Why Rob Manfred should not ban shifts in baseball
Just hours after becoming baseball’s newest commissioner, Rob Manfred had already made some enemies and just maybe some friends. As reported by CBS Sports, Manfred had this to say:
New commissioner Rob Manfred says he's 'open' to banning extreme defensive shifts: http://t.co/Rs7z8hm8cW
— CBS Sports MLB (@CBSSportsMLB) January 25, 2015
To be fair, Manfred did say that the banning shifts would be in an effort to improve offense. That is a valid concern because hitting in baseball is truly lacking. The 4.07 runs by each team per game in 2014 was the lowest in baseball since 1981, and in a world where fans like offense more than pitching, maybe something needs to be changed.
However, why change the integrity of the game over something as harmless as a defensive shift? Shifts are the latest example of analytics helping baseball evolve. It doesn’t make sense to rob teams of the opportunity to set up their fielders in the way that gives them the best chance to win.
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David Ortiz is arguably the most shifted-for hitter in the game, and why shouldn’t he be? Over every three of four of Big Papi’s groundballs are hit to the right side of second base, so why not shade him that way? That’s the philosophy that Rob Manfred is threatening to take away, and for what reason, so that players like Big Papi can get by even though everyone knows where the ball’s going to be hit? Why change something just because someone’s willing to play the percentages and take their chances?
At the end of the day, baseball is a battle of front offices building their teams to emerge victorious in the most games possible. If you don’t like the shift, chances are you have a guy like Ortiz, Prince Fielder or Jim Thome on your squad. Frankly, if you’re sick of defenses “cheating” so to speak on where they think the ball’s going to be hit, then just quit acquiring and getting players that pull the ball or draw lots of shifts.
Removing defensive shifts would be a needless change to baseball and would actually make the game worse. It would take out all the fun in clubs choosing whether or not to use shifts and in what situations to use them. If Rob Manfred wants to improve offense in Major League Baseball, he should look to do so without getting rid of one of the most unique facets of today’s game.