scatter-armed

American  

[skat-er-ahrmd] / ˈskæt ərˌɑrmd /

adjective

Sports.

1. having poor control of the ball in a game in which throwing a ball is part of the play; tending to throw a ball outside its intended path.

   scatter-armed pitchers;

   a strong but scatter-armed quarterback.

---

Etymology

Origin of scatter-armed

First recorded in 1980–85; scatter ( def. ) + armed ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

With first base suddenly open, the Dodgers were able to move a scatter-armed third baseman named Steve Garvey across the diamond.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2025

In the field he won nine Gold Glove awards, and was terrific on sharp ground balls and exculpating scatter-armed infielders like Steve Sax and Alvaro Espinosa from God-knows-how-many throwing errors.

From New York Times • Jan. 3, 2015

His fielding was worse — fans behind first base would start ducking when balls bounced to him, afraid the scatter-armed shortstop would zing another throw into the seats.

From Washington Post • Jul. 8, 2011

His fielding was worse - fans behind first base would start ducking when balls bounced to him, afraid the scatter-armed shortstop would zing another throw into the seats.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 7, 2011

"No scatter-armed outfielder will ever hit the cutoff, no matter how much you tell him where to throw the ball."

From Time Magazine Archive