Batting practice time before game

Up at and at the field at leaving most coaches and players with nothing to do but wait for the rest of the team and then play. With the 20 minutes that you do have, let's break down Baseball Rebellion's ideal hitting routine to the minute. This should also include some light running to stimulate the blood flow to the lower half. This particular part of the preparation should be focused on getting your body and mind synced up and in rhythm with the swing.

Focus on moving forward well and executing a full rotation of the body. You won't have time to get into many particulars of the swing, but you should have a more macro focus on what's going on. For instance, making sure stride distance is maximized. Now a lot will depend on the facilities at this point. In almost every scenario hitting a little bit would be best, but we know sometimes that it is not possible. If there is a cage then the next 10 minutes should be used hitting moving balls if possible.

The hitter should focus on fully moving the body forward and getting the foot down late. If there is any chance you know the pitcher at this point, you can try to create the most accurate timing that you can especially when to start your swing. If the pitcher that day throws harder than average then a coach can put a little more on the BP pitch in order to recreate a game-like experience.

Rounds should be short and high intensity, especially towards the end. If there is not a place for hitting to be done and you don't have time to set up a net of some sort, then there are other options as well.

B aseball and softball hitters can use medicine ball throwing as a substitute for hitting. This can really get the blood flowing and ensure that the hitter is staying with their technique. Also, dry swings done the right way can be a good substitute. Outside taking batting practice, nothing is quite as good, but these other options will make the best of what you can do in such a short amount of time with limited facilities.

This situation will be familiar when you have those doubleheaders that are 2 hours apart. Usually, four groups of players take several rounds of swings, beginning with a few bunts followed by 25 to 30 total cuts for each hitter. Some players swing for the fences. Some work on hitting the other way. Some do both. Some spray balls to all fields. Some wait patiently for a pitch in a specific part of the strike zone. Some swing at anything and everything. Some are at an utter loss if their BP routine is disrupted.

Some can let it go without a care. Everybody is different. It's a comfort thing. As Raul Ibanez said, batting practice "is what you make of it. The great and comforting thing about it? It's always there for the making -- for them and for us.

This is true. And big league teams go through a lot of them -- I mean, a lot. Each day, the Mariners place new baseballs into the big basket that coaches wheel onto the field for BP. They also fill up another basket for the visiting team.

All home teams do that so the visiting teams don't need to pack their own. When those baskets are wheeled off the field after BP, they hold far fewer baseballs. The Mariners estimate they go through 35, baseballs in batting practice over the course of a season. Yes, 35, Throw in the baseballs used in the games, and they figure they go through 50, baseballs a year. Where do all the baseballs go? Many go over the fence, of course, either hit by batters or tossed by players to fans in the stands begging for them.

Others are scuffed-up enough and it doesn't take much scuffing that they are dispatched for cage work or to minor league affiliates. Wherever they go, those baseballs all have to be replaced, every day. O ne major change in batting practice over the decades is the availability of hitting cages in the newer, larger stadiums. In the old days, a separate batting cage wasn't always available, particularly for the visiting players, who sometimes had to simply hit into a net, if there was anything to hit into at all.

The ones that don't have one for the visitors are few and far between. Extra cages mean it's easier for players to work on other hitting drills off the field. There is front toss in which a ball is tossed softly to a batter from just a few feet away and side toss same thing, but the ball is tossed from the side and hitting off a tee or off a machine. Front toss, side toss, soft toss, whatever -- this caught on as a BP routine in the early to mids. I don't think you saw that as much back then.

McCutchen said he spends about five to 10 minutes every day in the cage working on flip drills and hitting balls off a tee. Baseball is a game of routine, and getting that feel is a big part of BP, but there are other goals. Perhaps that plus his injuries is why Hart is hitting. Batting practice home runs are entertaining to see -- Mike Trout said he loved to watch former Angels teammate Mike Trumbo hit long bombs to all fields -- but that isn't what hitting coaches say batters should stress in BP.

It's not," Oakland hitting coach Chili Davis said. The guys who do it and do it right are the ones who are more successful. You watch Miguel Cabrera in BP. He can hit the ball as far as anyone.

