Help understanding the DP/Flex rule

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As a coach I have used the DP/Flex to help with a short bench. I went to an out of town tournament with 10 players and by using the DP/Flex all ten were in the game all the time and if someone needed a breather on defense the DP could spell them for an inning. This is very helpful when you get a kid that gets banged up on offensive and just needs a break to tape up or collect themselves before going back out on the field on defense. Or similar if a defender gets banged up in a collision you can give them some time on the bench without burning subs. It's especially helpful on long hot days when you never know which kid is going to get loopy from the heat.

What's funny is that nobody knows the rule very well (except umpires). I drove an oppossing coach to distraction swapping DP around the field 5 times in one game the opposing coach got livid with the umpire "Why do they get to do whatever they want?? it's supposed to be strict substitution!!" :lmao:

When the DP plays defense for anyone other than the flex it's not a substitution but a position swap, no different than telling F3 and F4 to swap positions. Even if the DP plays defense for the flex, the flex still has one reentry to come back in.

I know this seems like a lot of rules to remember but IMO there are only three substitution rules you need to know as a coach.

#1. Everyone gets one re-entry
#2. Courtesy Runner rule
#3. DP/Flex Rule

Even at the HS level I rarely see coaches take advantage of anything other than the courtesy runner. I've never seen it done at the HS level, but I would think that if you had 4 or 5 really fast kids in the program who weren't ready for varsity (hitting and fielding wise) you could use them as rabbits once every game to run for slower kids who got on base and then reenter the fielder on defense.

 

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Agree with snocatzdad thats is a great but often misunderstood weapon. The only disadvantage of using all 10 is that if one of your players other than the DP or Flex were to get hurt/sick, that you would have a hole in your batting order that you would have to take an out for. I would not use it with 10 players personally for that reason, but almost always used it when we had more than 10. If there is one girl on your bench who is either a better hitter or a better fielder than one of the otherwise 9 players in the starting lineup, you're crazy not to use it if it's allowed.

 

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I agree that the danger with using it with 10 is that if you lose a kid other than DP or Flex you taking an out in the batting lineup.

But... that's one out every two to three innings on offense while still defending with 9. And I've found that 90% of the injuries magically dissappear when their turn to bat comes up.

If you have 10, and sub for a minor injury early (heat, twisted ankle, bad stomach). Your now out of luck for the other 8 players if they get hurt. Which will make you tend to keep #10 out of the game as long as possible which can be a bummer for player #10 and a bummer for the kids that needed a quick breather that you denied an inning down out of fear of using your only sub.

 

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It is good to have the flex and DP section of your book marked for easy access. Not even all umpires understand it as I found out in a hs game the other night.

Derek

 

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At one of my dd's hs games we had a coach use the flex player as a pinch runner. Is that legal? Never actually saw that part of the rule in writing.

 

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It is legal or I think it is as long as there are no players on the bench that have not entered the game yet.

 

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At one of my dd's hs games we had a coach use the flex player as a pinch runner. Is that legal? Never actually saw that part of the rule in writing.

The only place in the lineup it is legal for the flex to pinch run is the DP's spot. When the flex pinch runs for the DP, the DP has left the game and has one reentry (assuming it hasn't already been used). The flex can do this all day long without burning reentry for herself because technically she has never left the game.

i.e. First inning Sally is DP and hits a double, Molly Flex then runs for her, Sally reneters in the third and hits again, Molly Flex runs for her again. Now Sally is out of the game, but Susan (an available sub)enters in the 5th at the DP spot and hits, and Molly Flex runs for her again.

The only flexibility in the pinch runner rules have to do with Courtesy Runners. Typically a courtesy runner cannot run for two different players in the same half inning(i.e. they are not available as an offensive sub in the same half inning that they CR for a pitcher or catcher). However if a courtesy runner ran for the pitcher early in the inning, then later in the inning another player got hurt running the bases and there were no other available subs, you are allowed to use the CR as a sub for the injured player on the bases in that instance. They are done as a CR at that point since they entered the game as a sub.

 

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The ONLY player the FLEX can be on offense for (as a batter or runner) is the DP. Placing the FLEX in one of the other slots in the batting order is handled as an illegal player (ASA) or illegal substitute (NFHS). The player is disqualified from the game in ASA, called out and restricted to the bench in high school play.

