Batting out of order

The batting out of order refers to when the batter makes a plate appearance out of order submitted by the home plate umpire. Umpires ignore this situation until the defensive team notifies the judges about the fact of an infraction. After that the offensive team gets a penalty. But in some cases, the improper player is legalized.

If the umpires notice that the improper batter was at bat, they call out the proper batter. The officials remove the runners from the occupied bases. They must return to the positions they occupied before the nullified pitch. Stolen bases and wild pitches stay after the umpire’s decision. There is no penalty if the proper batter hasn’t been out or become a runner, but the improper player comes at bat. The proper batter should return to bat. But if it arrived at the base, the proper batter is the next player on the list. That player assumes the improper batter’s count.

There are some ways to legalize the improper batter. Substitute player takes the place of the batter from the start roster. Umpires fix it and keep silent in case of an appeal. The improper batter may be legalized after it reaches the base. As a result, the order continues with the next player after the legalized batter. If the first improper player advances the second base, it becomes legal too. The umpire ignores this fact. Its turn is skipped and the next teammate begins the at-bat.