Guides · Pitcher or catcher
Wild pitch or passed ball
The pitch gets past the catcher and a runner moves up. Somebody gets charged. The question is whose fault it was: the pitcher’s or the catcher’s.
The test
- Wild pitch (WP), charged to the pitcher. The pitch is so high, wide, or low that the catcher can’t stop and control it with ordinary effort, and a runner advances (Rule 9.13(a)).
- Passed ball (PB), charged to the catcher. The catcher fails to hold or control a pitch he should have handled with ordinary effort, and a runner advances (Rule 9.13(b)).
The question isn’t where the ball ended up. It’s where it was when it reached the catcher.
Pitches in the dirt
A pitch that touches the ground or home plate before reaching the catcher, and that he doesn’t handle, is a wild pitch if a runner advances (Rule 9.13(a)). Catchers are expected to block balls in the dirt, but the rule puts a bounced pitch on the pitcher. That one rule settles a lot of arguments in the bleachers.
When it’s neither
- No runner advances. A ball that gets away with nobody moving isn’t scored at all.
- The defense gets an out first. If the catcher chases it down and throws out a runner before anyone advances, there’s no WP or PB. Another runner who moves up on that throw advances on a fielder’s choice (Rule 9.13, comment).
- The runner was already stealing. A runner who breaks for the next base before the pitch is credited with a stolen base, not a WP or PB, even if the pitch also gets away. If the loose ball lets him take an extra base, or lets another runner move up, score the steal and the WP or PB (Rule 9.07(a)). Watch whether he was running before the ball got loose.
- Never an error. A wild pitch or passed ball is its own category. Don’t charge an error for the pitch itself (Rule 9.12(f)).
With a dropped third strike
If strike three gets past the catcher and the batter reaches first, score the strikeout and the wild pitch or passed ball together: K-WP or K-PB (Rule 9.13). The pitcher still gets the strikeout. See Dropped third strike.
How to score it
- WP
- Next to each runner who advanced on it. Charged to the pitcher.
- PB
- Next to each runner who advanced on it. Charged to the catcher.
- K-WP, K-PB
- Batter reached on an uncaught third strike.
- BB-WP, BB-PB
- Ball four gets away and a runner takes an extra base beyond the walk (Rule 9.12(f)).
Earned runs: a run that scores because of a passed ball is unearned; a run that scores because of a wild pitch is earned (Rule 9.16). That’s why the call matters to the pitcher’s ERA.
Examples
Curveball in the dirt
Runner on first. The pitch bounces a foot in front of the plate, glances off the catcher’s shin guard, and rolls toward the backstop. The runner takes second. Wild pitch. It hit the ground first.
Fastball to the glove side, through the mitt
Runner on second. A fastball right where the catcher set up clanks off the mitt and rolls away. The runner takes third. Passed ball. Ordinary effort catches that pitch.
Way up and out of reach
Runner on third. The pitch sails over the catcher’s leap to the backstop, and the run scores. Wild pitch. No catcher stops that with ordinary effort.
Loose ball, runner thrown out
Runner on first. A pitch skips away, the runner breaks for second, and the catcher pounces and throws him out. Neither. No runner advanced. Score the out on the runner, 2-6.
Rules cited are from MLB’s Official Baseball Rules, Rule 9.07 (Stolen Bases), Rule 9.12 (Errors), Rule 9.13 (Wild Pitches and Passed Balls), and Rule 9.16 (Earned Runs). Your league’s rulebook governs your games.