Sacrifice bunts, sacrifice fly’s,  ground balls that move base runners up a base are  often considered outs that help the team score runs. These are known as productive outs. Certain types of teams use productive outs to score runs. More often than not, these are teams that can’t score runs via hits. Instead of waiting for clutch hits to drive in runs, they sacrifice outs to put runners across the plate.  I’ve coached many teams, some scored with ease while others simply had trouble. I can admit that I often usedthe “productive” out approach with those teams that had trouble scoring. Productive outs have become so prevelant that ESPN has started keeping track of them.

The question remains ultimately, “Do productive outs help you win games?”

In my opinion, a team that relies on productive outs to score runs will have trouble winning games simply based on their lack of ability to use hits to score runs. However, I do agree that a productive out is better than a non-productive out like a K or a pop up.

Further Readings:

• The Count: Productive Outs Aren’t All That Productive Wall Street Journal
• On the Productive Out Percentage
• Essays of Cyril Morong

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