WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Count Dusty Baker among those unaffected by baseball’s apparent intention to ban defensive shifts.
Major League Baseball took a step toward the drastic change this week, announcing an experimental rule change limiting defensive positioning at all Class AA affiliates during the 2021 season.
Teams must have a minimum of four players on the infield, all of whom must have both feet “completely in front of the outer boundary of the infield dirt.” The league will monitor the results of this rule during the first half of the minor league season. Depending on its research, the second half of the season may feature a mandate that at least two infielders are positioned entirely on each side of second base.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I really don’t care,” Baker said on Saturday. “I ain’t kidding. Because, like, if, if you can hit, and really hit, there ain’t no way they’re supposed to shift on you anyway.”
Under former manager A.J. Hinch, the Astros led baseball in defensive shifts per plate appearance 2018 and were second in 2019. In the shortened 60-game season under Baker, Houston shifted in 44.1 percent of its defensive plate appearances with no runner on base. The World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers led the league with a 55.8 percent clip, according to BaseballSavant.
Baker relies on bench coach Joe Espada to position the infield and third-base coach Gary Pettis to move the outfielders. The 71-year-old skipper has unquestionably old-school roots, but has seemed to blend with the Astros’ analytical ways well. He deployed the piggyback starter technique to win a wild card series against the Minnesota Twins and has preached openness to whatever the team may teach him.
Some of his long-established ideals are still apparent. He mentioned on Saturday that some Astros players call Michael Brantley “lucky.” Brantley is almost impossible to shift against given his elite bat control and ability to use every part of the field.
“You don’t know where he’s going to hit the ball. Now, that’s hitting,” Baker said. “That’s the kind of hitting I like. If you’re hitting into the shift, that’s your fault for not making an adjustment.”