When Are Teams Going To Combat These Shifts In Baseball?
I'm an Astros fan, but I want to cringe every time I see 3 fielders on one side, and 2/3 of the baseline totally open on the other side. When are teams going to start combating these shifts, and teach their players to bunt in the big space that is left in the infield? Instead, all I see are the batters just hitting right into the shift like normal business.
The thing is that absolutely nobody beats the shift. It's almost like the hitters got together and refused to adjust hoping MLB would outlaw the shifts. And i could see that happening.
Jason Castro's first hit of the season came in the second inning of the Astros' 6-4 win Saturday when he pushed a bunt single down the third-base line to beat the Brewers' infield shift, a strategy the Astros worked on in drills and games during Spring Training.
Depending on the situation, the Astros are encouraging left-handed hitters like Castro, Luis Valbuena and Colby Rasmus to try to bunt for a single. Rasmus attempted it as well Saturday, but didn't get the bunt down.
"The game situation dictates how often we're going to do it, but we are going to be active with that," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "If you're going to shift us and the game calls for a baserunner being more important than anything else, then we're going to factor that in. I'm proud of the guys for embracing that as a counter punch to the shift.
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When Are Teams Going To Combat These Shifts In Baseball?
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