July 29, 201412 yr The good hitters can hit to all fields, and adjust to shifts. Correct. Good hitters can hit to all fields. But the key to successfully hitting is hitting where the ball is pitched. You take the outside pitch the opposite way, and you pull the inside pitch. If you try to take an inside pitch the opposite way, you won't have much success. Most power hitters that are affected by the shift crowd the plate a little which allows them to drive the outside pitch by pulling it. You can back off the plate a bit, but that will leave you more susceptible to the outside pitch. Of course a good hitter should be able to handle that. But power hitters get paid to drive the ball, hit homers etc, which if your laying down bunts and going the other way all the time reduces their value. It's changing the game, and going to force left handed hitters to evolve.
July 29, 201412 yr Well, yeah, but no team would show them a shift because those guys weren't dead pull hitters. Yep...it's the left handed power hitter that the shift is killing. All the guys you mentioned, took a neutral position in the box and hit what they were given. Many said the Boggs and Gwynn could have hit 30 HR's a year, but they tailored their game and style to not have any holes and be able to hit for a high average, which meant hitting the ball where it was pitched.
July 30, 201412 yr What should be illegal is not hitting the ball when a strike is thrown down the third base line ( 1 out of ten ) or better yet…..BUNT! It was different to watch a second baseman playing shallow right field last night! :jump: Pitcher must have one helluva curve ball if he can throw it down the third base line and get it in for a strike.
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