But in batting practice, he's all about hitting to right-center field, right-center field, right-center field. He might have one round where he goes in there and tries to feel his extension, but not with the intention of hitting the ball in the seats.

He's trying to square the ball up. More evidence this is the correct approach: Trout and Robinson Cano also said they focus on hitting the ball to the opposite field. Davis said there were players who treated BP as home run shows when he was a young player as well, but he preferred watching two-time MVP Dale Murphy hit hard grounders and line drives.

Those are outs. Wrigley Field - 2 hours Fans are welcomed into the Friendly Confines two hours before game time, when Wrigley's gates normally open. For all other start times, two of the Stadium's gates open 2 hours before the game. They are Gate 6 right field and Gate 8 center field. The latest or least early that fans can enter any major league ballpark is 1 hour, which is the gate opening time for Progressive Field when the Indians have a game.

Based on their schedule, that means the 1-hour gate opening time applies to only 5 Indians home games. Gates open at different times based on a team's schedule for 11 ballparks, with the variable scheduling factor usually being either whether the game begins at day or night and takes place on a weekday or weekend.

For all ballparks in which those factors apply, their gates open earlier for night and weekend games. Uniform gate opening times are not the norm. Only 11 ballparks in always open all of their gates at the same time, regardless of the game date or starting time although Opening Day is an allowable exception. Batting Practice Information The 1 reason fans arrive early to a ballpark is to watch batting practice. It's also worth noting that teams may not hit before every game, as batting practice can be cancelled due to weather or not held when a day game is played after a night game.

Filed under:. New, 27 comments. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Many fans particularly ball-hawks like to watch batting practice before the game. Note: All of my information was gathered from each team's official MLB website. There may be special opportunities and offers I missed [if you know of any, please leave a comment and I will try to update this article.

Team Summaries Listed below are each team's batting practice schedule, gate opening times, special early BP offers, and summaries of the resulting amount of access fans have to home team BP. Baltimore Orioles Batting Practice : 2 hours and 15 minutes before game time.

Specials: Season ticket holders can enter the stadium 30 minutes earlier than others. Boston Red Sox Batting Practice:? New York Yankees Batting Practice:? Rays fans can catch part of Rays BP on the weekends.

Toronto Blue Jays Batting Practice:? Gates Open:? The Toronto Blue Jays' website sucks. Cleveland Indians Batting Practice:? Detroit Tigers Batting Practice:? Houston Astros Batting Practice: Astros - 2 hours and 20 minutes before game time. Oakland Athletics Batting Practice: 2 hours and 5 minutes before game time. Athletics fans can probably catch at least part of A's home BP on the weekends.

Seattle Mariners Batting Practice: Mariners - 2 hours and 35 minutes before game time. Most Mariners fans can most likely watch Mariners home BP from a limited area every game. Texas Rangers Batting Practice:? Atlanta Braves Batting Practice: Braves - 2. Miami Marlins Batting Practice:? Philadelphia Phillies Batting Practice: Phillies - 2 hours 10 minutes before game time.

Washington Nationals Batting Practice:? Chicago Cubs Batting Practice: 2 hours before game time. Seems straight forward.

Cincinnati Reds Batting Practice: 2 hours before game time. Milwaukee Brewers Batting Practice:? Pittsburg Pirates Batting Practice: Approximately 2 hours before game time, each team for 40 minutes. Louis Cardinals Batting Practice: Cardinals - 2 hours and 40 minutes before game time until 1 hour and 25 minutes before game time. Cardinals fans might be able to catch the end of Cardinals home BP.

Arizona Diamondbacks Batting Practice: Diamondbacks - 2 hours and 40 minutes before game time until 1 hour and 40 minutes before game time. Colorado Rockies Batting Practice: 2 hours before game time. Los Angeles Dodgers Batting Practice:? San Diego Padres Batting Practice: Padres - 2 hours and 25 minutes before game time until 1 hour and 25 minutes before game time.

San Francisco Giants Batting Practice:? Gates Open : 2 hours before game time.