Pitching

[sportscoach]

A simpler method than eliminating the shift would be to make the infielders actually play in the infield.

I'm not an advocate of this, or of any restrictions on defensive lineups.

The batters.. and organizations...have brought this on themselves by emphasizing power over bat control and bunting.

No shift could defeat guys like Carew, Rose, and Ichiro, none of whom hit the ball particularly hard, but used the entire field.
They might have batted .750 against a shift.

If batters want to beat today's pitchers, its gonna take brains over brawn.

Personally if you shifted on me, I'd take the free base every single time. I was always a very good bunter and I had speed (I played 1B but I ran like a CF). I am a proponent of OBP% and taking walks and making good contact with good bat control usually gets that for you.

 

[daddywags]

The problem is it's tough for a batter to become adept at both going the other way and pulling the ball for power. As soon as a guy goes the other way a few times they might quit the shift but how easy is it really for that guy to just switch to his power pull mode? I still say that if pitchers are allowed to put foreign, illegal, substances on the ball batters should be able to do the same with their bats. A little titanium coating would be nice, wouldn't it? And if pitchers complain just tell them to suck it up and adjust!

 

[CATS44]

Actually, a bunt would do the trick...and good bunting is a great way to maintain a hitting stroke, as it forces you to really concentrate on the pitch.

If Rod Carew had an ofer game, guaranteed he would bunt in his first at bat the following day...and he didn't care who knew it.

If they put a shift down, you have two choices.

Bunt it down the third base line and take the freebie. Or bunt it down the first base line, and force the 2B to cover first from the outfield.

 

[sportscoach]

The problem is it's tough for a batter to become adept at both going the other way and pulling the ball for power. As soon as a guy goes the other way a few times they might quit the shift but how easy is it really for that guy to just switch to his power pull mode? I still say that if pitchers are allowed to put foreign, illegal, substances on the ball batters should be able to do the same with their bats. A little titanium coating would be nice, wouldn't it? And if pitchers complain just tell them to suck it up and adjust!

That's the thing, players have to train themselves from an earlier age to know how to change approaches.

I feel like the best hitters have a 2 strike approach and have an approach for ahead in the account, especially in the pros when you have a lot more knowledge on how the pitcher works and whatnot. The best hitters have the best bat control and that's something that is a mix of natural ability and lots of training.

I loved watching Vlad Guerrero cause of his bat control and he made sure he got the hit not the HR.

 

[thestatman]

Personally if you shifted on me, I'd take the free base every single time. I was always a very good bunter and I had speed (I played 1B but I ran like a CF). I am a proponent of OBP% and taking walks and making good contact with good bat control usually gets that for you.

Unfortunately today's ball players aren't trained to play the game the way you played it. There's no money in it. When I played, I also was a punch and Judy hitter...getting on base a lot and stealing bases. I had a grand total of 1 home run from little league through high school.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

This is why I'm suggesting they deaden the balls a little. After a while hitters will realize hitting fly balls to the warning track isn't paying off and they will start leveling out those swings and going for line drives. With a runner on first and less chance of a home run managers are more likely to try to steal. With a runner on second and little chance of a home run batters will start going the other way to beat the shift and get the run home, which means a possible play at the plate.

I don't see how a 3-1 win with all four runs coming on home runs and with 18 strikeouts makes for entertaining baseball.

 

[sportscoach]

@jup @BimboColesHair

Do you guys know why McKenzie has variations in his velo in his starts? To me I just cannot trust a starter if they have different velo's in different games...

 

[CDAV45]

A simpler method than eliminating the shift would be to make the infielders actually play in the infield.

I'm not an advocate of this, or of any restrictions on defensive lineups.

The batters.. and organizations...have brought this on themselves by emphasizing power over bat control and bunting.

No shift could defeat guys like Carew, Rose, and Ichiro, none of whom hit the ball particularly hard, but used the entire field.
They might have batted .750 against a shift.

If batters want to beat today's pitchers, its gonna take brains over brawn.

