Overview
The squeeze play is a scoring tactic where the batter bunts with a runner on third to bring him home. Two variants exist: the suicide squeeze, where the runner breaks for home on the pitch, and the safety squeeze, where the runner reads the bunt before committing. The suicide squeeze has a high success rate but risks the runner being caught in a rundown if the bunt is missed or popped up. In NPB, squeezes are frequently deployed in tight late-game situations, especially by pitching-strong teams seeking to manufacture a single run. Common in high school baseball as well, the squeeze epitomizes Japan's small-ball philosophy. While sabermetrics sometimes shows it reduces run expectancy, the squeeze retains strong support as a reliable method for scoring in close games.