 

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#1. Everyone gets one re-entry

Last night, the umpire would not let me re-enter a sub to run for the DP that had been subbed earlier in the game (to run for the DP). He, and the opposing coach, said that subs do not have re-entry.

I agree that coaches sometimes don't take full advantage of opportunities to get faster kids in the game. If you have a great baserunner who isn't in your top 10, you can get that kid plenty of baserunning chances. She can courtesy for the pitcher or catcher (only one of them though) and then can be subbed twice to run for another player later in the game. If your pitcher or catcher get on base early, you could have your speedster on the bases 3-4 times in a game.

 

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Last night, the umpire would not let me re-enter a sub to run for the DP that had been subbed earlier in the game (to run for the DP). He, and the opposing coach, said that subs do not have re-entry.

Sounds like the umpire was confusing the high school baseball rule, where subs do not have re-entry rights. This is a basic rule in softball that the umpire should know.

It doesn't really matter what the other coach thought. Coaches are sometimes wrong about a rule and what they "think" shouldn't affect the umpire making the right call.

That's such a bad interpretation that I would follow up and contact whoever assigns umpires for your games to let them know about it. This official needs some education!

 

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Sounds like the umpire was confusing the high school baseball rule, where subs do not have re-entry rights. ... That's such a bad interpretation that I would follow up and contact whoever assigns umpires for your games to let them know about it. This official needs some education!

He did mention baseball! I sent an email to the assigner last night. It's something we plan on doing so I want to make sure we don't have problems. Other than that, he was very good.

If I remember right, this changed about 5-6 years ago.

 

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I am sure with all of the differences between associations and with baseball that things like the DP/Flex, courtesy runners, and re-entry rules can be confusing to umpires ... but as bretman says, this is a pretty basic thing in fastpitch, and has been around at last 6 years as that's when I started coaching at the high school level.

When I was coaching varsity a few years back, I stopped in to see one of our freshman games and ended up up getting involved in 2 arguments with the lone umpire there about things including the re-entry rule. I hesitated to get involved and wouldn't have for the sake of the outcome of the game, but the result was that our coach was unable to get some of his girls in the game that he had planned and after he told them they were going in. I told our coach after to let the AD know so that the umpire would either be reprimanded or at least be properly trained.

 

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Just putting this up again for a friend that wants to know the rules on it.

 

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When the DP plays defense for anyone other than the flex it's not a substitution but a position swap, no different than telling F3 and F4 to swap positions. Even if the DP plays defense for the flex, the flex still has one reentry to come back in.
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I agree but my question is do you need to report that the DP is now on Defense as well as the Flex? I think not if you say that you can tell F3 to swap with F4 which no reporting is needed.

 

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There was alot of confusion today in our tournament regarding the DP/Flex Rule. We are 10U, and this was our first ASA tournament of the season. The umps were unsure of the rule as well which added to the confusion. After reading some of the posts I think I have it figured out now!!

 

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I agree but my question is do you need to report that the DP is now on Defense as well as the Flex? I think not if you say that you can tell F3 to swap with F4 which no reporting is needed.

It does really help to keep things straight when all DP/FLEX moves are reported to the plate umpire.

If the DP plays defense for a player other than the FLEX, the ramifications are different than when the DP plays defense for the FLEX player. You want the umpire to be sure that your FLEX player has not left the game, thus burning a re-entry!

The umpire needs to know which player the DP is playing defense for to properly record any substitutions or re-entries.

Also (if the umpire understands the rule) he may be able to prevent the coach from accidently making an illegal move with these players. This would fall under the catagory of preventive umpiring. You want the coach to know his options, to know if he's making an illegal movment of players and to get it all recorded on the official line-up card to keep future substitutions straight.

 

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We used dp/flex rule this way in a game this year,
(flex is 2nd baseman)
Pitcher gets hurt 2nd inning, sub enters in her spot in batting order(pitcher out of game) sub never goes in on defence
1st baseman (backup pitcher) moves to the mound
3rd baseman moves to 1st
dp(backup 3rd baseman) goes in to play 3rd
Reported all moves to ump so there would be no confussion and finished the game that way.