The Shifting Narrative

I’m bored because nothing major is really happening in terms of baseball transactions, Cubs or otherwise, and spring training is still a few weeks away, so I thought I’d explore the coming rules changes again.

Last time, we discussed mostly the pitch clock and how either side could try to game the system to gain whatever advantages they can within the 20 or so seconds they have to play with. The pitch clock, along with the larger bases, should make it easier to swipe a bag, and with the Cubs being among the leaders in stolen base attempts and TOOTBLANs last season, at least reducing the TOOTBLAN rate could be a win, along with acquiring a few folks who have better than average speed on the basepaths. This would include Nico Hoerner and new additions Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson, but probably not Trey Mancini, who apparently almost never tries to steal because he’s a good boy or something. We covered that part pretty thoroughly, so this one will mostly be about the defensive shift restrictions. Here’s what the MLB.com release says:

DEFENSIVE SHIFT LIMITS

The defensive team must have a minimum of four players on the infield, with at least two infielders completely on either side of second base.

From MLB.com
  • The four infielders must be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber.
  • Infielders may not switch sides. In other words, a team cannot reposition its best defender on the side of the infield the batter is more likely to hit the ball.
  • If the infielders are not aligned properly at the time of the pitch, the offense can choose an automatic ball or the result of the play.
  • This rule does not preclude a team from positioning an outfielder in the infield or in the shallow outfield grass in certain situations. But it does prohibit four-outfielder alignments.

In addition, here is a clarification on the “not switch sides” part:

  • Lateral Positioning: Two infielders must be positioned on each side of second base when the pitch is released.
  • Depth: All four infielders must have both feet within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber.
  • No Switching Sides: Infielders may not switch sides unless there is a substitution.

So obviously that means Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner cannot be on the same side of second base, and also that Dansby can’t switch spots with Nico unless they sub out one of them and the other switches from 2B to SS or vice versa. This prevents the thing that Lou Piniella once did where Alfonso Soriano and Jeff Baker ran back and forth across the diamond to finish out a game. As you can see, there is no restriction on five-man infields, but you can no longer have a four-man outfield, and certainly not a Nico Hoerner planted in the outfield grass on the right side.

Let’s take a look at the diamond with this new imaginary line (or maybe they just paint it in so the umpires remember they’re supposed to call it):

I chose Wrigley because obviously.

And here’s the straight-up defensive alignment:

The pitcher and catcher, by rule, stay where they’re at in the picture before the delivery of the pitch. The catcher is the only defensive player allowed to be stationed outside of fair territory, also by rule (it’s 4.03 if you wanna read it, oh wait here’s the 2021 rules, updates in the comments), and it doesn’t really make sense to have any of your fielders already in foul territory anyway, although it does prevent the type of situation where you have a player back up the catcher because the pitcher is nasty and keeps spiking pitches into the dirt, as a team in the KBO once tried to do. I mention that not because it’s super relevant, but because I thought it was hilarious at the time and I’d like to share it. Per the picture above, the outfielders can be anywhere in fair territory, even serving as an additional infielder, but the four standard infielders are now locked into the infield and we’ll start by showing this:

Subsequently, I won’t show the outfielders or the battery because the battery again is stuck where they are by rule, and the outfielders can be anywhere they want and there are probably myriad alignments that could be done with the extra infielder. For my convenience because Paint is annoying and I didn’t feel like busting out Photoshop, here are the color codes (which you probably could have guessed):

  • Red = third baseman
  • Blue = shortstop
  • Green = second baseman
  • Yellow = first baseman

The rule also brings to mind the situation that Joe Maddon and the Cubs used to set up with Anthony Rizzo switching to a second baseman’s glove so the actual second baseman can now be at first base, but note that the shift rules don’t care about this so long as the first baseman and the second baseman are on that side of second base, and again I only share because this was weird and also Clint Hurdle sucks. This theoretically shouldn’t prevent the defense from having the second baseman do the Rizzo-crash on a bunt while the first baseman remains at his normal position. Anyway, with two on each side of the bag, here’s what the new limit on an overshift looks like against a right handed batter:

And then here’s the extreme shift against a left-handed batter:

The line demarcating second base is probably not completely straight and aligned up the middle but it serves as a reference, and I guess if you had a guy who always shoots one right up the middle, you can always have the SS and 2B standing next to each other. The rule doesn’t say the infielders can’t just stand right next to the pitcher (on their side of the black line), or they can even stand 10 feet in front of the plate and risk getting their face broken by a line drive. But I’m racking my brain and can’t see a situation where, absent a speedy Gold Glove second baseman (oh right, hi Nico Hoerner, even though you didn’t win), a lot more of those hard hits by lefties will get through now, especially since that defender can no longer stand in the grass and get extra time to field the ball cleanly or even get to it. I imagine it’ll be the same for right-handed batters firing through the left side though possibly to a lesser extent. The limit at the infield/outfield dirt line might be an opportunity for some home field shenanigans by a resourceful groundskeeper, but even that has its limits:

So here is how MLB is about to start dealing with that dirty little secret:

• Let’s start with the rule itself. It says the outer edge of the infield dirt is supposed to extend no more than 95 feet from the center of the pitcher’s mound. OK, good to know.

