What Jay Bruce's Sudden Retirement Should Mean for Baseball and the Shift

[joseephuss]

What a whiney article. If a defense throws a shift at player and it works, it shows they are limited as a batter. The solution isn't to ban the shift, it is to be a better batter. The QB wouldn't struggle as much if they outlawed nickle and dime coverages.

https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/04/22/jay-bruce-retirement-shift-the-opener

What Jay Bruce's Sudden Retirement Should Mean for Baseball and the Shift

The career of Jay Bruce—what it was and what it could have been—is the canary in the coal mine. The shift is harming baseball and must go.


Jay Bruce retired Sunday after a 14-year career. His problem was not when his career ended but when it began. As a left-handed pull hitter without much speed, Bruce came along at the wrong time. If you want an example of how the growth of defensive shifts has harmed careers, Bruce is as blatant an example as any.

Since 2015, the use of shifts has more than tripled, from 9.6% of all pitches to 32.1% this year. Over that time, left-handed hitters such as Bruce, Brian McCann, Anthony Rizzo, Matt Carpenter and Kyle Seager have seen their careers turn for the worse because of the shifts they face in which one or two infielders position themselves on the outfield grass to their pull side.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Incredibly stupid article.

It's true that baseball has problems, but they keep diagnosing them incorrectly and proposing useless solutions.

Games are too long? Let's change extra innings, something that happens super-rarely.
Not enough action? Let's make it easier for slow, left-handed pull hitters, because we'd rather see those guys than fast guys who hit to all fields. Ugh.

Baseball's biggest problems are (1) too many pitches thrown (dull and slows things down), and (2) not enough balls in play (too many strikeouts and walks). More balls in play with fewer pitches means more action.

Start with lowering the mound or moving it back -> more balls hit. You probably need to fiddle more to keep it from being home run derby and to bump up the number of balls that go for hits (fielding is too good today). But whatever the right solution, they should be doing things that attack the real problems, not garbage like this.

 

[atlantacowboy]

Yeah, Jay Bruce was a swing for the fences guy and never hit for average. He played 14 years. No pity required.

 

[jrumann59]

Yeah, Jay Bruce was a swing for the fences guy and never hit for average. He played 14 years. No pity required.

Exactly. Good hitters figure it out. Bad hitters make excuses. I am a Cards Fan and Matt Carpenter has been exposed with the same thing.

 

[jterrell]

rofl... man this author should be fired.
Jay Bruce made 100 million dollars playing a game.

 

[Aviano90]

I am all for baseball doing everything they can to drive fans away.

 

[Cowpolk]

Yeah, Jay Bruce was a swing for the fences guy and never hit for average. He played 14 years. No pity required.

I loved playing Baseball but have never liked to watch it