Batting out of turn

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In baseball, batting out of turn or batting out of order refers to an event in which a batter makes a plate appearance out of sequence from the batting order specified in the lineup card submitted by the manager to the home plate umpire before the start of the game. The initial batting order is a list of the nine position players selected by the manager to play that game, indicating the sequence in which they will bat and the position to which they have been assigned for the game. During the game, batters make a plate appearance in the order specified by the batting order, repeating the sequence once the ninth batter has made a plate appearance.

Occasionally, one or more batters may bat in the incorrect order. In Major League Baseball, this violates rule 6.03(b) of the Official Baseball Rules. Batting out of turn is ignored by rule unless a member of the defensive team notifies the umpire that an infraction has occurred. Once the umpire is notified, the rule is enforced based on the official batting order. See Penalty section for the consequences of such notification.