• So MLB now does plan to enforce that rule, beginning next season. That makes sense.

• But it does not plan to enforce the rule literally, according to sources. It will allow up to a foot of leeway in either direction, to account for what one source described as groundskeeping “error.” So it’s still possible the back edge of the dirt in various parks could extend anywhere from 94 to 96 feet from the center of the mound.

From The Athletic

The rule only says that these are the legal “start” positions for the fielders, but it doesn’t prevent them from running like hell to their spot in short right field once the pitch is released, and as Stark and his sources say, there’s no reason why the groundskeeper won’t choose to go 96 feet with the dirt boundary to give the fielders extra space to work with, legally of course. I do wonder if we will see anything quite like that, and how often a team with a corner outfielder with a strong arm will try to “cheat” and crash in to get a rare 9-3 (or even a 7-3 or 8-3, ha) putout if the runner is slow or just assumes it’s a hit. However, with the anticipated increase in stolen base attempts, that may force the infielders to stay closer to their assigned base, which could open up opportunities for batted balls to sneak through as well. So it will be intriguing to see how the game of baseball rebalances itself as each side adjusts to the new rules.

I am hopeful that we will see some video clips in Cactus League play that show some “adjusted shifts” in action. I imagine there will be plenty of grousing at umpires regarding interpretations of whether a fielder was positioned legally, and league mandates every week or so to redefine the umpires’ enforcement of the rules, or even additional clarifications. For now, we can continue to ponder how front offices and field managers conspire to take advantage of any edge they can even if it seems they have been greatly restricted here.

40 thoughts on “The Shifting Narrative”

  2. I don’t like the rule that the SS and the 2B, or the 3b and 2b can’t switch sides. I’m fine with banning the shift. If a manager wants to have his RPs play LF and his 3b play 2b, then so be it.

    Also, any way that we can have more Soriano references is fine with me too. I particularly liked his “No one ever gave me any coaching on how to play OF before I came to Chicago” remark. (Warning, quote based on my memory, many errors may be included in transcription.)

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  3. BVS,

    Please note that the Waxahachie Swap is also not technically banned but will be far less effective due to the 3-batter minimum –> https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2020/7/9/21176267/mlb-three-batters-rule-waxahachie-swap

    Lou did that with Sean Marshall/Soriano/Reed Johnson in a game that I recall fondly, it was pretty genius although they did lose (but not because of the swap) –> https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN200907122.shtml

    A very resourceful and creative manager could probably still make this work, both for the infielders and for their pitcher, and there’s nothing that prevents the pair on either side of the imaginary line from roaming anywhere they want within the fair territory confined within the dirt semicircle, at least not based on the language I read, but I am #NotALawyer and my reading comprehension is occasionally derped. The big thing though is that these are desperation moves because the pitcher taking the outfield forfeits the DH for the remainder of the game, and swapping the middle infielders means you really really REALLY value getting that out, more so than keeping your better second baseman in the game.

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  4. Rice Cube,

    The Waxahachie Swap rule is still allowable under the language in rule 3.03 but I guess we will wait for a copy of the 2023 rulebook to be released first, I think I’m using the one I found off Google from 2010 and there have been a few changes since then (dying laughing)

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  5. Oh, new rule 4.03 from the 2022 rulebook –> https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/mlb/atcjzj9j7wrgvsm8wnjq.pdf

    is actually a clarification of the Shohei Ohtani two-way player rule that we hope will one day apply to Nazier Mule.

    The new rule re: catcher position and everyone else having to be in fair territory at the start of each pitch is 5.02 now. And the Waxahachie Swap rule is now 5.10, and each pitcher is only allowed one position swap per inning.

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  8. Now that analytics has taken a larger role in baseball, we should introduce math into other parts of the game too, particularly if we can use math to make things funky. So how about a new maximum extent of the infield rule:

    –At the baselines, the outer edge for the infield dirt is 95′ from the center of the pitcher’s mound.
    –Between the baselines, the outer edge of the infield dirt can vary between 95′ from the center of the pitcher’s mound and 30% of the average distance between the apex of home plate and the outfield walls measured at each 10° radius and applied at the 5° radius point around the infield.

    Now imagine Clint Hurdle having a conversation with Buck Showalter and CB Bucknor about whether or not the outfield grass at the point 35° from the 1st base line is out too far at Shea Stadium or Citi Field or whatever it’s called.

