Defensive position chart by inning

A defensive position chart is a grid with one row per player and one column per inning. Each cell says where that player stands that inning. It answers the three questions every youth coach gets asked: Where am I playing? When do I sit? Do I get to play infield?

Build a rotation in your browser

Paste your players (one per line, in batting order if you like), choose innings and fielders, and press Build chart. The helper spreads bench innings as evenly as possible and moves fielders through different positions each inning. Click any cell to change it — most coaches will want to set their own pitchers and catchers. Then print.

How the rotation is worked out

1. Bench first. Each inning, the players with the fewest bench innings so far sit next. Ties go to whoever sat least recently, so sitting moves down the roster instead of landing on the same kids.
2. Then positions. The fielders for that inning are matched to positions, favoring a position each player has not played yet in this game and alternating infield and outfield where possible.
3. Totals. The last columns count bench, infield and outfield innings, so you can spot an uneven game before it starts.

The helper does not know who can pitch or catch. Those spots usually need a coach's judgment and your league's pitching rules, so edit them by hand after building.

Reading the chart before the game

• Read across a row to tell a player their whole day at once.
• Read down a column to confirm each position is covered exactly once that inning.
• Compare the BN column: with 11 players and 9 fielders, 2 sit each inning, so over 6 innings there are 12 bench innings to share. Nobody should have more than 2 while others have 0.

Position codes