Look at Ray Ray Run

I'm not too worried about infielders sprinting to another side of the base during the pitch (pretty sure that would be squashed, for one, and I greatly doubt the effectiveness of that strategy). Defense is reactionary, if you're moving before the ball is hit, you're never going to be in a very good defensive or reactionary position.

"• A ban on infield shifts. Beginning in 2023, teams no longer will be allowed to have more than two infielders on one side of second base. Opening the field puts a premium on athleticism and incentivizes hitters to put the ball in play." baseball is even discussing an outfield line to prevent OF'ers from playing super deep to cut off doubles and triples: • A maximum depth for outfielders. Still in the planning stage, it may be tried in extended spring games this year, perhaps defined by a green arc painted in the grass. Initial research by MLB shows that for every 10 feet outfielders play shallower, the rate of doubles and triples increases by 2%. With analytics pushing outfielders deeper, the rate of doubles and triples has fallen 12% in 20 years. https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/04/12/baseball-radical-changes-coming#:~:text=A ban on infield shifts,put the ball in play.&text=A maximum depth for outfielders.

How is it unfair to point to one area that has affected the overall degradation of offense that was laid out in my post? At no point did I imply that it was only because of shifts that those numbers have regressed. There are obviously other areas that have led to it; probably with a much larger impact. Just like the elongation of games has been driven by multiple components - max effort, pitching changes, slow pitch pace, and beyond, but the pitch clock has had a positive affect in the minor leagues. Should we not implement a pitch clock because we didn't resolve the other issues? Of course not.

I get your points, but at the same time I think where the batters box is and the hand one throws with is unrelated to strategic implementation of other teams. Defense is a control that can be dictated. The batters box isn't.

The rule has been pretty well laid out. You can only have two guys on one side of the second base bag. That doesn't mean you can't suddenly play up the middle. It prevents 2B from lining up 30 feet into the outfield and snagging missiles to throw the runner out at 2B.

You can't make people throw softer, or fewer off-speed pitches. I mentioned strikeout rates already. You can change the way defense has been exploited. No one said it was just shifts; shifts are just one area that the rules of the game can actually adjust to.

I said it earlier so don't wanna keep repeating, but playing the 2B in the OF and cutting off hits for lefties is unfair. Righties who pull the ball are not punished in a similar manner because you can't play in the outfield in left and make the throw to get the runner. I think it's fine that there's a left and right side of the infield with a set amount of players.

In 2000, the average MLB batting average was 276. In 2022, the average MLB batting average is 237. In 2000, MLB teams averaged 5.14 runs per game. In 2022, it's 4.3. 2000 AVG OPS: 782 2022 avg OPS: 699 They're having a hard time finding "someone who can" and it's hurting the game. That's the problem, and positioning plays into it; obviously strike outs are up as well which doesn't help.

But in hockey, you can't position your players wherever you want. In football, you can't position your players wherever you want In basketball, you can't position your players wherever you want. In soccer, you can't position your players wherever you want. I Don't get why people think baseball should be different. There are rules in all other sports preventing some form of exploitative defensive/offensive practices related to positioning. I don't see why baseball should be any different.

This is about defense though, not offense. I think the illegal defense comp in the NBA is much better than post up jumpers.

Yup. Not a lot of tim Andersons. I think the best example is illegal defense in the NBA. Sagging and remaining stationary in the paint was unfair to bigs and penetrating guards. No one said why don't they just learn to shoot from outside the paint. They knew it hurt the product. There's no reason a particular skill set should be punished over another. Lefties are at a distinct disadvantage because their pull side Is the short side so you can play in your outfield and still get em out.

I see this a lot, and I've gotta say.. hitting a baseball is really hard. Asking why you don't just hit it somewhere else is odd to say the least. As an analytical guy, I'm actually a fan of eliminating the three guys to a side shift.

Reece McGuire DH'ing and Leury leading off is pretty hilarious. SOmeone will have to tell me why it's not Luis 1, Vaughn 2...

The entire game we've never seen the ball in the field. They've been late in shifting to the camera and showing the right fielder all game.

Really the only way Mendick should feel safe to tag there is if he knows he can beat the throw to the bag. Meaning he has to be at the base before the throw gets there. If a good throw by the outfielder can get to the base before Mendick, then he should never be going because McGuire is slower than him so he wouldn't get to the base before Mendick gets to the base.

The hit and run was even more egregious than it already sounds because it was with Josh Harrison, with Tim Anderson on deck; taking the bat out of Tim's hands in a big spot.

In the span of about a month, I've watched the White Sox hit and run with 1st and 3rd and one out, and now I've seen them have a run taken off the board because they decided to tag up to second with a catcher on third on a fly ball to LEFT FIELD.

Yeah, that type of stupid isn't coached out of them. When Mendick saw the throw he should have stopped running right away. Running into it is just so dumb.

Both guys were tagging. Both had the same distance to go. If the throw beats Mendick to the bag, the catcher isn't ever scoring.

Because Mendick shouldn't be tagging unless he's 100% safe there given the importance of that run. You have a catcher on 3rd base.

This is the dumbest team I've watched in a long time.

Do people in Canada not know how to operate a Camera?

Vaughn mania

Lot of season left.

I'm so confused why this team continues to activate people and then sit them. Very odd.