comebacker
noun
come·back·er
ˈkəm-ˌba-kər 
plural comebackers
1
baseball
: a ground ball hit directly to the pitcher
… Cormier had retired Mo Vaughn … on a weak comebacker to the mound to end the seventh.—
Gordon Edes
Gordon Edes2
golf
: a putt back to the hole after a preceding putt has rolled past it
After pitching to within 20 feet of the pin, Junior runs his first putt four feet past and then misses the comebacker.—Jaime Diaz
Jaime DiazExamples of comebacker in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger, who was making his MLB debut, hit a comebacker to the mound.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 25 Apr. 2024
But Buehler suffered a setback with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on April 12 when he was struck in the right middle finger by a comebacker and had to come out of the game after throwing only 27 pitches in two innings, well short of his 80-pitch target.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024
But Amador worked out of the jam by getting a comebacker to retire Arthur at the plate and then got Lindemuth to fly out to left to end the inning.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2024
Another prominent reliever, Blake Treinen, broke his ribs after he was struck by a comebacker in an exhibition game.
—Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
The team said Treinen had a bruised lung, though no broken ribs, because of a comebacker that nailed him in his side during an appearance Saturday.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
In the first inning, Nia Carter took off for home on a comebacker to Illinois State pitcher Paige McLeod and was thrown out at the plate.
—Chip Souza, arkansasonline.com, 23 Feb. 2024
But the comebacker to the face at the start of the fifth halted what appeared to be a good run of starts in the making.
—Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2023
The inning ended with Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol nonchalantly fielding Estrada’s comebacker, flipping the ball from his glove to his throwing hand and firing a fastball to first to extend his scoreless streak to 23 innings over 22 appearances.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2023
Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 25 Apr. 2024
But Buehler suffered a setback with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on April 12 when he was struck in the right middle finger by a comebacker and had to come out of the game after throwing only 27 pitches in two innings, well short of his 80-pitch target.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024
But Amador worked out of the jam by getting a comebacker to retire Arthur at the plate and then got Lindemuth to fly out to left to end the inning.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2024
Another prominent reliever, Blake Treinen, broke his ribs after he was struck by a comebacker in an exhibition game.
—Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
The team said Treinen had a bruised lung, though no broken ribs, because of a comebacker that nailed him in his side during an appearance Saturday.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
In the first inning, Nia Carter took off for home on a comebacker to Illinois State pitcher Paige McLeod and was thrown out at the plate.
—Chip Souza, arkansasonline.com, 23 Feb. 2024
But the comebacker to the face at the start of the fifth halted what appeared to be a good run of starts in the making.
—Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 19 Aug. 2023
The inning ended with Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol nonchalantly fielding Estrada’s comebacker, flipping the ball from his glove to his throwing hand and firing a fastball to first to extend his scoreless streak to 23 innings over 22 appearances.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'comebacker.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Comebacker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comebacker. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
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