I would say that's pretty dramatic
I would say that's pretty dramatic
But the players could easily defeat the shift if they were smart.
If David Ortiz would just bunt the ball down the 3rd base line he could walk to 1st base and hit .500.
Its the players fault for not counteracting the shift.
A couple of of 5 for 5 games on bunt singles from Ortiz and other lefties would end these shifts.
If David Ortiz would just bunt the ball down the 3rd base line he could walk to 1st base and hit .500.
Its the players fault for not counteracting the shift.
A couple of of 5 for 5 games on bunt singles from Ortiz and other lefties would end these shifts.
I'm dead serious .
When Ortiz hits the 3rd baseman plays where the SS use to play.
A bunt down the 3rd baseline could almost get him a double even though he is one of the slowest runners in baseball.
Since it took baseball 100 years to figure out the shift I guess it's going to take the hitters another 100 years to counter it.
When Ortiz hits the 3rd baseman plays where the SS use to play.
A bunt down the 3rd baseline could almost get him a double even though he is one of the slowest runners in baseball.
Since it took baseball 100 years to figure out the shift I guess it's going to take the hitters another 100 years to counter it.
Sports theory and strategy moves at an exponential speed nowadays.
Guys are already trying to bunt more to beat the shift but it doesn't sound as easy as you say.
You could also do a shift and have a guy cheating towards the bunt. This would leave a lot of the field open but if the defense continues to give different looks throughout the AB that would make it pretty hard for a hitter to adjust. Hitting is hard enough as is, when your goal is constantly changing during the AB that complicates it even more.
I think guys will probably just get better at using the whole field over time though. Still, with no rule changes it might take awhile for offense to just get back to where it was in 2012.
If you have an unbalanced defense something is always going to be exposed.
Kind of hard to do a shift and still have someone cheat in for a bunt.
Only way to do that would be keep the 3rd baseman in his normal spot while shifting the 2nd baseman and SS.
If you do that you leave the entire left side of the infield wide open which is even easier to expose then the 3rd base line .
Kind of hard to do a shift and still have someone cheat in for a bunt.
Only way to do that would be keep the 3rd baseman in his normal spot while shifting the 2nd baseman and SS.
If you do that you leave the entire left side of the infield wide open which is even easier to expose then the 3rd base line .
Baseball has always been called a left handlers game.
It looks like that's changed.
If you look at the MLB draft this season left handed hitters drafting position fell dramatically this year .
So teams are now drafting with that in mind now.
It looks like that's changed.
If you look at the MLB draft this season left handed hitters drafting position fell dramatically this year .
So teams are now drafting with that in mind now.
https://ia600809.us.archive.org/27/items/BeatingTheShift/CanoDouble.gif
Cano saying fuck the shift. That's like a power bunt.
Cano saying fuck the shift. That's like a power bunt.
Haha. A bunt double. I love it.
I bet if he does that 2 or 3 more times its bye bye shift against cano.
What is interesting about this is it really isn't a rule that needs to be changed I don't think. It is moreso just a strategic breakthrough in the game that needs to be worked through. Unfortunately, that might take a little time and the game may suffer a little in the meantime.
In the other major sports, defenses shift alignment and strategy based on player tendency all the time so why it took 100 years to become mainstream in baseball is a little surprising.
Joe Madden basically invented it.
People can say what they want about the guy but he is the Chip Kelly of baseball. If it weren't for him none of this would be happening.
He is also batting the pitcher 8th in every single game.
First manager in history to do that every game .
Seems like he loves to set the trends for everyone else to follow.
People can say what they want about the guy but he is the Chip Kelly of baseball. If it weren't for him none of this would be happening.
He is also batting the pitcher 8th in every single game.
First manager in history to do that every game .
Seems like he loves to set the trends for everyone else to follow.
Hey Chop, just punched some numbers on the Mariners as mentioned earlier.
First, Nelson Cruz is due for some bad games. He simply can't sustain his pace. He's not hitting .350 and 55 homers or whatever he's on track for. Not in today's game.
Beyond that though the Mariners look poised to score some runs. Cruz carried them early in the year when the rest of the team was cold. There isn't another player on the team (other than Seth Smith by the tiniest of margins) hitting beyond my projections when it comes to batting average. That means to me that the hits will start to increase before too long. That being said, the team only has 2 great hitters, maybe 3 with Seager. Cano should get going any day now. He can't be as shot as he's looked.
Seattle has a team with some decent power hitters. Cruz and Smith aren't going to keep up their pace and there really isn't a ton of HR upside potential beyond Cano on this team (on track for 2.6, I have him around 10-14 HRs). Everyone doing about what they should do. Seager coming into his own. LoMo finally realizing potential. Zunino has 25 HR potential. Rickie Weeks could come close to 20. Same for Ackley. I like Brad Miller quite a bit and think he'll start hitting soon.
Ultimately when Cruz regresses it will be up to the rest of the team to take over. If Cano hits as I think he will they should be okay. Guys like Zunino, Smith, Ackley, Jackson, Weeks, Taylor, and Ruggiano all have room to bring their batting averages up. The power should be okay. Consistent but nothing special.
I don't see scoring going up or down much from what they've done thus far. When Cruz starts having bad games he'll offset the extra runners on base a bit. The bottom half of the Seattle lineup is who I think will carry the offensive load when that happens. Maybe I'd put the Mariners' offense up a tick because they are so heavy in batting average regression forcing the hits to come, but Cruz trending down offsets it a bit.
Didn't look at pitching yet.
First, Nelson Cruz is due for some bad games. He simply can't sustain his pace. He's not hitting .350 and 55 homers or whatever he's on track for. Not in today's game.
Beyond that though the Mariners look poised to score some runs. Cruz carried them early in the year when the rest of the team was cold. There isn't another player on the team (other than Seth Smith by the tiniest of margins) hitting beyond my projections when it comes to batting average. That means to me that the hits will start to increase before too long. That being said, the team only has 2 great hitters, maybe 3 with Seager. Cano should get going any day now. He can't be as shot as he's looked.
Seattle has a team with some decent power hitters. Cruz and Smith aren't going to keep up their pace and there really isn't a ton of HR upside potential beyond Cano on this team (on track for 2.6, I have him around 10-14 HRs). Everyone doing about what they should do. Seager coming into his own. LoMo finally realizing potential. Zunino has 25 HR potential. Rickie Weeks could come close to 20. Same for Ackley. I like Brad Miller quite a bit and think he'll start hitting soon.
Ultimately when Cruz regresses it will be up to the rest of the team to take over. If Cano hits as I think he will they should be okay. Guys like Zunino, Smith, Ackley, Jackson, Weeks, Taylor, and Ruggiano all have room to bring their batting averages up. The power should be okay. Consistent but nothing special.
I don't see scoring going up or down much from what they've done thus far. When Cruz starts having bad games he'll offset the extra runners on base a bit. The bottom half of the Seattle lineup is who I think will carry the offensive load when that happens. Maybe I'd put the Mariners' offense up a tick because they are so heavy in batting average regression forcing the hits to come, but Cruz trending down offsets it a bit.
Didn't look at pitching yet.
