Expert: Andrew Senger - 4/6/2009

Question
I am preparing the stats for a game in which a player was injured, and was out for 2 innings, and then returned to play.  Because of already having used the one player on the bench as a sub, there was no one to replace him.  Therefore the injured player was credited with an out for those 2 innings.  How are those 2 outs handled in preparing the stats for this player, and this game. Is this an at bat or not?

Answer
Karen,

Because you mentioned the re-entry of a player, I'm assuming you're using NFHS (Fed) rules. That said, I can not find anything in the rules that state how the Official Scorer is to complete the stat for skipping a player on the roster due to injury. The closest I can find is 7-4-1g: "A batter is also out as in above penalty or when: a team playing with one less than the starting number and that turn to bat is reached." It states the batter is out, but nothing states if it's a strikeout or some other type of out.

My suggestion would be to ask the state association how it should be treated. They should know, considering the fact that it influences batting averages, pitching records, and other statistics.