lokigodofchaos OP t1_j9ytjho wrote on February 25, 2023 at 3:55 PM

Reply to comment by squeevey in ELI5 What is the "Shift ban" in Major League Baseball and why are people upset about it? by lokigodofchaos

Thanks! I can see why people would get angry that they are removing some strategy to make the game more exciting.

DavidRFZ t1_j9yvjtl wrote on February 25, 2023 at 4:08 PM

They are only banning the extreme shift. The fielders can still shift quite a bit but the SS/2B will so longer be able to move so far as to be on the ‘wrong’ side of the 2B bag. If one of those guys is playing right behind the 2B, that’s still a decent shift.

They do this in other sports. NBA has had a couple of ‘illegal defense’ type rules. The NFL is always tweaking what pass defenders are allowed to do.

Fred2718 t1_j9z5ani wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:14 PM

The new rule is only 1) the four infielders must remain in the infield, so cannot move one outfield for coverage, and 2) there must be two infielders on either side of the home-second base diagonal.

Bunktavious t1_j9zenzy wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:15 PM

That seems reasonable. You can still make significant shifts with that, but can't jam five guys around short when there's a runner on third, for that batter that only pulls his ground balls.