2323
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As most of you probably know, the new commissioner has expressed an interest considering changes to increase offense and pace of play. Games are getting longer but with offense on the decline.
But one thing Manfred explicitly mentioned was getting rid of shifts. This seems like a short sighted solution that doesn't address the real problem. It's essentially penalizing skilled hitters that can go the other way for the sake of one dimensional hitters. This is like everyone gets a trophy. Guys need to learn to go the other way.
Another issue with the offense is home runs have declined but the strike outs are still there. If you want offense to come back, you need to reconcile that there are no longer enough home runs being hit to justify the strike outs. Furthermore, saber metrics focuses so much on avoiding outs but the truth is a majority of at bats are going to result in outs. Yet with so many strike outs, they're vacuous--nothing is accomplished. Guys need to be able to play to the situation, again this involves hitting the other way. If a runner is on 2nd and a power hitter is at bat, being able to hit the other way is huge because pitchers often pitch away to avoid his power (right handed batters). It's an easy RBI provided the batter is skilled enough and not too stubborn to go the other way. This scenario also applies to hitting to the right side to move a runner from 2nd to 3rd. In general, there really seems to be a real dearth of this and bailing out guys for being too stubborn or lacking skill isn't the answer.
One other thought I have is that every time the pitcher executes a pick off throw, it should count as a ball. They shouldn't be allowed an infinite number of pick off throws. It really slows the game down and deprives it of action, which is what you get with a stolen base.
But one thing Manfred explicitly mentioned was getting rid of shifts. This seems like a short sighted solution that doesn't address the real problem. It's essentially penalizing skilled hitters that can go the other way for the sake of one dimensional hitters. This is like everyone gets a trophy. Guys need to learn to go the other way.
Another issue with the offense is home runs have declined but the strike outs are still there. If you want offense to come back, you need to reconcile that there are no longer enough home runs being hit to justify the strike outs. Furthermore, saber metrics focuses so much on avoiding outs but the truth is a majority of at bats are going to result in outs. Yet with so many strike outs, they're vacuous--nothing is accomplished. Guys need to be able to play to the situation, again this involves hitting the other way. If a runner is on 2nd and a power hitter is at bat, being able to hit the other way is huge because pitchers often pitch away to avoid his power (right handed batters). It's an easy RBI provided the batter is skilled enough and not too stubborn to go the other way. This scenario also applies to hitting to the right side to move a runner from 2nd to 3rd. In general, there really seems to be a real dearth of this and bailing out guys for being too stubborn or lacking skill isn't the answer.
One other thought I have is that every time the pitcher executes a pick off throw, it should count as a ball. They shouldn't be allowed an infinite number of pick off throws. It really slows the game down and deprives it of action, which is what you get with a stolen base.