Proposed MLB rule changes

[MrTPlush]

The best way to get teams to stop shifting is to get people on base.

 

Bunting isn't as easy as everyone likes to think it is. The failure rate would be stupidly high and a waste of so many ABs. I don't think people understand how good of a bunt Moustakas needs to get to first. Add in the fact even when they get on it is a single and puts a likely slow runner on...total waste. There is a reason teams usually don't care if a guy bunts to beat the shift. Lets think about it. Lets assume Moustakas bunts every single AB and has a success rate of .333. Awesome! A .333 average! Except his OPS would be a grand ole .666.

 

That is why teams don't care if you turn your .850 OPS hitter into a slow .666 OPS bunter. It is a terrible idea. Even a 1/3 success rate is probably being generous. Moustakas probably avoids the groundball shift more often than he would successfully drop a bunt down.

 

As far as "Learn to hit the other way, change your approach, etc."...good idea, we should try that with Arcia or with Braun regarding those sliders...or, oh wait. If only it was that simple. There is a recent article about shift prone players talking about how these suggestions aren't that easy. It is like anything else in baseball...sometimes you just struggle in that aspect of the game. If it was so easy everyone would be a Trout/Yelich.

[jerichoholicninja]

When you shift against someone you pitch them inside so they can't go the other way.

[stoutdude04]

Re: bunting

 

As plush pointed out, bunting is hard to do, let alone aim it. I've seen a few slow base runners bunt and actually bunt it pretty well and still get thrown out by a fielding pitcher.

 

I have a friend who won a national championship with Whitewater who hit middle of the order. He talks all the time about how hard it is to A make solid contact and B bunt it well enough for a hit. Also due to pitchers pitching inside and high.

[MrTPlush]

I mean do we really have to look further than our own pitchers? They cannot put down a bunt to save their lives of any sort. Let alone, as stoutdude points out, aim it down the line and hard enough to get past the pitcher. Aiming a bunt down the line is very hard and you pretty much need a fastball to get it down and far enough.

[SomewhereInTime]

I like watching a game evolve based on different strategy. Guys have realized a strikeout is just about as bad as any other out. A walk is as good as a hit, bunting is a stupid waste of an out, stealing a base is dumb if you get caught too often, put more defenders in areas the ball is more likely to be hit.

 

What I don't like is over legislation, yes a rule change here and there is fine, but when you have what we've seen in the NFL where the games are decided by how often the officials want to give away 15 yards. It gets pretty scary. The NFL of today is a convoluted mess of rules and resembles the game of football less and less each year. Watch a game from 5 to 10 years ago and it's a different sport.

[SomewhereInTime]

I like watching a game evolve based on different strategy. Guys have realized a strikeout is just about as bad as any other out. A walk is as good as a hit, bunting is a stupid waste of an out, stealing a base is dumb if you get caught too often, put more defenders in areas the ball is more likely to be hit.

 

What I don't like is over legislation, yes a rule change here and there is fine, but when you have what we've seen in the NFL where the games are decided by how often the officials want to give away 15 yards. It gets pretty scary. The NFL of today is a convoluted mess of rules and resembles the game of football less and less each year. Watch a game from 5 to 10 years ago and it's a different sport.

[SomewhereInTime]

I like watching a game evolve based on different strategy. Guys have realized a strikeout is just about as bad as any other out. A walk is as good as a hit, bunting is a stupid waste of an out, stealing a base is dumb if you get caught too often, put more defenders in areas the ball is more likely to be hit.

 

What I don't like is over legislation, yes a rule change here and there is fine, but when you have what we've seen in the NFL where the games are decided by how often the officials want to give away 15 yards. It gets pretty scary. The NFL of today is a convoluted mess of rules and resembles the game of football less and less each year. Watch a game from 5 to 10 years ago and it's a different sport.

[wntrtxn21]

I like watching a game evolve based on different strategy. Guys have realized a strikeout is just about as bad as any other out. A walk is as good as a hit, bunting is a stupid waste of an out, stealing a base is dumb if you get caught too often, put more defenders in areas the ball is more likely to be hit.

 

What I don't like is over legislation, yes a rule change here and there is fine, but when you have what we've seen in the NFL where the games are decided by how often the officials want to give away 15 yards. It gets pretty scary. The NFL of today is a convoluted mess of rules and resembles the game of football less and less each year. Watch a game from 5 to 10 years ago and it's a different sport.

 

A walk is better than an out, but only as good a single IF nobody is on base. A bunt isn't always a waste. If the bunt moves the runner(s), it's far better than a K or a DP ground ball by a weak hitting pitcher. Other than a K with a WP or PB, a strikeout never advances a runner, never puts pressure on the defense, and never has a positive result. Except for the DP groundball, a strikeout is the absolute worst way to make an out.

[wntrtxn21]

I like watching a game evolve based on different strategy. Guys have realized a strikeout is just about as bad as any other out. A walk is as good as a hit, bunting is a stupid waste of an out, stealing a base is dumb if you get caught too often, put more defenders in areas the ball is more likely to be hit.

 

What I don't like is over legislation, yes a rule change here and there is fine, but when you have what we've seen in the NFL where the games are decided by how often the officials want to give away 15 yards. It gets pretty scary. The NFL of today is a convoluted mess of rules and resembles the game of football less and less each year. Watch a game from 5 to 10 years ago and it's a different sport.

 

A walk is better than an out, but only as good a single IF nobody is on base. A bunt isn't always a waste. If the bunt moves the runner(s), it's far better than a K or a DP ground ball by a weak hitting pitcher. Other than a K with a WP or PB, a strikeout never advances a runner, never puts pressure on the defense, and never has a positive result. Except for the DP groundball, a strikeout is the absolute worst way to make an out.

