Spanish Baseball Vocabulary

While the nature of the game can vary from country to country, the vocabulary tends to be similar.

El bateadorBatter
BateBat
El Receptor o CátcherCatcher
BéisbolBaseball
PelotaBall
El lanzador o PícherPitcher
JonrónHome run
BaseBase
Primera baseFirst base
Segunda baseSecond base
Tercera baseThird base
BeisbolistaBaseball player
El jardineroOutfielder
EquipoTeam
PuntajeScore
Base metaHome plate
Batazo buenoHit
EntradaInning
FueraOut
CarreraRun

Discussing Baseball in Spanish

First and foremost, it is important to know that a lot of the terms used in baseball in Spanish come directly from English. You’re likely to quickly recognize words such as cátcher, béisbol, pícher, and base. If you want to talk about baseball in Spanish, learning these words won’t take long.

As a baseball player, you might hear phrases such as:

  • Estás out. — You are out. This is used when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. Notice that the English preposition out is kept in the Spanish phrase.
  • Estás ponchao. — You are punch-out. Estás ponchao is used to indicate that a batter has struck out. It refers to the physical motion the umpire in this instance.

Watching Baseball

If you decide to watch a baseball game with friends, you will want to understand what is going on. While many phrases and words come from English, there are some expressions that you may not recognize until you learn the Spanish for them. For example:

  • Se le llenó la casa. — The bases are loaded.
  • Batió un jonrón. — He batted a homerun.
  • Pillar al corredor. — Caught between two bases.
  • Jonrón con casa llena. — Grand slam (a home run with the bases loaded).
  • Colgar la tercera argolla. — This literally translates to ”hang the third ring” in English; it is used when the pitcher gets the third out.