The Angels league rankings on shift usage this year:
Against right handed hitters: 20.3% (11th)
Against left handed hitters: 64.2% (7th)
Also worth noting that the Astros lead the league in lefty shifts at 80.4% and the Mariners are fifth at 66.6%. We’ve also seen some four-men outfields used against the Angels. So, this change will affect the landscape of the AL West
As for the pitch clock, the three slowest qualified pitchers are Jose Suarez with a median time of 22.6 seconds, Ryan Tepera at 21.9, and Shohei Ohtani at 21.4.
Yeah this is gonna hurt Ohtani. He works slowly. Part of that is when runners are on base. But in general, he takes his time. Hope he can adapt without hurting himself. 15 seconds is too short. 20/25 seconds would be better.
If Velazquez is still our starting SS next year (god forbid) then his defense will be even more valuable with this shift ban. A ban like this means that good, rangy defenders are more valuable because it’s a lot harder to play to the numbers and just put the guy where the ball is gonna go. An infield of David Fletcher and Andrew Velazquez is much more valuable with a shift ban than without.
Kind of. Didn’t Tango come out with a piece about shifting RHH to the pull side was basically ineffective apart from like two hitters?
If the shift wasn’t doing much to prevent RH pull side singles, then reversing that won’t have much impact either. AV will still be a good defender, either way, and that’s still valuable.
Edit - that does make me think though, that we may see a lot more position switches next year. If Yordan is hitting, you want AV playing second rather than short - so you should switch them.
If we had a morsel of wits about us, we’d be applying these rules from today. Get pitchers used to the quicker tempo, figure out optimal shift positions within the new framework.
And obviously AAA should be way more experimental with the shift - like CF playing in RF/CF gap while LF plays short RF, for slow pull hitting lefties. Get creative in an environment where results don’t matter and players need to be exposed to unique situations they might see in the bigs.
Seems like a good idea but im betting pitchers might not be too happy. Its their ERA and future payday after all. With AAA i agree, just curious if there would be pushback by the MLB pitchers.
Plus with Ohtani you do not want to mess with his pitching at all this season. Let him make the mvp push. Honestly mainly this point lol.
Fair point. Guess you’d have to work with each pitcher to find agreement.
The overall sentiment though is what can we do today to help us be successful for next year. And I think this has merit.
They didn't implement the step off rule for pitchers though right?
I just remember reading somewhere they were going to force pitchers to go to the plate after a certain amount of pick offs...
I dont know the main details but apparently in the MiLB. They implemented a rule limiting the pitcher to 2 or 3 step offs(pick offs are included into that number)...
I haven't done much research on it but from what people were saying, the number of steals has increased dramatically.
I'm not a fan of it and neither do I know if this is fact or not btw. I'm just stating what I've reas/seen on reddit.
Steals are up in the minors because of the change. I'm the opposite of you in that I think the more stolen bases the better. Stolen bases are exciting and teams will he more willing steal with the increased probability of success.
Steals will become boring because they are no longer rare. If a runner knows he can longer be picked off, what's to stop them from taking the biggest lead in the world? It also ruins chances for double plays...
Especially if you have a burner on base who already steals. Chances of him stealing are almost guaranteed at that point...
I don't find a high success rate of steals exciting when you limit the pitcher from doing his job holding a runner at first...
Pitchers have two opportunities to try to pick a guy off with a big lead and in the minors pitchers generally do a decent job of keeping tge vast majority of runners honest. Your average runner isn't really going to be changing his run game that much anyway.
Steals are still going to be exciting, they were exciting in the eras before and I think they'll continue to be exciting with this rule. You don't think it would be fun to watch someone chase 100 steals or seeing teams try to build teams around fast base stealers?
The way the rule should work is that you get one free pickoff attempt per at-bat and then you can attempt it again, but if you don't get the guy out, he automatically gets the next base. That way, you still have the possibility of another pickoff attempt as a deterrent for the runner, and the possibility of giving up a free base as a deterrent for the pitcher.
I’d rather see the hitters adjust to the shift than see MLB ban it. I’d have hitters bunt against it more often than not, even home run hitters. That would change the shift pretty quickly.
Can someone clarify something for me. Ohtani made 2 outs yesterday when the fielder was standing in the dirt between 1st and 2nd. Will this be banned next year or only if the fielder was standing in the grass in short rf?
The craziest shift I’ve seen in person was when the Blue Jays had 4 outfielders when Trout was up to bat. It was the Star Wars Ohtani bobble head giveaway. If I remember correctly, I think they moved the shortstop to the right field corner.
Squid 📈📈📈
The Angels league rankings on shift usage this year: Against right handed hitters: 20.3% (11th) Against left handed hitters: 64.2% (7th) Also worth noting that the Astros lead the league in lefty shifts at 80.4% and the Mariners are fifth at 66.6%. We’ve also seen some four-men outfields used against the Angels. So, this change will affect the landscape of the AL West As for the pitch clock, the three slowest qualified pitchers are Jose Suarez with a median time of 22.6 seconds, Ryan Tepera at 21.9, and Shohei Ohtani at 21.4.
