Anthony Rizzo shook his head, a slight smile on his face, as he stood by his locker in the closet New York Yankees‘clubs. He was asked for his opinion on… the internal change.
“Looking at the shift doesn’t bother me,” he said. “But hit it, yes.”
Rizzo, a left-handed player who has been dragging the ball 52.6% of the time this season, has used defense against him for most of his career. But recently, other teams, including Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigerstook things a step further by using four Our forefathers against 12-year veterans.
“I like four starters because it gives you space to hit a ball on the ground and hit the target,” says Rizzo. “Then again, I hit a couple of balls into the void with the Blue Jays and I’m heading straight for the ledge.”
His sentiments sum up the yin and yang of a word that many – and baseball purists – assume should be four letters long. Many players have spoken out cursing a trend that has deeply angered them, which is growing in an era that has seen the use of analytics become ubiquitous in the sport.
“That’s credit to how smart the game has become,” said teammate Rizzo . Yankees Joey Gallo speak. “And a credit to how good the pitch is, because reps are starting to need help right now. Violations are at an all-time low.”
That help could be in the works – right into next season.
The league is working toward a rule that will govern the change – and for the first time, stipulating that players other than pitchers and catchers can stand on the baseball diamond. The expectation is that two players should come on on each side of the second sole before pitching – it is likely that all four of them are banned from the field.
“The best rule changes are the ones that give the most benefit to the style of play that are the least intrusive to competing or disrupting the game we love,” tournament consultant As Epstein said in an email. “Ultimately, the new joint competition committee will determine if the benefits of the ban on excessive change are worth the new ‘intrusion’ of limiting where teams can place their players in fair territory or not.”
It’s hard to find a player – hitter or even pitcher – who doesn’t follow a certain rule.
“That’s the way we’ve seen it for a long time,” said Rizzo. “All the people in the Hall of Fame, they played to their circumstances. Ours was a ball in the middle of the field not a shot on target. It was for them.”
Ted Williams famously faced change. So did Boog Powell and Willie McCovey. But until recently, affiliation was rarely enough to make a lasting impression when hired.
“I remember playing Cardinals when Tony [La Russa] was there and one day they had a second hitter that almost overwhelmed me,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. I smoked a hopper in the middle and he made the game and I said, “Damn, that should be the shot.’
Over the years, technology has allowed for more accurate data to be collected on where hitters tend to hit the ball. As a result, defensive setups that place miners in those positions have increased sharply in the past decade.
“Joe Maddon and Tampa, they took the lead,” freedom agent chaser Mitch Moreland speak. “I remember my first debut in 2010, I hit two balls on four holes. That was never going to be a success later in my career. It turned extreme in a few years. next.”
According to research by ESPN Stats & Information, in 2021, Moreland is seventh among all MLB players, passing the ball 90.2% of the time (minimum 100 balls in play), according to the study. by ESPN Stats & Information. It resulted in an OPS score 63 points below his career average and now he is still looking to catch up with a team.
Perhaps the players with the most to understand are Texas Rangers midfielder Kole Calhoun. He has faced more changes than any other player in the past two seasons – in 96.7% of his shots – and potential missed shots have weighed heavily on him. that.
“When I first came in, you could have had a bad day and roll the ball on the 4th hole, and now you’re 1 to 4,” Calhoun said. “It doesn’t put you in a slump as deep as what can happen in today’s game, 0 for 20 and 1 for 30… You can save your day with something pretty good. easy for any attacker. That’s not there anymore.”
Moreland and Calhoun were among the most opposed, but neither of them became deal with disappointment about the object. That title goes to Gallo, who has averaged .204 hits during his career and has faced a 91.4% change in his shots since the start of the 2021 season. only reached 0.176 this season.
“Growing up, we never had that,” Gallo said. “It’s hard to regulate it because it’s not something for minors. … Over time, it’s become more and more extreme and effective. From an assassin’s point of view, that’s it. things can change.”
More offense isn’t necessarily the only end goal when necessary to adjust the working shift. As the sport decides what its future will look like, perhaps no rule change could have had a greater impact on the image of the game.
“An anti-shift rule would restore the traditional aesthetic and make the game more familiar and understandable to fans who have grown up intuitively knowing where players are,” Epstein wrote. short distance and second person playing and what a basic shot definitely looks like,” Epstein wrote.
Even pitchers – who certainly benefit from the defense the swing provides – can give in on that point.
“I never felt sorry for the neighbors. My biggest complaint about change is, how do you explain that to the kids?” speak Chicago Cubs reliever medicine David Robertson. “He can’t play the shortstop, what’s the point of having a second if he can’t play second?”
Epstein also indicated that “insurance rates across the range and sports for those entering the field” would return upon the departure of the shift.
“In last year’s Double-A and AFL anti-displacement tests, field players enjoyed playing with more freedom and more room to roam – and we’ve seen a lot of sports play. , powerful that you don’t see often in a tournament heavy on change he writes.
So far this season, at the lower level of players with the changed rules, the average hit of left-handed players is up 8 points. At Triple-A – where change is not prohibited – it only increased by three points. Some might argue about how much of an insult would be added, but there is little doubt among players or management that it will have an effect.
“Everybody wants you to go the other way,” says Gallo. “I don’t think people who say that realize how hard the game is. They’re not going to step in the box and do it, I’ll tell you that.”
“I’ve heard this countless times, especially from talking heads,” Reds slugger Joey Votto, who has seen an 82.2% change in his strokes over the past two seasons, agrees. “The one saying ‘Why don’t you learn to hit the ball another way?’
“It’s opportunity versus cost. I can try to hit the ball differently or put the ball in play instead of taking shots when I get the ball out or over the fence. And because of the main players. The house is a lot more ready in the last few games over the years, you’d be a fool to shoot shots the other way or try for light contact.”
Epstein notes that adjusting for the change won’t affect the increase in hits that baseball counts as average velocity climbs, and it will change the part of the game that has taken place since the start. head. But there are also some counter-arguments to consider.
“[And] Banning the change would be in the best interest of a certain subset of left-handed people – the three left-handers with real results – who do not fully align with or beyond the stated goals of the organization. industry is to increase the number of balls in play and sport on the field,” Epstein said.
The federation has not made any final decisions yet, but it is likely that there will be no changes to the defensive layout in the 2023 season.
“As much as I have fought with this fact when I work for a club, it is better when matches are won or lost by the big playwrights … than by the ordinary offices. only developed the proper algorithm to ensure that the third quarterback on Epstein, the former Cubs and Red Sox director, said.
The tournament is not done yet. During the second half of this minor season, it’s more likely that the baseball team will try a “dead zone” behind the second base, which means the second pitcher and the short runner will have to stay a certain distance from the base. when pitching. Chalk will be used to indicate where they need to stand.
It may be a radical look but it will be a welcome change for those who have to step into the batter’s box against change and those who watch it nightly.
As Gallo put it: “I think it opens up a whole new world for college people.”
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.
