March 08, 2022

MLB Will Ban the Defensive Shift: The defensive shift is no more. The players have given the league permission during lockout negotiations to ban it in 2023. "There are few plays more frustrating for a baseball fan watching on TV than when a hard-hit ball up the middle — seemingly a base hit — ends up being a routine ground out because the defense had the third baseman camped behind second base," writes Andrew Joseph of USA Today.

posted by rcade to baseball at 11:49 AM - 5 comments

I have nothing against the shift. It was just smart defense against a guy who apparently isn't able to hit to the opposite field.

posted by NoMich at 12:04 PM on March 08, 2022

Me neither. I'm not saying I love it, but if the defense is so confident they know where the ball will go that they will leave gaps in some areas to load up in the hot spots, that does not sound like a problem that needs a regulatory solution.

posted by bender at 12:24 PM on March 08, 2022

I would've preferred to see it disappear because a new generation of Tony Gwynns arose to embarrass teams for using it, but I hated the shift and will be glad to see it gone.

posted by rcade at 12:49 PM on March 08, 2022

I would've preferred to see it disappear because a new generation of Tony Gwynns arose to embarrass teams for using it

Yeah, I guess that sums up my thought on this as well. To address Andrew Joseph's statement that fans find the shift "frustrating," it's because there hasn't been a Tony Gwynn like player that can embarrass a defense out of the shift. I saw Anthony Rizzo do it once and it was immensely satisfying to see him do it, but apparently I saw the single time that he was able to hit a grounder into left field in the situation. Opposing teams kept on doing it to him after that and I don't remember him ever hitting to opposite field again.

posted by NoMich at 01:03 PM on March 08, 2022

All of the above. Perhaps I risk being considered a free market capitalist (when it comes to baseball), but the solution to rid baseball of an unpopular strategy should be to make that strategy ineffective, not ban it.

posted by tahoemoj at 03:05 PM on March 08, 2022

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