Passed ball vs. wild pitch

Both plays look the same from the stands: the ball gets by the catcher and a runner takes a base. The scorer decides whose fault it was. If the pitch was catchable, around the zone and not in the dirt, and the catcher missed it, it is a passed ball. If the pitch bounced in front of the plate, sailed over the catcher's head or was so far outside the catcher could not reach it, it is a wild pitch.

The difference matters for the pitcher's ERA. A run that scores on a wild pitch is earned, because the pitcher threw it. A run that scores on a passed ball is unearned, because it was the catcher's mistake. Neither one is an error, and neither one is a stolen base: a runner who was not running when the ball got away moves up on the WP or PB.

The play only gets a WP or PB when a runner advances. A pitch in the dirt with the bases empty is just a ball. On a dropped third strike, a batter who reaches first because the ball got away is marked K-WP or K-PB, and the pitcher still gets the strikeout.

For a young catcher, passed balls are a coaching stat, not a scoring footnote. Count them for each catcher in a game: a catcher who blocks well keeps runners at their base, and the number drops quickly once they learn to drop to their knees and keep the ball in front.

Examples

• Runner on second, a fastball at the letters glances off the catcher's glove, runner takes third: PB.
• Runner on first, a curveball bounces a foot in front of the plate and rolls to the backstop, runner takes second: WP.
• Runner on third scores on a pitch over the catcher's head: WP, and the run is earned.
• Runner on first steals second, and the pitch also gets by the catcher: SB, not WP or PB, since the runner was going anyway.

Put it on a card: Score sheets.

Frequently Asked Questions

More in the glossary

• Earned run
• Error (E)
• Backwards K
• All glossary pages