Batting Order Question

Coach_Baker 2014-12-20 22:07:24 UTC #1

Here’s an easy one for you rule guys…

Your club has the following batting order:
Smith is 1st, Weeks is 2nd, Dune is 3rd, and Welch is 4th.

Your club takes the field for the second inning. Your skipper decides to switch the players on the infield to different positions.

Smith is no longer on first, but is now replacing Welch at shortstop.
Weeks is no longer playing second, he’s replacing Smith at first base.
Dune is no longer playing third, he’s replacing Weeks at second base.
Welch is no longer at shortstop, he’s replacing Dune at third base.

Question:
Does each player change their place in the batting order because they replaced another player at a different position? In other words, do they take that placer’s place in the batting order whose position they now have?

Zita_Carno 2014-12-20 22:41:12 UTC #2

As the old song goes, “It ain’t necessarily so.” The manager may have shifted the players’ positions, but the batting order remains the same. So if, for example, Tommy Henrich started the game in right field and batted 2nd, but in the fifth inning he was switched to first base and Cliff Mapes went to right field. Henrich still bats second, and Mapes is now batting 6th or wherever.

CoachPaul 2014-12-21 00:51:41 UTC #3

The batting order changes only when new players enter the game. If a player holds a certain spot in the lineup, that’s the only spot he can occupy for the entire game. Also, just because a sub goes into the game to play right field doesn’t mean the right fielder is out of the game. That new player can go anywhere in the lineup. The player who previously occupied that slot would leave the game.

Coach_Baker 2014-12-21 10:41:13 UTC #4

Here’s another easy one.

Thompson is playing third base, and when his club leaves the field, he’s next up to bat.

Blake replaces Thompson at third for the next inning when his club takes the field.

Does Thompson get his ups at bat because he was on the field when the inning ended - OR - does Blake step into to batters box, even though he was not on the field when the inning ended?

CoachPaul 2014-12-21 15:03:30 UTC #5

It’s up to the coach as to when he reports the straight substitution. Also, just because Blake is entering at 3rd defensively doesn’t mean he needs to bat in Thompson ’ s spot in the order.