Can a pitcher return to the mound after being removed?
In most youth baseball, no. USSSA and Perfect Game both say a pitcher who leaves the mound is done pitching for that game, even if he stays in at another position. High school is the exception, and Little League's upper divisions allow a limited return.
Your starter is cruising, but a lefty masher is due up. You’d love to bring in your lefty for one batter, park your starter at first base and then put him right back on the mound.
Can you? In most youth baseball, you can’t.
This isn’t the re-entry rule, which is a different question. Most rulebooks let a starter leave the game and come back in. This one is about the mound. Once he’s been removed as the pitcher, can he pitch again?
Travel ball. USSSA and Perfect Game both say it plainly. A pitcher removed from the mound can’t return to pitch in that game, and it doesn’t matter that he never left the field. Once he hands over the ball, his pitching day is over. Some local leagues and tournaments allow one return per game, so read the event rules. But I’d plan on no.
High school is a different world. A pitcher can leave the mound and return once per inning, as long as he wasn’t pulled for too many mound visits. That’s why you’ll see a high school coach swap his pitcher and first baseman for a single batter.
Under pro rules, he can move to another position and come back, but he only gets one switch like that in an inning. If your league plays “pro rules unless noted,” check whether this one is noted (it usually is).
Re-entry doesn’t get him around it, either. Say you sub him out completely, then bring him back in the sixth. In travel ball he can play the field and he can hit. But he can’t pitch, because he already came off the mound once. High school is the exception again, and so are Little League’s upper divisions, where he gets one limited return if he stayed in the game at another position.
It’s also important to watch your mound visits. How many have you used, and how many do you have left? Every rulebook limits them. If you go over the limit, the pitcher has to come off the mound — which in travel ball means his pitching day is over. We can’t afford to burn a visit talking about nothing.
Where a return IS allowed, his pitch count doesn’t reset. Thirty pitches, an inning at third base and then 20 more is 50.
So the lefty-for-one-batter move costs you your starter. Make sure that one out is worth it.
Which rulebook? USSSA 7.05.A and the Perfect Game youth tournament sheet: a pitcher removed from the mound may not return to pitch in that game. NFHS 3-1-2 allows one return per inning, including for a starter who re-entered the game. State associations can change the national high school rules, so check yours. Official Baseball Rules 5.10(d) allows a pitcher to change positions once in an inning. Little League matches travel ball through Majors, while Intermediate (50/70) and up allow a limited return when the pitcher stayed in the game at another position. Local leagues and events write their own, so read the event rules.
USSSA tournament. You bring in a lefty for one batter and move your starter to first base. After the out, can your starter go back to the mound?
Still have a question? Ask Coach Fungo.
“Move him to first base for one batter, and you may have just ended his day on the mound.”
Who’s out when two runners are on the same base?
The runner who got there second is out when tagged, unless the lead runner was forced, and then it's the lead runner. A smart fielder can get two outs out of it.
“Tag them both and let the umpire sort it out.”
Can a runner interfere without making contact?
Yes. A runner who makes a fielder stop, slow down, go around him or lose the ball because he was in the way has interfered, touch or no touch. On a batted ball, it doesn't even have to be on purpose.
“He didn't have to touch the shortstop. If the shortstop had to play around your runner, that's interference.”
The rules quiz
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