I'm not into the idea that pitchers are making it substantially harder to put the ball in play. Maybe somewhat, but not substantially.
I don't know how you can watch the game today, and not agree that it's significantly harder to put the ball in play than ever before.
I'm also not into the idea that the shift is such a problem.
Agreed.
Think of it this way...
The emphasis on launch angle increases the odds of missing a pitch. Thats not caused by pitchers. Its self inflicted.
A shift, esp a severe shift, leaves HUGE holes in the defense. Refusing to take advantage of those huge holes is another self inflicted wound.
The shift plus the infielders ( mostly 2Bs) playing 50 ft into the outfield invites batters to bunt for almost automatic base hits. Refusing to take such a gift is yet another self inflicted wound.
I disagree that it's self-inflicted. Changing your entire approach is not easy. Pitchers are also pitching into the shift.
You want your big power-hitting lefty to work endless hours to alter his approach to hitting (the one that got him to the majors) just so he can get a couple of extra singles before the defense adjusts? It's not like he'd just be able to flip the switch right back to doing what he was before.
Then baseball has decided that they will pay one trick pull power batters more money than all around hitters who put the ball in play, but not necessarily over the fence. They pay nothing for bunters and little for stolen bases. That is ownerships self inflicted wound.
Who is the player you least want to see come to the plate against the Tribe?
For me, and from comments in game threads, it seems to be Whit Merrifield.
And who is the recent Tribe player I wanted to see in key situations?
For me, it was Brantley.
Yet, neither hit home runs. But they do put the ball in play, which makes the game interesting.
Merrifield gets paid an average of $4 mil. Brantley now makes $16 mil.
At age 36, Edwin Encarnacion got paid $21 mil, and his three year contract at age 34 was considered a huge piece of good fortune.
THAT is a self inflicted wound.
You are ignoring A TON of context surrounding these numbers.
Merrifield is still under arbitration. He's never had the chance to hit the open market. Even when he does, he was a late bloomer. He'll never make bank because of that.
Brantley delayed his entry to the open market by signing a pre-arb extension, and then signed a lesser deal with Houston because he was coming off some injury-plagued seasons as he entered his 30's.
Edwin was coming off a stretch where he was one of the premier hitters in baseball for Toronto when he signed his 3-year deal before the 2017 season and then signed for substantially less as it became clear he had become a guy who could just give you the occasional homer.
But the fans, the ones that do the most complaining, are also part of the problem.
As ST went on, the interest in our contact hitting MIF prospects increased a lot.
But two out of the three prospects that seem to draw the most immediate interest for this team are Bradley and Jones...true three outcome batters, whose only interesting thing is can they put the ball in the stands.
Want to eliminate the shift? Really?
Put together a lineup with Miller, Freeman, Arias, Gimenez, Rocchio in it.
They wont put the ball in the stands much, but they will do the things that make the game interesting. They will put the ball in play, run, and play defense.
And, goodbye, shift.
You could absolutely demolish the shift by putting together a team of slap hitters. However, once the opponent stops shifting, you're stuck with just that, a team of slap hitters.
It's the catch-22, and why beating the shift isn't as simple as some make it out to be. For all the time it would take for a hitter to change his approach to consistently beat the shift enough to hurt the opponent, all it takes is a simple command for the defense to adjust. No hours of training, just a simple "go stand there instead".
