Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
See my next response - it isn't that simple. They'll throw 98 mph sinkers that blow your bat apart if you try that. Or a slider at your back foot. Guys like Jeff Suppan going out there and getting by at 91 are an endangered species. Those are guys you can wait on and drive the other way - but they also aren't the kind of guys you NEED to do that against.
And when that little oppo single requires 2 guys behind you to ALSO execute for even a single run to score - the odds just don't support doing it. Not when wave after wave of fireballs are coming their way.
Players just CAN'T adapt to what pitchers have learned through things like pitchtrax. Pitchers are the proactive party in this scenario and there are things that they have learned to do that hitters simply cannot counter. The game begins with the guy on the mound. As Wainwright said during his warmups "I can be a little late when I'm at home - they can't start the game without me". And when those guys on the mound are starting to get insurmountable advantages, it's time to change things up.
What it SHOULD do more than anything is allow truer swings. Which requires pitchers to be more careful with how they approach an AB. It could mean that hitters get back to the old school 'drive it up the middle' approach that they had to get away from when teams started shifting middle/pull. And that's a good thing because now they can stay balanced and in the middle of their timing instead of trying to cheat ahead (or behind if they want to go oppo). Now you're looking at fewer poorly hit balls because they can take an ordinary hack and be rewarded.
Again - how does the shift IMPROVE the game? I can give you ways eliminating it will make the product more entertaining. How does keeping it in there do it? I've tried to come up with a way. I'm a purist at heart and am generally anti-change in sports. But I cannot in any way come up with a makeable argument in favor of the shifts impact on the entertainment value of baseball.
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Interesting tidbit I heard tonight. Apparently the 11 man committee who decides rule changes has 4 players as reps and all 4 voted against the pitch clock and eliminating the shift.
Frankly I figured players would vote to eliminate it.
To be honest I’ve hated the shift since teams started using it but it’s annoyed me the couldn’t adjust. I guess I’ll just have to go with what you said it’s just not that simple since evidence proves that theory out.
But that’s odd they voted against it.