Former MLB manager Joe Maddon is not a fan of the incoming rule that will ban defensive shifts in baseball.
Maddon said on the Starting 9 podcast, hosted by former MLB pitcher Jake Arrieta:
“The eradication of the shift, I don’t think that’s going to give you what you’re looking for. It does not promote the contact hitter.”
Joe Maddon made the comments during a discussion of the new rules that MLB will be implementing for the 2023 season.
The new rule regarding defensive shifts states that a team must have two fielders stationed completely on either side of second base when a pitch is thrown. A team must also have a minimum of four players with their feet on the outer boundary of the infield dirt.
The change looks to combat the recent evolution of defensive strategies. Infield shifting often saw occasions where the third baseman would move to a shallow outfield position on the opposite side of the diamond to thwart left-handed dead-pull hitters.
One of those hitters was first baseman Anthony Rizzo, whom Maddon used to manage on the Chicago Cubs. Maddon believes that banning defensive shifts may help offensive output in that there will be one fewer player in the way of any non-home runs that players like Rizzo may hit. However, he doesn’t think it will somehow make teams shy away from the “big hit or bust” mindset.
“You’re going to see more left-handed hitters pulling the baseball,” Maddon said. “I still fail to see why you’re drawing this conclusion that there should be more contact hitters with two guys on each side because the contact hitters have never been shifted in the first place.”