[wntrtxn21]

I like watching a game evolve based on different strategy. Guys have realized a strikeout is just about as bad as any other out. A walk is as good as a hit, bunting is a stupid waste of an out, stealing a base is dumb if you get caught too often, put more defenders in areas the ball is more likely to be hit.

 

What I don't like is over legislation, yes a rule change here and there is fine, but when you have what we've seen in the NFL where the games are decided by how often the officials want to give away 15 yards. It gets pretty scary. The NFL of today is a convoluted mess of rules and resembles the game of football less and less each year. Watch a game from 5 to 10 years ago and it's a different sport.

 

A walk is better than an out, but only as good a single IF nobody is on base. A bunt isn't always a waste. If the bunt moves the runner(s), it's far better than a K or a DP ground ball by a weak hitting pitcher. Other than a K with a WP or PB, a strikeout never advances a runner, never puts pressure on the defense, and never has a positive result. Except for the DP groundball, a strikeout is the absolute worst way to make an out.

[MrTPlush]

A strikeout is not the worst way to make an out. The worst way is a one pitch out. Probably a foul pop out to be specific. Only case this is not the case is if it advances a runner.

 

Long AB strikeouts often times are better than the batter getting himself to first. Gets the pitchers pitch count up. For instance bases empty and two outs...10 pitch K is better than getting to first as the odds the players behind you are going to drive you in is incredibly low. In most cases I’d take the long AB strikeout over a one pitch ground ball single.

[MrTPlush]

A strikeout is not the worst way to make an out. The worst way is a one pitch out. Probably a foul pop out to be specific. Only case this is not the case is if it advances a runner.

 

Long AB strikeouts often times are better than the batter getting himself to first. Gets the pitchers pitch count up. For instance bases empty and two outs...10 pitch K is better than getting to first as the odds the players behind you are going to drive you in is incredibly low. In most cases I’d take the long AB strikeout over a one pitch ground ball single.

[MrTPlush]

A strikeout is not the worst way to make an out. The worst way is a one pitch out. Probably a foul pop out to be specific. Only case this is not the case is if it advances a runner.

 

Long AB strikeouts often times are better than the batter getting himself to first. Gets the pitchers pitch count up. For instance bases empty and two outs...10 pitch K is better than getting to first as the odds the players behind you are going to drive you in is incredibly low. In most cases I’d take the long AB strikeout over a one pitch ground ball single.

[jerichoholicninja]

A strikeout is not the worst way to make an out. The worst way is a one pitch out. Probably a foul pop out to be specific. Only case this is not the case is if it advances a runner.

 

Long AB strikeouts often times are better than the batter getting himself to first. Gets the pitchers pitch count up. For instance bases empty and two outs...10 pitch K is better than getting to first as the odds the players behind you are going to drive you in is incredibly low. In most cases I’d take the long AB strikeout over a one pitch ground ball single.

 

Running up pitch counts is kind of pointless now. SP don't pitch deep in games anyway and when you get to the bullpen most of those guys have better stuff that the starter.

[jerichoholicninja]

A strikeout is not the worst way to make an out. The worst way is a one pitch out. Probably a foul pop out to be specific. Only case this is not the case is if it advances a runner.

 

Long AB strikeouts often times are better than the batter getting himself to first. Gets the pitchers pitch count up. For instance bases empty and two outs...10 pitch K is better than getting to first as the odds the players behind you are going to drive you in is incredibly low. In most cases I’d take the long AB strikeout over a one pitch ground ball single.

 

Running up pitch counts is kind of pointless now. SP don't pitch deep in games anyway and when you get to the bullpen most of those guys have better stuff that the starter.

[jerichoholicninja]

A strikeout is not the worst way to make an out. The worst way is a one pitch out. Probably a foul pop out to be specific. Only case this is not the case is if it advances a runner.

 

Long AB strikeouts often times are better than the batter getting himself to first. Gets the pitchers pitch count up. For instance bases empty and two outs...10 pitch K is better than getting to first as the odds the players behind you are going to drive you in is incredibly low. In most cases I’d take the long AB strikeout over a one pitch ground ball single.

 

Running up pitch counts is kind of pointless now. SP don't pitch deep in games anyway and when you get to the bullpen most of those guys have better stuff that the starter.

[MrTPlush]

A strikeout is not the worst way to make an out. The worst way is a one pitch out. Probably a foul pop out to be specific. Only case this is not the case is if it advances a runner.

 

Long AB strikeouts often times are better than the batter getting himself to first. Gets the pitchers pitch count up. For instance bases empty and two outs...10 pitch K is better than getting to first as the odds the players behind you are going to drive you in is incredibly low. In most cases I’d take the long AB strikeout over a one pitch ground ball single.

 

Running up pitch counts is kind of pointless now. SP don't pitch deep in games anyway and when you get to the bullpen most of those guys have better stuff that the starter.

 

I will kindly disagree. Not all teams operate that way and either way it helps chase a starter faster, especially an elite guy who can/will go deep if the pitch count is low. It can help tire a pitcher over the course of the current inning (if long) or over multiple innings if he is throwing a ton of pitches (~20 an inning or so). As far as the bullpen guys being better...well, very often times not the case. Especially in a situation where the starter exits fairly early. Hader doesn’t pitch the 5th or 6th for instance.

 

Regardless it is most certainly better than a one pitch fly out/pop up/bunt force out. So it doesn’t change the fact a strikeout is not the worst play a batter can make.

[SomewhereInTime]

Yeah none of the first part of my response was meant to be taken as a 100% all the time truth. i.e. That's why I said a strikeout is ABOUT as bad as any other out.

 

Also, if we're being technical, it is not true that a strikeout "never has a positive result", you can still reach on a passed ball or wild pitch, and you do avoid hitting into a double play by striking out.