can save that play. No position is easiest, but I'd say RF is the easiest.
May 7, 200422 yr Author 1st base isn't the easiest IMO. 1st basemen are the most involved and active players in an average baseball game besides the catcher and pitcher. Almost every single play involves the first basemen and he has a lot of responsibility. While it is true that most fat guys play 1st base, that does not mean it doesn't require skill. LF is the easiest in my opinion. For 90% of the game you're backing up the 3rd basemen or short stop until a routine fly ball is hit to you in which virtually anyone with even the slightest bit of baseball talent is able to cable. Occasionally there will be a hard line drive or a ball that gets past you into the gap at the wall, but those types of thongs don't happen every play and sometimes they don't even happen at all during a game. LF doesn't require much skill and pretty much anybody with a decent amount of speed could be an average left fielder. You never have to worry about making super accurate throws to 1st base or anything because 99% of the time you'll be throwing to a very mobile cutoff man in which you don't need to make an accurate throw, occasionally you'll have to make a hard throw to second or third, but this is rare. You guys who say RF is the easier than left don't know what you're talking about. Right field is a lot tougher than left field and you're much more involved in the game, it requires more speed and more skill to be a right fielder than it does to be a left fielder. 1st base is a very demanding position, guys without a lot of SPEED play first base, not guys without skill. 1st base is a tough position and is no less demanding than any other defensive position, just look at Derrek Lee. When guys are very late in their careers and nearing 40 years old, you will most likely always see them playing either left field or 1st base.
May 7, 200422 yr Author if the outfield is so much easier, why do crappy outfielders move to 1st base? Crappy outfields are moved to 1st base because they are allowing a lot of balls to drop due to their lack of speed which guys who are slightly quicker could have easily gotten to, or they're allowing guys to turn a base hit into a double or a double into a triple because of a weak throwing arm. When you see a guy move from the outfield to 1st base, it's always because of one of these reasons. When a ball is hit into the gap and drops at the Pro, more often than not if the baserunner has a decent amount of speed and sees that JP is going to be fielding it, he will try and go to second because he knows JP has a weak arm, however JP definitely makes up for it in other areas such as speed where he is able to catch balls that 95% of outfields around the league would have no chance at.
May 7, 200422 yr by that logic, as people s defensive skills deteriorate they get moved to a more demanding defensive position? Sorry, that doesn't make sense.
May 7, 200422 yr I don't think its possible to compare all the positions and come up with a conclusive answer as to what is the easiest position. It depends on the player's body type and skill set. For example, little guys like Juan Pierre wouldn't make good first basemen usually because their reach is less and they present a smaller target to throw to. Another example is the catcher position which I think everyone agrees is a tough one to play and not anyone could play it well but if you moved any catcher to CF they would struggle immensely because they lack the speed necessary. Each position is extremely hard to excel at and you can't say there is an easiest position in my opinion because its like comparing apples and oranges.
May 7, 200422 yr people are saying RF based on little league and high school.... RF is much more difficult to master.... see Cabrera, Miguel.
May 7, 200422 yr people are saying RF based on little league and high school.... RF is much more difficult to master.... see Cabrera, Miguel. DEFINATELY agreed. LF is by far the easiest position.
May 7, 200422 yr There's nothing really different from leftfield and rightfield except that more balls are hit to left than right. Rightfield also demands a stronger arm because of baserunners heading to third.
May 7, 200422 yr I don't think its possible to compare all the positions and come up with a conclusive answer as to what is the easiest position. It depends on the player's body type and skill set. For example, little guys like Juan Pierre wouldn't make good first basemen usually because their reach is less and they present a smaller target to throw to. Another example is the catcher position which I think everyone agrees is a tough one to play and not anyone could play it well but if you moved any catcher to CF they would struggle immensely because they lack the speed necessary. Each position is extremely hard to excel at and you can't say there is an easiest position in my opinion because its like comparing apples and oranges. Thats not true I know of a former Houston backstop whos now playing CF and is pretty good at it too.
May 8, 200422 yr Dude, when I was in the majors before Jeff Kent Spiked me, I played second, and damn is that an easy ass position. I mean, balls never come to you, and when they do, you just toss it to first, and if the jerk screws up (damn randall simon) they give him the error.
May 8, 200422 yr Author by that logic, as people s defensive skills deteriorate they get moved to a more demanding defensive position? Sorry, that doesn't make sense. There is a difference between losing physical abilities and actual skill. Just because a guy gets older and slower doesn't mean his skill level decreases as well, it just makes it harder to run to balls because he's slower and he may not have enough strength to throw a ball quickly enough from the outfield.
May 8, 200422 yr I don't think its possible to compare all the positions and come up with a conclusive answer as to what is the easiest position. It depends on the player's body type and skill set. For example, little guys like Juan Pierre wouldn't make good first basemen usually because their reach is less and they present a smaller target to throw to. Another example is the catcher position which I think everyone agrees is a tough one to play and not anyone could play it well but if you moved any catcher to CF they would struggle immensely because they lack the speed necessary. Each position is extremely hard to excel at and you can't say there is an easiest position in my opinion because its like comparing apples and oranges. Thats not true I know of a former Houston backstop whos now playing CF and is pretty good at it too. Maybe I should have put most catchers. Biggio is an exception being that he played second for most of his career anyway. What can I say, he's just a mobile player. My point is still the same.
May 8, 200422 yr There's nothing really different from leftfield and rightfield except that more balls are hit to left than right. Rightfield also demands a stronger arm because of baserunners heading to third. the balls off the bat is a lot different in right than in left.... factor in that there are more right handed hitters trying to go opposite field with different spins on the ball as it leaves the bat.... rightfield is generally the more difficult position than left field. number of chances really means little.
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