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Matt Antonelli
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Hitting Coach @bcbirdball • Former MLB Player • Owner of @antonelliBSB • 1st Round Draft Pick
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As the game gets faster, your margin for error gets smaller.
Balls are hit harder. Runners get down the line faster. You have less time to square a ball up, set your feet, and make the ideal two-handed play.
That’s why infielders have to be comfortable using one hand.
One hand gives you more reach, more freedom with the glove, and a better chance to make plays while your body is still moving.
Forehands, backhands, slow rollers, balls outside your frame, plays on the run.
At higher levels, you have to be able to adjust and make plays from imperfect positions.
The goal is to give yourself enough freedom to make the play the game gives you.
A lot of players grow up hearing “two hands” on every ground ball.
So when they get older, they start to think using one hand is somehow less fundamental.
It’s actually the opposite.
If you want to play at a high level, you have to be comfortable making one-handed plays.
Two hands still have a place.
But one-hand defense is not bad fundamentals.
At higher levels, it’s part of the fundamentals.
You have to practice it.
Get reps and reps and more reps until using one hand becomes automatic. The goal is to practice it so much that the one-handed play becomes fundamental to you.
That’s when you start becoming the type of defender who can handle the speed and demands of the next level.
Balls are hit harder. Runners get down the line faster. You have less time to square a ball up, set your feet, and make the ideal two-handed play.
That’s why infielders have to be comfortable using one hand.
One hand gives you more reach, more freedom with the glove, and a better chance to make plays while your body is still moving.
Forehands, backhands, slow rollers, balls outside your frame, plays on the run.
At higher levels, you have to be able to adjust and make plays from imperfect positions.
The goal is to give yourself enough freedom to make the play the game gives you.
A lot of players grow up hearing “two hands” on every ground ball.
So when they get older, they start to think using one hand is somehow less fundamental.
It’s actually the opposite.
If you want to play at a high level, you have to be comfortable making one-handed plays.
Two hands still have a place.
But one-hand defense is not bad fundamentals.
At higher levels, it’s part of the fundamentals.
You have to practice it.
Get reps and reps and more reps until using one hand becomes automatic. The goal is to practice it so much that the one-handed play becomes fundamental to you.
That’s when you start becoming the type of defender who can handle the speed and demands of the next level.
Congrats to Will Venable on being named the 2026 American League Manager of the Year.
I’m so happy to see Will having the success he’s having. He was a great teammate and an even better person, and it’s been awesome to watch what he’s done in Chicago.
Couldn’t have happened to a better guy. Very well deserved!
I’m so happy to see Will having the success he’s having. He was a great teammate and an even better person, and it’s been awesome to watch what he’s done in Chicago.
Couldn’t have happened to a better guy. Very well deserved!
The small details matter.
Footwork, First step, Glove position, Routes, Transfers, Reads, etc.
The goal is to practice these things the right way so many times that eventually you don’t have to think about them. Your body just reacts.
In a game, there isn’t time to think through every movement. You have to see it and go.
But playing on autopilot doesn’t happen by accident.
It comes from thousands of quality reps done with intention.
Practice the details until the right movement becomes the only movement your body knows.
Footwork, First step, Glove position, Routes, Transfers, Reads, etc.
The goal is to practice these things the right way so many times that eventually you don’t have to think about them. Your body just reacts.
In a game, there isn’t time to think through every movement. You have to see it and go.
But playing on autopilot doesn’t happen by accident.
It comes from thousands of quality reps done with intention.
Practice the details until the right movement becomes the only movement your body knows.
1:50
RIGHT • LEFT • FIELD
RIGHT • LEFT • THROW
Good infield footwork helps create momentum and direction toward your target.
It allows you to get through the baseball, shorten the distance of the throw, and use your entire body instead of relying only on your arm.
Better footwork can lead to:
• More accurate throws
• More velocity across the diamond
• Quicker releases
• Better body control
Your arm matters, but great infielders learn how to use their feet to make the throw easier.
RIGHT • LEFT • THROW
Good infield footwork helps create momentum and direction toward your target.
It allows you to get through the baseball, shorten the distance of the throw, and use your entire body instead of relying only on your arm.
Better footwork can lead to:
• More accurate throws
• More velocity across the diamond
• Quicker releases
• Better body control
Your arm matters, but great infielders learn how to use their feet to make the throw easier.
1:47