Originally Posted by
BCR
The shifts are the bigger culprit. I cheer for any guy who puts a ground ball through the non-existent shortstop, even if it’s against my team, because it seems a lost art. I always wonder if a Gwynn could still do it if he were playing today or if the entire process about where to pitch guys with the shift is too well choreographed. He’d obviously take advantage of guys who miss. Last night the Indians hit like 4 shots I immediately thought were singles up the middle. Every time the shortstop was sitting there waiting for it.
The ball angle is so strange. Guys are still launching it. As San always talks about, swing plane and all that. I know for the Indians it was that one off season where there was some type of international competition. Don’t know if it was WBC or Pan American games or whatever. Lindor and Jose and half the Dominican Republic came back trying to launch homers. These were guys I were sure were always going to be .310 hitters topping out at 18-20 HRs at the peak of their strength, yet they were hitting 30 the next year, but .260
I don’t follow baseball enough to understand. I watch every Indians game if I’m home or out somewhere where it’s on, but don’t follow the game broadly enough to make any conclusions about why it’s changed so much. I don’t read on it much unless it concerns the Central teams. I have no understanding of what is the mechanics of the swing and what’s the ball changes?
The averages though are unreal. Whatever they envisioned if they tinkered, I seriously doubt this is the result they wanted.
Doesn’t help when every team seems to have three pitchers throwing 98+. I find it unreal how hard these kids are throwing. Kids I never heard of. Generally I was aware of the few guys who could flirt with 100. Now it’s so common.
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