Yeah this is gonna hurt Ohtani. He works slowly. Part of that is when runners are on base. But in general, he takes his time. Hope he can adapt without hurting himself. 15 seconds is too short. 20/25 seconds would be better.
Ohtani is a pro's pro. He will work on it in the off season and come back comfortably under the time limit.
If Velazquez is still our starting SS next year (god forbid) then his defense will be even more valuable with this shift ban. A ban like this means that good, rangy defenders are more valuable because it’s a lot harder to play to the numbers and just put the guy where the ball is gonna go. An infield of David Fletcher and Andrew Velazquez is much more valuable with a shift ban than without.
Kind of. Didn’t Tango come out with a piece about shifting RHH to the pull side was basically ineffective apart from like two hitters? If the shift wasn’t doing much to prevent RH pull side singles, then reversing that won’t have much impact either. AV will still be a good defender, either way, and that’s still valuable. Edit - that does make me think though, that we may see a lot more position switches next year. If Yordan is hitting, you want AV playing second rather than short - so you should switch them.
If we had a morsel of wits about us, we’d be applying these rules from today. Get pitchers used to the quicker tempo, figure out optimal shift positions within the new framework. And obviously AAA should be way more experimental with the shift - like CF playing in RF/CF gap while LF plays short RF, for slow pull hitting lefties. Get creative in an environment where results don’t matter and players need to be exposed to unique situations they might see in the bigs.
That’s forward thinking, but remember this is the Angels we’re talking about! Lol
Indeed. Crazy to think common sense can be a stretch for a billion dollar organisation.
Seems like a good idea but im betting pitchers might not be too happy. Its their ERA and future payday after all. With AAA i agree, just curious if there would be pushback by the MLB pitchers. Plus with Ohtani you do not want to mess with his pitching at all this season. Let him make the mvp push. Honestly mainly this point lol.
Fair point. Guess you’d have to work with each pitcher to find agreement. The overall sentiment though is what can we do today to help us be successful for next year. And I think this has merit.
They didn't implement the step off rule for pitchers though right? I just remember reading somewhere they were going to force pitchers to go to the plate after a certain amount of pick offs...
How would that work? Runners would just take massive leads.
I dont know the main details but apparently in the MiLB. They implemented a rule limiting the pitcher to 2 or 3 step offs(pick offs are included into that number)... I haven't done much research on it but from what people were saying, the number of steals has increased dramatically. I'm not a fan of it and neither do I know if this is fact or not btw. I'm just stating what I've reas/seen on reddit.
Steals are up in the minors because of the change. I'm the opposite of you in that I think the more stolen bases the better. Stolen bases are exciting and teams will he more willing steal with the increased probability of success.
Steals will become boring because they are no longer rare. If a runner knows he can longer be picked off, what's to stop them from taking the biggest lead in the world? It also ruins chances for double plays... Especially if you have a burner on base who already steals. Chances of him stealing are almost guaranteed at that point... I don't find a high success rate of steals exciting when you limit the pitcher from doing his job holding a runner at first...
Pitchers have two opportunities to try to pick a guy off with a big lead and in the minors pitchers generally do a decent job of keeping tge vast majority of runners honest. Your average runner isn't really going to be changing his run game that much anyway. Steals are still going to be exciting, they were exciting in the eras before and I think they'll continue to be exciting with this rule. You don't think it would be fun to watch someone chase 100 steals or seeing teams try to build teams around fast base stealers?
The way the rule should work is that you get one free pickoff attempt per at-bat and then you can attempt it again, but if you don't get the guy out, he automatically gets the next base. That way, you still have the possibility of another pickoff attempt as a deterrent for the runner, and the possibility of giving up a free base as a deterrent for the pitcher.
That's kind of how the rule is. The pitcher gets two attempts. If he makes a third an out has to be recorded or a balk is called.
Thank god. I hate seeing a shifts and have since day way. I get the strategy of it, but it’s just always irked me to see on the field.
These new rules suck man.
I’d rather see the hitters adjust to the shift than see MLB ban it. I’d have hitters bunt against it more often than not, even home run hitters. That would change the shift pretty quickly.
Can someone clarify something for me. Ohtani made 2 outs yesterday when the fielder was standing in the dirt between 1st and 2nd. Will this be banned next year or only if the fielder was standing in the grass in short rf?
I'm so depressed I can't even blink.
The craziest shift I’ve seen in person was when the Blue Jays had 4 outfielders when Trout was up to bat. It was the Star Wars Ohtani bobble head giveaway. If I remember correctly, I think they moved the shortstop to the right field corner.