That's not interesting, that's incredibly stupid.

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Bunting to beat the shift is not all that different than bunting for a hit. There’s more margin for error but you still have to control/direct the ball.

I’d think it’d be incredibly hard for guys who’ve never developed that skill to try to learn it on the fly at the major league level.

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I thought he always did?

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Elections have consequences.

Don't forget that when the shift is on, the batter is seeing a lot of inside pitches to try and get him to pull it into the shift.

It's one thing to bunt a pitch down the middle or on the outside corner, but I would have to think that bunting 97 navel-high on the inside is rather challenging even for some of the better bunters in the game.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

It seems like players have a lot of free time right now to work on acquiring those skills.

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Bunting isn't much of a skill. If you can catch a high velocity ball in the pocket of your glove, you can bunt. That's all bunting is...it's catching the ball with your bat. The directional is easy too. Slight angle of bat. Doesn't even take much practice. Especially with shifts. A slightly open angle is easier than a closed angle.

No one says you can't take a walk while attempting to bunt.

Put markers on the field that limit how far an infield shift can go

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I get these guys are freaks but it seems like it’d still be challenging when you’re getting pounded inside with mid-90s breaking balls. You’re off by a fraction of an inch and you’ve turned it into an easy out or a foul ball.

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Thus three true outcomes.

We forget how many bad hitters there were in the 1960s and 1970s. They were just mostly middle infielders and catchers, but a .220/.270/.290 slash line wasn't that uncommon. So as annoying as a Joey Gallo is, he's still a better hitter than a Gene Michael or Mick Kelleher. It's just that he should be batting 8th.

Today's managers would have played with 5 infielders ever time a guy like Kelleher (whose "best" year was as a starter for the Cubs in 1976 with .228/.264/.270) came to the plate, and dared him to pull a ball in the air.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Bunt the ball past the mound, anywhere to the left of the second base bag, and you're getting to 1st base 90% of the time. That isn't a real precision bunt.

I'm not saying Grandal or Rizzo have to do this every game. Once a series square around and actually drop a bunt once a week. Do that, and the shifts will take care of the themselves.

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As opposed to his .230 BA and high K rate swinging?

I agree, but that is what November through February is for.

wrong thread

ahh, a new bit.

Not even sure they need that. They have 6 weeks in AZ/FL to figure it out as well. You don't want to tip your hand to the other teams? Fine, a couple three times a week DH a minor league game on the backfields and bunt all 4 times at bat.

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See you know how to observe things, you just don't know how to remember them. Anybody can just observe tings!

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Trashing the entire shift ecosystem could be done in a month. Pitchers would go berserk.

Mark the infield to limit how far each position can shift over

It’s as simple as that

No need for the entire sport of baseball to have bunting practice

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Or build a brick wall between shortstop and second base.

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no wrong thread, i deleted it.

One of the challenges is that the minor leagues don't shift very much, in part because the pitchers don't have enough control. But because the pitchers don't have as much control, the dead pull is not as noticable in terms of batted ball location. So guys like Jason Heyward who are a constant stream of rolled over grounders to short right field, they never had a reason to practice bunting or otherwise adjusting their swing.

Some major league team is going to start to tell their best LH hitting minor league prospects to bunt twice a week even if there is no shift. Two outs, nobody on, 4-1 game, 3000 fans mostly kids looking for ice cream, nobody is going to care.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

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If the defensive teams wants to shift, any players out of position must stand in alligator infested waters.

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I think three small white lines wouldn’t ruin the aesthetic of baseball as much as the shift has the last few years.

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Some people think action is important. Especially that kind of action. Fans would love it.

Big bopper lefties have a real opportunity they are totally dismissing.

Outlawing the shift is just enabling the type of play we are already frustrated with.

How would it enable the frustrating play?

I think if anything it would help bring a little more balance.

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The owners will never ban or limit the shift because it helps keep salaries of left handed hitters down.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal