Oakland Athletics: Why Hitters Just Keep Hitting Into Shifts

Oakland Athletics hitters aren’t the only ones who still swing for the fences when the shift is on against them.

The first post that I ever wrote for Swingin’ A’s was about the pull hitters on the Oakland Athletics hitting into the shift. I was encouraging hitters to learn how to bunt or at least try to hit to the opposite field. I have given the matter a lot of thought – one nice thing about teaching a class on the history of baseball is that I get paid to contemplate all things baseball.

The shift is now a big part of baseball. I suspect that, given computers and graphic mapping capabilities, every single major league hitter’s tendencies are common knowledge. Every team is now playing the percentages.

Sometimes it works extremely well. Seattle Mariners shortstop Ketel Marte made several outstanding plays against the A’s. Marte is a gifted shortstop, but much of his success came from positioning. The shift is working very well for the Mariners. On the other hand, somehow the Houston Astros, who employ the shift on almost every batter, have not had much success.

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It would appear that Josh Reddick is learning to hit against the shift. Robinson Cano seems to have that knack as well. Most hitters, however, are still hitting into the shift and getting out.

I have a theory on why it is so hard for hitters to change and try to beat the shift. It is pretty much impossible to become a professional athlete. Making it to the pinnacle of Major League Baseball is even more difficult. Well-meaning parents, teachers, and coaches should tell young people how hard it truly is to become a pro. It is best to do your homework and go to college, because only a tiny number of people will have the talent it takes to become a star athlete.

Getting paid millions of dollars to play a game is an impossible dream. Baseball players have been told their whole lives that they can not do the impossible. Yet somehow, Major League Players have the drive and determination to overcome all odds. If you’re playing in the major leagues, you have proven all of your critics wrong.

So when a batter strides to the plate and sees three men to the right of second and the third baseman at the shortstop position, it’s like the other team saying, “It is impossible for you to hit the ball through our shift.”

Ballplayers have been doing the impossible their whole careers. We have all seen hitters rip the ball so hard that it does beat the shift. I am sure the ballplayer remembers the one bullet he hit to beat the shift and forgets about the four or five times he grounded out to short-right field.

One thing the serious fan knows about baseball is that it is a game that is constantly evolving. Teams employ the shift because it works. The shift is especially effective if the pitcher pitches to it. In other words, the shift works best if a pitcher keeps the ball on the inner half of the plate. A lot of home runs are hit on pitches that come “middle in.” I think hitting strategy is evolving. It seems to me that Oakland Athletics hitters like Reddick and Stephen Vogt go up to the plate looking to go the other way to the opposite field until they get one or two strikes. Once the hitter is in the hole, I think the strategy shifts to trying to pull an inside pitch and to hit it very, very hard.

Like sports journalist Howard Cosell, I never played the game. The closest I came to hitting fast-pitch was a fantasy camp to which my younger brother dragged me last year. Hitting a baseball moving 90 mph is almost impossible. Hitting through the shift is almost impossible. But again, these hitters have been doing the impossible their whole careers.

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I don’t think an extra fielder is going to dissuade them from pulling the ball and hitting it as hard as they can. I really don’t think very many hitters are going to concede and bunt the other way. Only one A’s player did during the last home stand…that’s why I believe in Stephen Vogt!