Baseball Glove Size Charts To Choose the Perfect Fit

Whether you need an adult baseball glove, a youth glove, or a glove for t-ball players, focus on these factors: the glove size, your throwing hand, as well as the fit and the feel.

Baseball gloves give players protection, comfort, and control on the diamond. The construction, fit, and webbing type of your glove can affect your performance on the field, so selecting the right glove type is crucial.

A combination of a player’s age, hand size, and position largely determines the size of a baseball glove. When you’re choosing a glove, where you stand on the field (or outside of it) matters. For example, outfielders need bigger glove sizes to provide players more reach whenever batters strike the ball to left or center field.

How should a baseball glove fit? Baseball gloves are supposed to be tight. But they should not hinder your hand’s blood circulation nor should they slide off your hand.

By nature, the materials manufacturers use to make baseball gloves are usually stiff. However, they will loosen up with continued use.

• Size up when your glove prevents you from moving your fingers enough to accommodate catching the ball or makes your hand feel numb.
• Size down if it slides down your hand when you relax it at your side. As tempting as it may be to use an older sibling’s old glove, the glove should always fit the individual player.

Just like how baseball gloves’ sizes vary by position, so do the types of glove webs we recommend! If you're brand new or shopping for youth baseball and are unsure of the exact field position to buy for, a multipurpose glove can help the player learn and practice different positions.

Infield gloves often utilize a smaller, five-fingered design with a shallow pocket for quick transfers from the glove to releases from the throwing hand. Smaller gloves with wider webbing will make it easy to sift through dirt to scoop up ground balls.

While most infielders can benefit from the following gloves, you may want to experiment a little depending on your specific position and play style or other preferences. For example, third basemen may prefer close webbing since they tend to field hard hits, which require more strength and support.

Want to know what an outfielder’s best bets for securing those fly balls are? Outfield baseball gloves are usually longer and offer the player additional reach and a deeper pocket to secure the catches. Most outfielders will prefer closed webbing for extra security.

Pitchers rely a lot on concealment. The best gloves for the job often feature a deep pocket and a closed webbing system to help pitchers mask their next throw. Here are the best baseball glove web types we recommend for pitchers:

A catcher’s mitt is fingerless, is heavily padded, and has tight, shallow pockets. They help supply the control that catchers need and reduce the sting while increasing the transfer speed. Catcher’s mitts are sold by circumference.

• Players 13 and younger should wear a 32-32.5”

• Players between 14-15 years old should wear between a 32.5-33”

• Players 16 and older should wear at least a 33”

First baseman baseball gloves offer a long, wide mitt design ideal for handling the challenges presented to a first baseman: scooping up grounders and catching missile-like throws from teammates in the infield. Most first base players will want deep pockets and some cushion to keep the ball secure in their glove.

Baseball gloves mostly come in either synthetic material or a type of leather. While each type may affect your performance a bit, which one you choose ultimately comes down to personal preference.

• Younger players may prefer cowhide or synthetic leather for less break-in time.

• For a game-ready feel, older players may prefer softened, oil-treated leather gloves.

So what’s the real difference between leather and synthetic baseball gloves? Below, we dive into each type of baseball glove material and give you a brief overview of how they compare to each other:

Assemble a basic cleaning kit to clean your baseball glove. Yours could include a scrub brush (toothbrushes, coffee brushes, horse hair brushes, and shoe brushes all work great for different things and gloves), glove conditioner (especially for leather gloves), glove cleaner/oil, water & dishes, and a clean towel, rag, or sock.

Once you’ve got your supplies together, try this simple way to clean your baseball glove:

• Step 1: Remove large clumps of dirt with the brush.
• Step 2: Add your cleaner of choice to the cloth. Next, use the cloth to gently remove any remaining dirt.
• Step 3: If using a leather glove, apply a dime-sized amount of glove oil to a new cloth. Too much oil will leave a residue that can gunk up your glove and accumulate more dirt. Applying your oil directly to the glove will shorten the life of a new glove.
• Step 4: Work the glove oil into the leather evenly — starting at the palm. Move to the breakpoint, and finally the web and laces. If your glove is new, you can use this time to stretch and work the rigid parts of your glove to help break it in.
• Step 5: Leave your glove in a warm area for 24 hours to allow the oil to absorb into the leather.