It sucks being a pull hitter in the majors. When opposing defenses line up with more than two defenders on one side of the field it is damn near impossible for a hitter to get a regular hit. Regular hits (aka singles) make up a large chunk of hitter's batting average and having all these defenders on one side is unfair to hitters. It already is one sided with all these power arms coming out of everywhere to pitch, throwing 95+ mph on a regular basis and now hitters can't even enjoy a hitting single because there are 3 defenders on one side. The argument that hitters should adjust the way they hit to punish these shifts is nonsense. A major league veteran whose whole career was built on the line drive or ground ball to left or right for a uptick in batting average isn't about to start bunting to left or right side. So it shouldn't be a surprise that offense is down to a historic low now that defensive shifts are robbing hitters left and right of hits that would help infuse some more entertainment and action into a game that is mostly described as "boring".
A 2-1 or 1-0 game is the most entertaining baseball game to me, but it never hurts to watch an action packed 8-3 or 11-9 ball game from time to time. Watching David Ortiz, Brian McCann, and others struggle with getting on base is not what their fans want to go watch or their front office is paying them for. When offense is down fans don't watch and complaints about how long games are flair up and defensive shifts are partially to blame for why. I would gladly get rid of shifts and let defenses play the way they traditionally have been with shading one way or the other. Shading is when a defender takes a step or two in a certain direction to help cover up a hole, but to have him swing all the way around to the other side is insane. It's time to make baseball a bit more fair and more fun to watch.
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