Hold (baseball)

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You may be referring to a baserunner hold.

A hold is awarded to a relief pitcher if he enters in a save situation, records at least one out, and leaves the game without having relinquished that lead.

Generally, a save situation is when a pitcher enters the game with a lead of three runs or fewer and finishes the game without relinquishing the lead. Most of the time, the saving pitcher pitches one or more innings.

To receive a hold, the pitcher must not finish the game (thus becoming the closing pitcher) or be the winning pitcher. Therefore, the same pitcher can't get a save and a hold in the same game.

Unlike saves, more than one pitcher can earn a hold in a game. It is also not necessary for the pitcher's team to win the game in order to achieve a hold; they merely have to be in the lead at the time the pitcher exits.

The hold was invented in 1986 to give a statistical measure of the effectiveness of non-closer relief pitchers. Holds are most often accredited to setup pitchers, as they usually pitch between the starter and the closer. Holds are (as of 2006) an official Major League Baseball statistic.