Bunt defence: five players moving and four bases to cover

Bunt defence (corners in), a baseball defence drawn in Playmaker: 9 of our players and 2 opposition players on the pitch. — Pitcher (charging) — 1 of 11

Baseball · Defence · 9 of your players and 2 opponents

Both corners charge, the pitcher comes off the mound, the second baseman runs to first and the shortstop takes second. Bunt coverage is a movement problem, and standing in the right place is only the start of it.

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Who goes where, and from how far

Nine fielders, and five of them are somewhere other than their usual spot. First base and third base start in at about 55 ft, already halfway to the plate before the ball is bunted. The pitcher is drawn at about 44 ft, off the mound and on his way. The second baseman has left his position to cover first, and the shortstop is at about 124 ft on his way to second, which is the pairing that makes the rest of it legal to attempt: the moment the corners charge, both bags on the right and middle of the diamond are being covered by somebody who does not normally cover them.

The outfield comes in too, to roughly 250 to 265 ft rather than 285 to 300. That is not about catching a bunt. It is because five infielders are moving and there is nobody left to back up a throw, so left, centre and right have to be close enough to matter. The eleven figures include a runner on first and the batter, so you can see what the corners are charging at.

The situation it answers

A sacrifice bunt is coming and you would rather have the lead runner than the batter. Runner on first, no outs, one-run game, a hitter who has shown the bunt or a pitcher at the plate. It works because the corners get there early, and it fails for exactly the same reason: a hitter who reads it and swings has two enormous holes to hit into, and the second baseman is out of position by design.

Where it breaks down at training

First base, uncovered. The most common failure in the whole sport. Draw the second baseman all the way to the bag and animate it, and count whether he arrives before the throw does.
Who calls the base. Somebody has to shout the play at third or the play at first. Put the throw on the drawing and the argument stops.
The pitcher goes to the ball, not to a spot. He is not covering a base here. Draw his route towards the plate side of the mound and leave the bases to the two who have them.

Load it, drag the routes your players actually run, animate the throw to first, and see for yourself whether the bag has anybody standing on it when the ball gets there.