Strikeout Balk?
Rich Golden from Connecticut asks:
When a balk is called and the pitch is still delivered I understand that the ball is live until the catcher is in possession of the ball. If the balked pitch is a called strike with a 2-2 count is the batter out?
No, the batter is not out. On a potential balk pitch the umpire must wait until play has stopped to enforce the balk rule. If on the balk pitch the batter hits it or the runners and batter runner advances one base or more on the pitch then there should be no reference to the balk. However, if none or not all of the runners and the batter runner advance then every runner shall get one base from the one they occupied at the time of the pitch and the count on the batter will return to what it was before the pitch.
In this case since the batter did not reach base the balk shall be called and each runner should get one base. The count will reset to 2-2.
Answered by: Jonathan Bravo
Keywords: Pitching