Sunday, June 22, 2014
Shift Candidates
?Max tries to figure out who are shift candidates. When he talks about GBruns, etc, I think those are "per 100 events".
MGL has a great comment in the comments. He's probably right for 90-95% of the batters who don't try to hit groundballs. Those who do try to hit groundballs are those just trying to survive as hitters, and have already created their approach to spray. And then Ichiro, who is best appreciated without trying to understand him, as is the case with all geniuses.
Commentators writing and talking about the shift keep talking about players altering their approach to “beat the shift.” The reason no one finds that to be true is because batters don’t try and hit ground balls. They try and hit fly balls and home runs. Ground balls are accidents. So no batter is going to try and hit a ground ball to the opposite side. It is also very difficult. The reason that most ground balls are pulled is because it is very difficult from a physics standpoint to hit an opp field ground balls. And if you try and do that, it would require a very awkward, weak swing. The only way a batter is going to intentionally try and “beat the shift” is via a bunt.