Quote:
Originally Posted by Déjà Bru
Under the heading of "What will they think of next?" is the two-man outfield. (Also called the Joey Gallo defense).
Attachment 941211
In this shot, it was the centerfielder who had moved to the circled position.
As you see, it's in compliance with the ban on infield shifts but accomplishes pretty much the same effect. It's for batters who are utterly incapable of taking advantage of the fact that nobody is playing left field. |
Yeah, I would choose to care about this if the data didn’t indicate that only a small handful of players are truly adversely affected by this, and in the case of Gallo in particular that K rate of 35% (up to close to 40% last year and, through 18 PAs, this year) kills him a whole lot more than his .250 BABIP (which did slip to .219 last year but it’s not like teams suddenly started shifting on him last year).
Leaguewide BABIP is, as I keep saying, only low compared to the early 2010s. Before 1993, a BABIP in the .290s was a phenomenon not seen since the hitting-crazy early 30s.