What is a Fielder’s Choice?

By Alexis
Last Updated on

A Baseball Fielders Choice, or most commonly known as FC, is a play in which defensive players decide to field a fair ball and then try to take out a baserunner that is already out on the field before advancing to the next base rather than focusing on throwing out the batter. The base runner that the fielder’s choice is decided for is called a forced out.

Moves like this can prevent the offensive team from scoring a run. When a fielder’s choice in baseball is made, a batter running to first base is usually the least of defensive team’s worries because of it most likely means that a base runner is already on third base, ready to get to home plate, or there is a runner already out on the field that seems to be storming the game with runs(the guy hitting bombs with his Marucci baseball bat. Check out the Marucci cat 7 review to learn more!) and is just a really fast dude that the defensive team wants to prevent from advancing.

does a fielder's choice count against batting average

Scoring a Fielder’s Choice in Baseball

What it is:

What it isn’t:

  • A fielder’s choice(FC) is not a hit
  • It does not add time on base (unless the lead runner is thrown out)

Fielder’s choice counts towards your batting average because it’s marked as an At-Bat, however, your FC doesn’t help with your on base percentage. The more fielder’s choice you’ve been snubbed out of as a batter, the lower your batting average and on base percentage is going to be.

Here’s an in depth explanation on fielder’s choice:

Examples of Baseball Fielder’s Choice (FC)

  • There is a runner on first base. The batter hits the ball directly to the shortstop(SS), and the SS grabs the ball and throws the ball to the fielder at 2nd base, even if the fielder on first base is closer to the SS, in order to take out the base runner rather than the batter headed to first base. The batter would then not be granted a hit.
  • There’s a runner on first base. The batter hits the ball in the same manner, but this time, the SS realizes there is time to take out the batter running to first base because the batter is flying down the line. The shortstop then throws to the 2nd baseman in order to put out the other base runner, but it still doesn’t make it in time. This will not be scored as an FC, and instead, a base hit, but only if the official scorer agrees that this hit would have thrown out the batter with normal efforts.

Updated on

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Alexis
Alexis has been playing baseball since he was around 10. He is a 2020 high school graduate that currently trying to achieve his dream of becoming a professional baseball player.