After watching 79 live baseball games in the spring of 2026, here are some observations of things that just need to stop happening so much:

Teams: Stop letting the runner score from 3B in a first-and-third situation. Teams are trying to trick defenses to be distracted by the runner between first and second. Runs are too important – just let the runner go to second.

Hitters: Stop being surprised at two-strike off-speed pitches. This keeps happening, where hitters are way early on off-speed, like they are shocked that pitchers aren’t going to groove a fastball for them.
Third Basemen: Stop throwing it to second base when throwing it around after a strikeout. The shortest, sharpest way is C to 3B to SS to 2B to 3B.

Outfielders: Stop driftiing to fly balls. It works fine frequently, until they need that extra gear on balls, and they’re used to the bad habit of drifting.

Shortstops: Stop giving up the hole in double-play depth. Yes, they need to be closer to the bag to get there if the ball is hit to second. However, a million balls are hit towards the hole that would be easy double plays, but they get through because of the fear of covering. Instead, position where you think the hitter will hit it, then move in – a lot. You’ll still cover the highest probable area it will be hit, but also be inherently closer to the bag.

Hitters: Stop bunting for hits at the pitcher. Make it perfect or foul. Keep the angle of the bat aligned with a perfect bunt, and don’t alter that ever, no matter where the pitch is.

Middle Infielders: Stop Stop tagging runners at 2B from behind the bag. This surprisingly even happens in college at times, but apparently this needs to be taught more, because so many fielders think they can stand behind the runner and reach forward without the ball hitting the runner, and in the shortest amound of time.

Cut-off men: Stop going out so far. Generations of outfielders never learn how to throw well, because they are stunted by the old adage, “Hit the cutoff man.” No, outfielders should throw as far as they can on a line. The cutoff man figures out what this is and positions accordingly. So many throws end up not needing a cutoff man, plus, it’s quicker to make a relay this way.

Pitchers: Stop running away from popups. It’s 2026 – can we stop having first and third basemen sprinting and making acrobatic catches, when adult male pitchers can’t just move five feet and catch it?

Infielders: Stop dogging-it in between innings. Sure, if you play 162 games a year, this might work, but if you’re playing only 20 games, you need more reps, so field them and throw them like you would in a game. That’ll be 410 more quality reps than your competition (3 per inning x 7 innings x 20 games).

Press Boxes and Coaches: Stop blaring music so that no one can hear around the cage during BP or in the stands between innings, just so a couple of outfielders can hear the music at full blast.

Coaches: Stop talking to your team so long after games. Players are checked out after 2 minutes max after all the intensity and focus from the last 3-4 hours.

Baseball People: Stop worrying so much about stealing signs when it messes hitters up more than it helps them. Everyone assumes that knowing the pitch that is coming is an automatic ticket to greatness, but when guys know a curveball is coming, they tend to swing at any curveball regardless of where it is. Just watch BP curveball rounds. Plus, bench guys get it wrong all the time, and it’s not their batting average affected. Hitters end up thinking about what is going to be called, instead of thinking about the cues from the ball. Everyone has pitch-com now, and hitters are crushing balls everywhere, so it must not be so crucial.

Coaches: Stop thinking there is salvation in tech when your hitters swing at bad pitches, and your pitchers can’t throw strikes, and your fielders can’t catch the ball. There are still a million pitchers that know their spin rate, but have 8.00 ERAs, and hitters who know their exit velo, but are hitting .190.

Coaches: Stop letting catchers have a knee-down with runners on, when it is athletically accurate to say that a catcher can’t move to all the required positions to catch wayward pitches when the knee is locked down. How many pitches at the bottom of the zone can a catcher really steal for strikes to justify all these runners moving freely to extra bases?

Pitchers: Stop thinking you are a pitcher if you can’t throw strikes. A pitch is not a pitch if it is not thrown for a strike.

Parents: Stop caring so much about five-minute senior day ceremonies instead of caring about your kid swinging at good pitches, throwing strikes, and catching the ball.

Hitters: Stop looking fastball and reacting to offspeed. Both speeds can’t be covered. It only really works accidentally when hitters are unknowingly late on the fastball, but luckily the pitch was a curveball and they hit it well. This results in not really being able to hit the fastball consistently well. Instead, look for a speed, and take the other speeds (unless there are two strikes).

Hitting Coaches: Stop teaching to hit the outside pitch the other way when it has simply created a generation of hitters slowing their bat down (because that pitch has to be hit deeper). A million major league pulled or centerfield home runs are hit on pitches away. It’s one thing to consciously see it deeper and swing hard to hit it oppo, it’s another to slow your bat down to fit some theory.

Players: Stop remembering to bring everything to games (glove, hat, cleats, multiple bats, pine tar, sliding mitts, batting gloves) but not bringing: Good pitch selection; good feel for your release point: and good footwork in the field.

Fielders: Stop doing the ole move on tags. It makes sense – the receiver can just blame the thrower for a bad throw, but it doesn’t help get the guy out. What the receiver should do on a tag play is field the ball like an infielder, then jump turn quickly to make the tag. Runners are safe 100% of the time on balls not caught.

Pitchers: Stop barely throwing off a mound instead of practicing your craft on a downhill plane. The mound is the place of work for pitches, yet they are obsessed with doing all of their throwing with weighted balls and on flat grounds. That’s because they don’t get negative feedback on poor control in those scenarios, unlike on the mound, which tells pitchers how off they are. The worry about too much stress doesn’t hold up anecdotally, as gravity on a downhill mound aids in synchronizing the body, unlike on a flat ground. And according to Driveline, “Our best hypothesis for this would be a lack of movement efficiency on flat ground, athletes should be practicing to have their best movement on the mound, since that is where they compete. This, combined with the evidence that stress doesn’t linearly decrease or increase with velocity, is the main reason why athletes would experience higher stress on flatground throws.”

Hitters and Coaches and Tournament Directors: Stop thinking hitting in a cage and/or off a tee is a replacement for hitting on the field. The cage or tee serves a purpose for gettig reps, but they don’t give appropriate feedback on distance, direction and angle of batted balls. Hitting on the field humbles a lot of great cage hitters. Plus, hitting on the field requires fielders, which helps their defense.

Coaches: Stop recruiting and stop playing players simply on their BP power or their arm strength. Those easy-to-see skills don’t necessarily apply in games. Instead, watch the games to see if the play has a feel for the game to apply those skills in games.

Coaches: Stop saying the sentences, “If he can just throw more strikes”, or “If he can just make more contact.” If that is a description of a player, then he has a long way to go.

Pitchers and Catchers: Stop covering your mouths obsessively on the mound. No one really can read lips.

Outfielders: Stop catching the ball with two hands when on the run. It throws off your balance and is the result of many drops.

Bunters: Stop trying to run before bunting the ball. The loss in precision is way more damaging than the speed out of the box. A precise, well-placed bunt gives you plenty of time.

Coaches: Stop not positioning your players. Good positioning is very impactful and directly leads to outs.