Yeah, the olden days were so much better. SMH. Pitchers are throwing much harder and spinning the ball much faster than yesteryear, and if the shift was used as prolifically as it is now Carew, Rose, and Ichiro would just be names. They'd be 260 hitters with no power, that's what they would be. You've got it backwards CATS. The shift brought on launch angles and the need to hit the ball over the fence, not the other way around.

 

[CDAV45]

Actually, a bunt would do the trick...and good bunting is a great way to maintain a hitting stroke, as it forces you to really concentrate on the pitch.

If Rod Carew had an ofer game, guaranteed he would bunt in his first at bat the following day...and he didn't care who knew it.

If they put a shift down, you have two choices.

Bunt it down the third base line and take the freebie. Or bunt it down the first base line, and force the 2B to cover first from the outfield.

Yeah because you know better than Tito and 29 other major league managers. Did you play baseball past high school?

 

[Benway]

Actually, a bunt would do the trick...and good bunting is a great way to maintain a hitting stroke, as it forces you to really concentrate on the pitch.

If Rod Carew had an ofer game, guaranteed he would bunt in his first at bat the following day...and he didn't care who knew it.

If they put a shift down, you have two choices.

Bunt it down the third base line and take the freebie. Or bunt it down the first base line, and force the 2B to cover first from the outfield.

 

[jup]

Wasn't impressed at all by Tmac's start today.

If all that kid has got is 90/91, it is pretty tough to project him as anything more than a back of the rotation guy. He is still relatively unknown to hitters, but that won't last long. And at 90/91 his breaking stuff isn't good enough to get him by once the league gets a book on him.

 

[CDAV45]

Wasn't impressed at all by Tmac's start today.

If all that kid has got is 90/91, it is pretty tough to project him as anything more than a back of the rotation guy. He is still relatively unknown to hitters, but that won't last long. And at 90/91 his breaking stuff isn't good enough to get him by once the league gets a book on him.

Well hell! Might as well start a TMac trade thread. LOL!

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Wasn't impressed at all by Tmac's start today.

If all that kid has got is 90/91, it is pretty tough to project him as anything more than a back of the rotation guy. He is still relatively unknown to hitters, but that won't last long. And at 90/91 his breaking stuff isn't good enough to get him by once the league gets a book on him.

Well, he got a lot of swings and misses on that 90 mph fastball. Seven K's in five innings and I think all were on fastballs. I know the three K's he had in the first inning were all on high heat. Or should I say "high warmth"?

But I agree he needs better breaking stuff or at least better command of his breaking stuff. Still, I was impressed by how he held the highest scoring team in baseball, averaging nearly 10 runs per game in that ballpark, to one run in five innings. He allowed nine baserunners in those five innings so he was walking a tightrope, but he was tough with runners on base. The only run he allowed was a solo home run.

Clase was throwing 100-101 and faced seven batters, striking out none and walking none. I'm not sure if he got a single swing-and-miss, but I don't recall any. But all seven hitters put the ball in play.

Overall the pitching was great yesterday; they held the mighty Reds to one earned run in nine innings, plus allowing the runner to score from 2nd in the 10th as Perez gave up two fly balls that got the runner home.

What lost the game was the fluke triple play that killed a big inning and Naylor's botched ground ball, plus Clase giving up a base hit on an 0-2 count to Winker (on a very impressive 100 mph fastball, I might add).

Edit:

If McKenzie can't pitch effectively in the bigs with only a 91 mph fastball we can always move him to first base. We could use a .500 hitting first baseman with a nine-foot catch radius. Can he field ground balls?

 

[DCTribefan]

Wasn't impressed at all by Tmac's start today.

If all that kid has got is 90/91, it is pretty tough to project him as anything more than a back of the rotation guy. He is still relatively unknown to hitters, but that won't last long. And at 90/91 his breaking stuff isn't good enough to get him by once the league gets a book on him.

Yikes! Didn’t TMac used to have 95+ velo a few years back?

 

[sportscoach]

Yikes! Didn’t TMac used to have 95+ velo a few years back?

That's my problem with the kid, his velocity isn't the same from start to start...