I understand what you’re saying and in theory I agree a guy being on base is better than not being on base. But reality is it’s too hard to string together enough hits to score runs when all you do is get singles or get on first base. Pitching is just too good. That is the reason why the game has shifted to such a power heavy game. There is certainly a place in a lineup for heavy on base percentage guys. But if you don’t have some slugging percentage in your lineup, those guys are gonna be stranded.
Somebody tell me the philosophy of hitting into a shift?
- Thread starter HammerOfTheDogs
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I disagree… I’m sure there are hitters that can do what you’re describing but those guys aren’t playing college ball. Too many of you guys have never attempted to hit a 90 mph slider and it shows.
Teams used to hit and run, but you’ve got to be able to make consistent contact to do that.
Also, one thing I notice being overlooked in this conversation, if there’s a runner at 2nd base then I would assume a team wouldn’t move the 3rd baseman and give the runner 3rd with a left handed batter up. So, baserunners would seem to be another ingredient to negating the shift, at least against the power left handed batters.
Ted Williams managed to hit over .400 against the shift. He did not hit away from it except in very few cases.
Hitting into the shift only makes sense if you're a power guy.
In run scoring models, Power>OBP. Power produces more runs over the course of a season than getting on-base. Thus power guys hitting into the shift (pull the ball) produces more total runs throughout the season, so long as they reach their power potential.
An MIT grad with a run scoring model would rather you go 1-4 with a double than 3-4 with 2 singles.
In run scoring models, Power>OBP. Power produces more runs over the course of a season than getting on-base. Thus power guys hitting into the shift (pull the ball) produces more total runs throughout the season, so long as they reach their power potential.
An MIT grad with a run scoring model would rather you go 1-4 with a double than 3-4 with 2 singles.
You know how many good 90 mph sliders you see in college baseball? It's not as many as you think. Pitching, like hitting has gone velo crazy and become more about the fast ball. Guys consistently throwing good 90+ mph slider are pro ball players. The crazy thing about us is it's not always an inside pitch we're hitting into the shift.
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And this is the real problem there- you can't have a one size fits all approach unless you're recruiting those body types and biomechanics. What one big kid can do, another can't biomechanically. Expecting them all to do the same thing is a killer. These guys aren't all a bunch of pro players.
But we aren’t talking about only 1-2 hitters in a lineup facing a shift, it’s multiple. You need guys getting on base ahead of the 1-4 guy to produce the runs.
It would also be hard to throw someone out with no first baseman over there.
Every time Hines comes to the plate in the 4 or 5 hole it is a win for the defense. He's been absolute trash for 2 years now and needs to be on the bench. In today's game, you can't have a .240 / high strikeout hitter in that spot of the lineup, but Lemtard does it over and over and over.
That got a legit LOL. And made me think of the baseball purists, they make everything about the game out to be so complicated, when it's really very simple. Billy Beane proved this. And that's why X/Os don't matter anymore......it's personnel management. Better players win.
It really kinda sucks at the end of the day, I liked the old way that was complicated and had the stats aspect going for it.
Give me base runners over outs. You get errors, wild pitches, etc and a basehit behind them it's a run. This metric driven BS is killing baseball. It's a boring *** game now because it's a HR or and out. There's no strategy at all because nobody even steals bases now because they only care about the HR. Its engineered baseball and it SUCKS! Flys 17ing are more entertaining than MLB now. Other than seeing a generational freak like Ohtani, it's not worth my time.
I find it hard to believe that a lefty power hitter like Hines, if he could learn to bunt/slap the ball to third for an easy single 70% of the time, would continue to face the shift with the same frequency.
Yeah we need his homers, but go for those when you're not facing the shift (when runners are on base). With the bases empty, I'll take a single 7 times out of 10 vs. a solo homer one time out of every 20 or whatever his frequency is.
Yeah we need his homers, but go for those when you're not facing the shift (when runners are on base). With the bases empty, I'll take a single 7 times out of 10 vs. a solo homer one time out of every 20 or whatever his frequency is.
The problem is that you aren’t going to get the single 7 times out of 10, or even 3 times out of 10.
The “go the other way” concept isn’t nearly as easy as some make it out to be. You can do it in the general sense, but it’s not like you can be exact with where the ball placement will be, even with a bunt. There’s still a defender over there, and a pitcher, and a left fielder, and a foul line.