Dodgers slugger Max Muncy is a bit more confident with his approach amid the shift ban
Your Los Angeles Dodgers had their intrasquad game on Thursday, and a funny thing happened to infield slugger Max Muncy. Muncy was at bat against his newest teammate Noah Syndergaard and Muncy snuck in a base hit up the middle for a base hit.
As Muncy was making his way to first base, he was enthusiastic about his base hit, and he even went so far as to shout out, “Yes! No shift!” (Listen closely).
Starting this season, the MLB will ban the shift as a part of a series of rule changes that will take effect this season. All four infielders will now be required to have both feet in the infield, and two infielders must now be on either side of second base when the pitch is being delivered.
Before this, the shift was a hit commodity, and it would be done with lefty sluggers like Muncy, who would have a defender up the middle or into the shallow right field where lefties are more than likely to hit the ball.
Now with the new rules and the focus to emphasize offense in the MLB, it will make life easier for every batter in the league, especially those constantly being shifted on. This may or may not be the answer to more offense, but if that clip of Muncy is an indicator, then we could see a lot more hits into spots where a defender would be before this upcoming season.
Dodgers Nations own Doug McKain spoke with the former All-Star and asked if the lack of shifts gives him more confidence at bat.
“Probably a little bit. If anything, it makes it simpler because now you can just go back to the approach you’ve known your whole life. It’s hit the ball up the middle, hit the ball at the pitcher and hopefully there’s not a guy standing there anymore like there used to be in the past.
“That’s the thing that was always so frustrating to me, was, you’re doing this thing you were taught to do your entire life and now there’s a guy standing there. But not anymore. So, you know, hopefully there is a couple more hits that way, but it definitely simplifies the approach a little bit.”
According to sportsinfosoultions.com, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the highest full shift usage rate with 53%, tied with the Toronto Blue Jays.
So as the Dodgers defense gets used to the ban of the shift, their hitters will go back to finding those holes and taking full advantage of the ban.
