Choosing the Right Baseball Glove for Your Position

There is a wide variety of baseball gloves and brands on the market that baseball players can choose, such as Rawlings, Wilson and Nike. Pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders each use different styles of baseball gloves that give them advantages at their position. Here, you can see a few baseball tips regarding the different styles of gloves available depending on the fielder’s position and the benefits they provide to the player wearing it. 

Pitcher’s Glove

A pitcher can usually use any kind of infield glove. Since the pitcher is trying to deceive the batter, the best type of glove for a pitcher is one that has a closed web that hides the ball and hand grip from the batter.

Catcher’s Mitt

The catcher’s mitt has the most distinctive look of the different types of baseball gloves. The catcher has to catch balls thrown at high speeds and must protect his hand. The catcher’s mitt is padded and larger than other types of gloves, which provides the catcher with protection. The size also gives the pitcher a larger target at which to pitch.

First Baseman’s Glove

The first base glove is different from other infield gloves – it is larger and doesn’t have finger holes. It also has a unique curved style to the edge that is useful when picking and scooping balls thrown in the dirt. Like the catcher’s mitt its large size gives the other infielders a larger target at which to throw.

Infielder’s Glove

The rest of the infield use small and light gloves. They are made this way so that the infielder can move quickly wearing one. The infielder is an athlete who must have quick reflexes and a glove that keeps up with them. The second baseman usually has the smallest glove. The small size of the glove allows the player to transfer the ball to his throwing hand quickly and turn double plays. Shortstops have longer gloves to increase their fielding range. Third basemen also have longer gloves to increase their range. Third base gloves have an open web and deeper pockets than other gloves, giving them the ability to catch hard hit balls at a closer distance to home plate than the other infielders.

Outfielder’s Glove

The outfielders have longer gloves than any other player’s glove on the field. The outfielder must track down fly balls, so the longer glove increases their range. The outfielder’s glove also has a deep pocket to prevent fly balls from popping out of the glove. A longer glove helps outfielders snag balls that are close to flying over the wall. 

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