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  9. BVS,

    I think they actually want this to be set as much in stone as possible, like the key on a basketball court (dying laughing)

    I believe the only real variation allowed is the shape of the infield grass encompassed by the baselines, the amount of foul territory, and the fact that the outfield fences need to be at least 250 feet away, though they do suggest 320 in the rulebook (rule 2.01 from the 2021 rulebook)

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  11. Rice Cube,

    Yeah, I’d kind of forgotten about the NL DH/3 batter rule killing RPs playing the field, but I still think fielders ought to be able to move around as needed. Shifting SS and 2B back and forth doesn’t add time to the game. You could argue that there would be good reason to shift Nico between 2b and CF if Bellinger was out of the game, depending on if the batter were a ground ball hitter or a fly ball hitter. That would be allowed. What’s the difference between swapping SS and 2b, for example, if Swanson is out of the game and Nico and Morel are playing SS and 2B.

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  14. BVS,

    I think it does lock everyone into their standard positions in the infield, but it doesn’t prevent the outfielders from moving wherever they want, like they could let Bellinger rove LF/CF and put Happ as a rover if they wanted to on the RF spot where Nico would’ve stood. But I think part of the idea is to let ground balls squeak through, which is less likely if you let Dansby and Nico switch sides without switching positions. Based on the wording of the rule, one of them needs to be removed from the game so the other can assume second base, so if they really want that out, they need to essentially sacrifice one or two bench guys if you need to move Dansby back to SS after that out. I’m not saying I like it, I’m just trying to rationalize what they might have been thinking there. They’re basically doing something akin to offsides in hockey or soccer, or illegal formation in football, or illegal defense that used to be done in basketball before they went to defensive-three-seconds. They need to balance the game somehow because batters aren’t willing (or able) to do much more than just try to hit the shit out of the ball because pitching is just too good, which is the stated impetus for doing these rules in the first place.

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  16. BVS:
    Now that analytics has taken a larger role in baseball, we should introduce math into other parts of the game too, particularly if we can use math to make things funky. So how about a new maximum extent of the infield rule:

    –At the baselines, the outer edge for the infield dirt is 95′ from the center of the pitcher’s mound.
    –Between the baselines, the outer edge of the infield dirt can vary between 95′ from the center of the pitcher’s mound and 30% of the average distance between the apex of home plate and the outfield walls measured at each 10° radius and applied at the 5° radius point around the infield.

    Now imagine Clint Hurdle having a conversation with Buck Showalter and CB Bucknor about whether or not the outfield grass at the point 35° from the 1st base line is out too far at Shea Stadium or Citi Field or whatever it’s called.

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  34. Some weak crap statements y’all

    In a statement, the Padres said: “We are aware of MLB’s investigation and completely support their efforts under the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy. Due to the ongoing investigative process, we cannot comment any further at this time.”

    “Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox take any and all allegations very seriously, and the White Sox are completely supportive of the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy shared by MLB and the MLBPA,” the White Sox said in a statement. “MLB opened an investigation after learning of these allegations. The White Sox were not aware of the allegations or the investigation at the time of his signing. The White Sox will refrain from comment until MLB’s investigative process has reached its conclusion.”

    https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35518558/source-white-sox-mike-clevinger-investigation-mlb

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  35. Can’t tell if MLB’s is the only investigation that happened/is happening. Discouraging how much protection the accused is afforded if so.

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  36. andcounting,

    I’m surprised she didn’t involve actual investigators, but given how useless they can be given stories from other survivors of domestic violence, maybe that isn’t completely unreasonable…and if the White Sox didn’t do their own background check, then very likely they’re on the hook for the part of the contract that he isn’t suspended for, if they even do.

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  38. andcounting,

    I actually don’t know that MLB is doing the only investigation, partly because I didn’t have access to the full Athletic article, but I see your point re: protecting Clevinger, although 1) I think that’s a confidentiality clause that’s baked into the policy (if it’s collectively bargained like the rest of the agreement with the league) and 2) it’s still a weird thing that they didn’t put in a stipulation to protect the team so they can just void the contract if something like this happens or 3) they just tell any team that is setting up an agreement about it before the signing on the dotted line. It’s a goofy situation all around in terms of the baseball side, and the mother and child should probably get better protections and services on the human side IMO

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  39. Rice Cube,

    I mean, there is a lot. What we know is really weighty, and what we don’t know is…also a lot. The Athletic cited Finestead (the mother of Clevinger’s child) as a source. We don’t know if a lead pointed them toward the story and they contacted her for a statement or if she approached them with the story. There’s nothing in the story suggesting criminal charges or any investigation outside of what MLB is doing. (I have nothing to say about Finestead filing charges—totally her business. But it’s not great journalism to just not mention anything.)

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