pitchout

[ pich-out ]

noun

1. Baseball. a strategy in which a pitcher purposely throws the ball too far outside the plate for the batter to hit, but enabling the catcher to more easily handle the ball in anticipation of an attempted steal, squeeze play, or hit-and-run play:

   On a botched pitchout by the Oakland battery, Santana stole his first base since last September.

2. Football. a lateral pass thrown behind the line of scrimmage by one back, especially a T-formation quarterback, to another:

   Freeman took a pitchout and went 42 yards around left end for the score.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pitchout¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; noun use of verb phrase pitch out

Example Sentences

Carolina got within 17-9 on a 19-yard TD run by McCaffrey on a pitchout, but the 49ers answered with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Garoppolo to Deebo Samuel and a 1-yard TD run by Wilson to put the game away.

From Seattle Times

Already gone are the perfunctory balls thrown in an intentional walk, which means that one of baseball’s great, rare delights — seeing a batter lean over and hit a lazy pitchout — has disappeared forever.

From Washington Post

Fleming took the ball on a pitchout and was running to his right.

From Seattle Times

Tatis had stolen second and advanced to third when catcher Rene Rivera, the Nationals’ third option with Yan Gomes and Alex Avila injured, delivered a poor throw to second on a pitchout that sailed into center field.

From Washington Post

Tailback Jonathan Taylor was thrown for a three-yard loss on a third-down carry, a pitchout to the left, from the 1-yard line.

From Washington Post