Great article by Will on the state of baseball, including the impact of the shift, and how an excess of home runs and strikeouts have led to much fewer balls in play and other in-game action.
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci notes that by the end of June there were “more strikeouts in half a season than there were in the entire 1980 season.” And “on average, you have to wait [3 minutes and 45 seconds] between balls put in play — 41 seconds longer between movement than 20 years ago.” Steals (hence pitchouts), sacrifice bunts, hit-and-run plays — interesting things for fans — are becoming rarer.
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In comment 14013387 UConn4523 said:
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but I’m not everyone. I don’t personally want the shift gone but I’m up for modifying it. Baseball isn’t some holy sacred game that cannot be altered.
Pretty close to sacred in my mind. I don't mind tweaks. I also don't like the shift. But I also don't want to limit where a fielded can play. When a defense leaves a whole side of the field open, the players should just take what is given.
The game has had infinitely more impactful changes over the years. If this was the same game as it was 100 years ago I get not changing a thing, but that isn’t the case. The mound has changed several times, instant replay, no blocking the plate, and tons of others.
No blocking the plate was because of injuries and that is ok even though I don't like it because it is open to opinion. But most lower levels implemented that to keep kids from getting hurt.
I believe the mound is back to where it was pre-Bob Gibson.
Yes there have been changes, some big and the biggest to impact hitting was the mound height, yet it is back to where it was. (Guess DH too, which should be in both leagues).
Right now strikeouts are through the roof. It doesn’t bother me, persay, but it shows me that hitting it away from a shift isn’t anywhere as easy as many make it seem. And how many times would that even need to successfully happen to get he switch to stop?
I don’t see it, batters aren’t going to be able to do what’s being suggested in mass. Maybe a few, but not enough to naturally fix the shift. I’m open to waiting another year or two but I suspect we will see minimal difference.
Strikeouts are through the roof for the same reason the shift was implemented. Players are trying to hit HRs every at bat. Players have been instructed to swing up on pitches to elevate the ball and pull it (see Brandon Drury trying to turn his doubles into HRs) . Pulling creates better bat speed and a shorter distance to the fence.
You are right, not every batter can simply go the other way. I won't get into instructional leagues and lack of bat control but that is a different problem.
However these are the best players in the world and like pro golfers, they can do stuff with a bat we can only dream of.
No blocking the plate was because of injuries and that is ok even though I don't like it because it is open to opinion. But most lower levels implemented that to keep kids from getting hurt.
I believe the mound is back to where it was pre-Bob Gibson.
Yes there have been changes, some big and the biggest to impact hitting was the mound height, yet it is back to where it was. (Guess DH too, which should be in both leagues).
The mound is not back to where it was. They lowered it from 15 to 10 inches in 1969 in response to the dominant pitching of the era (Gibson, Drysdale, et al). It’s still at 10 inches today.
I think we are getting our answer anyway. Teams will continue to instruct hitters to hit for the fences. They aren’t going to deviate from them, too much reward in the HR, too much money on the line for HR hitters.
Baseball has a tough decision to make. Stay the course and continue to lose viewers or make a tweak that adds more baserunners. It’s as simple as that IMO.
I think we are getting our answer anyway. Teams will continue to instruct hitters to hit for the fences. They aren’t going to deviate from them, too much reward in the HR, too much money on the line for HR hitters.
Baseball has a tough decision to make. Stay the course and continue to lose viewers or make a tweak that adds more baserunners. It’s as simple as that IMO.
Yep, like all the offensive aids in football and basketball have stopped the decline of their viewership.
And I’m not suggesting going to that extreme anyway. Keep the balance.
And I’m not suggesting going to that extreme anyway. Keep the balance.
One thing for certain, we(both side) have staked our claims and have good arguments on each side.
I am very much "better the devil you know than the devil you don't" fan.
Agreed.
To me a tweak to the shifts is nowhere near a dramatic rule change like the lowering of the mound or DH.
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if it was terrible they can change it back. I’m naturally reluctant to change too when it comes to sports but this one makes sense to me to atleast try out. A slightly more balanced game won’t hurt, but if it did, make another change.
Agreed.
To me a tweak to the shifts is nowhere near a dramatic rule change like the lowering of the mound or DH.
Saying where a fielder can play is not a minor change or a tweak. It is as major as the mound height.
If you say infielders cannot play off the dirt into the outfield you are removing a standard fielding option against powerful hitters at is not new to the game.
If you say you need equal number of infielders on either side of 2nd base that may not be awful.....
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In comment 14013460 UConn4523 said:
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if it was terrible they can change it back. I’m naturally reluctant to change too when it comes to sports but this one makes sense to me to atleast try out. A slightly more balanced game won’t hurt, but if it did, make another change.
Agreed.
To me a tweak to the shifts is nowhere near a dramatic rule change like the lowering of the mound or DH.
Saying where a fielder can play is not a minor change or a tweak. It is as major as the mound height.
If you say infielders cannot play off the dirt into the outfield you are removing a standard fielding option against powerful hitters at is not new to the game.
If you say you need equal number of infielders on either side of 2nd base that may not be awful.....
That's fine. We can have our different opinions on what we each feel is major or minor. No problem there.
I probably should've made my point about tweaking the shift clearer. I don't have a problem where a 2B wants to play i.e. on the dirt or grass is fine to me. Same with him playing more towards 2B or 1B depending on the batter or game situation.
What I don't like is overloading the infielders to one side and that's what I'd like to see tweaked. Maybe limit it to you can't have a third fielder on one side and they can't lineup on the other side of 2B. They could certainly veer over that way to make a play on a ball, they just couldn't be stacked there to start with. Something along those lines.
Section, there are some opportunities to go the other way, and I think I spoke to that in my posts. But top pitchers pitch inside to lefties a great deal, "forcing" them to pull the ball into the shift.
It's not for nothing that the Yankees, with a Stadium that was built for LH hitters, and whose lineups was dominated by LH power for decades, now has a lineup dominated for the most part by RH hitters. The game is no longer fair to LH hitters due to the shift, and the Yanks have accommodated to that.
Don’t eliminate useless pitchers batting (or at least begin a hitting program for pitchers in college and minors)
Don’t speed up the game.
Poof, done. Baseball gone the way of the dinosaur once the 40yo+ all die off. Then all that is left are the elite players who can afford travel ball as a youth And their parents to follow baseball.
exactly
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yatqb, if you watch the pitching against the shift, the pitchers just pitch normal to the batter. They try to get the lefties to rollover outside pitches to induce grounders, which tend to roll weakly up the middle or to 2nd base.
Section, there are some opportunities to go the other way, and I think I spoke to that in my posts. But top pitchers pitch inside to lefties a great deal, "forcing" them to pull the ball into the shift.
It's not for nothing that the Yankees, with a Stadium that was built for LH hitters, and whose lineups was dominated by LH power for decades, now has a lineup dominated for the most part by RH hitters. The game is no longer fair to LH hitters due to the shift, and the Yanks have accommodated to that.
You have to pitch inside to set up outside, all pitchers do it. My point is they don't pitch differently to get the result they want. Batters have tendencies and the metrics say that "x" % number of balls are put in play to certain areas of the field. If you change your pitching, the metric changes.
I agree the shift is tougher on lefties, less so on righties. But if it was ineffective on righties, teams wouldn't shift for righties, but the still do.