Explaining baseball’s next experiment to limit shifts: The ‘pie-slice rule’

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

Just now, AngelsLakersFan said:

They are trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube

don't care, this easier than the toothpaste thing...

[AngelsLakersFan]

I’m not sure why this suggestion is always so derided… When the talk was bringing the DH to the NL I suggested just eliminating the pitchers spot in the lineup. If they are so hell bent on turning an infielder into a useless lawn ornament, why not just eliminate a defender?

The league fights so hard to keep the worst players on the field, when they could be maximizing their stars.

[AngelsLakersFan]

8 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

don't care, this easier than the toothpaste thing...

Toothpaste is doable, this not so much.

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

1 minute ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Toothpaste is doable, this not so much.

l done talking about it

[AngelsLakersFan]

Just now, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

l done talking about it

Very sad

[Second Base]

I wish players would just adjust to beat the shift, but it's evident they won't. They've had years to do it and the shift is becoming more and more frequent. 

So yes, it's time for the league to step in. Outlaw infielders playing in the outfield and prevent infielders from playing up the middle. 

They'll still be and to shift, it'll just lessen it's effectiveness by opening up the single up the middle. 

[Stradling]

I read earlier in the off season that Joey Gallo lead the league in bunt hits last year. It didn’t stop the shift. 

[Blarg]

1 hour ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Nah, they have years to adjust to it, but haven't. Just get rid of it. Bring back the game I grew up with, without shifts...

The game I grew up with players hit the ball to gaps in the defense. I'd like to see that game again. 

[Blarg]

15 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I read earlier in the off season that Joey Gallo lead the league in bunt hits last year. It didn’t stop the shift. 

Gallo hit .166/.287/.336/.624 last year. I don't think his problem was the shift. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

4 minutes ago, Blarg said:

The game I grew up with players hit the ball to gaps in the defense. I'd like to see that game again. 

The thing is, they haven’t actually made any changes to try and break the dynamic… they are throwing their hands in the air and giving up before they even made an attempt.

[CaliAngel]

20 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I read earlier in the off season that Joey Gallo lead the league in bunt hits last year. It didn’t stop the shift. 

Then he didn't keep bunting long enough. 

[m0nkey]

9 hours ago, Blarg said:

Gallo hit .166/.287/.336/.624 last year. I don't think his problem was the shift. 

Those weren’t his stats last year, you pulled his stats from this year

[Stradling]

5 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Those weren’t his stats last year, you pulled his stats from this year

Right but he did only bat .199 last year but had an .808 OPS.  Bottom line is teams don’t care if power hitters hit singles. 

[m0nkey]

21 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Right but he did only bat .199 last year but had an .808 OPS.  Bottom line is teams don’t care if power hitters hit singles. 

Just playing factcop on the board 

[Dtwncbad]

23 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Right but he did only bat .199 last year but had an .808 OPS.  Bottom line is teams don’t care if power hitters hit singles. 

He has had a number of full seasons where he has more homers than singles.

Lifetime for Gallo:

168 homers, 189 singles.

[Lou]

19 minutes ago, m0nkey said:

Just playing factcop on the board 

Atta boy 

[arch stanton]

Anyone looking to get old style baseball back will be greatly disappointed if this is the way they go about it. I've been watching baseball for 50 years now and just like everything else from 50 years ago the game as played then is mostly obsolete. If you want the game to be about singles up the middle and moving runners and such then you have to make it much, much harder to strike out batters and to hit home runs. Maybe you soften the bats and balls. Maybe raise the fences and move them back a little. Get rid of some of the body armor they wear at the plate. It just seems short-sighted to say that hitters should adjust when teams run out multiple triple digit relievers and even little guys can hit 25 HRs in a season. The game is not played by the same type of player and shouldn't be expected to be played the same way

 

[Dtwncbad]

26 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

Anyone looking to get old style baseball back will be greatly disappointed if this is the way they go about it. I've been watching baseball for 50 years now and just like everything else from 50 years ago the game as played then is mostly obsolete. If you want the game to be about singles up the middle and moving runners and such then you have to make it much, much harder to strike out batters and to hit home runs. Maybe you soften the bats and balls. Maybe raise the fences and move them back a little. Get rid of some of the body armor they wear at the plate. It just seems short-sighted to say that hitters should adjust when teams run out multiple triple digit relievers and even little guys can hit 25 HRs in a season. The game is not played by the same type of player and shouldn't be expected to be played the same way

 

One obvious reason why the game is the way it is today is pitching velocity.  When I was a kid, they would talk about a guy having a good fatal if they threw 92.

92 now is considered soft with lots and lots of guys at 98, 99 up to 102ish.

The natural result of that is more strikeouts and the ball traveling further when you square it up.

It is what it is.  Unless they want to move the mound back, and I really don’t think they are going to do that.

And I am not sure baseball is really all that upset with the strikeouts (big moment for pitcher) and home runs (big moment for hitter) being dominant.

Not much is going to change any time soon.

[Slegnaac]

12 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I look forward to the first ever fly out to center being called ball 4.

Some where Ty Cobb is rolling over in his grave. 

[Dtwncbad]

3 hours ago, Slegnaac said:

Some where Ty Cobb is rolling over in his grave. 

He probably isn’t.  He’s dead.

[Slegnaac]

49 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

He probably isn’t.  He’s dead.

It is an idiom.

But you knew that, right?

[Dtwncbad]

18 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

It is an idiom.

But you knew that, right?

No I thought there were 136 year old people buried alive rolling over to relieve their mental discomfort with today’s world.

[T.G.]

I think people have forgotten that baseball is supposed to be hard.

[T.G.]

4 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

 When I was a kid, they would talk about a guy having a good fatal if they threw 92.

They were killers?

[Slegnaac]

8 minutes ago, T.G. said:

They were killers?

See Ty Cobb

Edited July 15, 2022 by Slegnaac