For Chris Davis' and Baseballs sake, should "The Shift" be banned?

[Guest]

Someone the "D" in Davis was turned into a grin! Very weird!!

LOL, because you had a : and a capital D next to each other. That is the code for the grinning emoticon. (I just manually typed a semi-colon and end parenthesis for that winking smiley.)

[OFFNY]

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If a 10th player were allowed to be placed on the field by the team on defense, then I would have a problem with it.

As long as the opponent has 7 defensive players (in addition to the pitcher and the catcher, who must be on the mound and behind home plate, respectively) on the field, then I don't care where the opponent puts their remaining 7 players on defense ...... as long as the Orioles have the same freedom to do so when they take the field when they are on defense.

Either hit 'em over the wall, and/or then hit 'em where they ain't, and/or draw a walk, and/or take one for the team, ala Frank Robinson.

And if you can't do any of the above, too bad.

[atomic]

You don't know anything about Chris's character. It is frustrating to see him hit ground balls into the shift but that does not mean he is selfish. For all you know, his coaches are telling him to swing. They were shifting against him in 2013 and nobody called him selfish because his approach was producing.

Also, he has done it. He has shown bunt plenty of times and executed successfully at least once:

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/141651-Chris-Davis-bunted-against-shift

I agree with you that I would like to see him bunt more but no need to make personal accusations.

All I know from Chris' character is the same as you. Being suspended for drugs, hitting .196 and refusing to change his approach even when they are giving the whole left side of the infield. I doubt a coach would ever tell you not to try and get a hit. Everything seems pretty selfish to me. His big mistake was not signing an extension before last season. I doubt he will wear an Oriole uniform after this upcoming season. If it were up to me I would have released him when he failed the drug test.

Yeah of course no one is complaining when something is working. When what you are doing is continually failing and the other team is giving you a base hit which you refuse to take there is nothing other than selfishness to explain it.

[Ohfan67]

All I know from Chris' character is the same as you. Being suspended for drugs, hitting .196 and refusing to change his approach even when they are giving the whole left side of the infield. I doubt a coach would ever tell you not to try and get a hit. Everything seems pretty selfish to me. His big mistake was not signing an extension before last season. I doubt he will wear an Oriole uniform after this upcoming season. If it were up to me I would have released him when he failed the drug test.

Yeah of course no one is complaining when something is working. When what you are doing is continually failing and the other team is giving you a base hit which you refuse to take there is nothing other than selfishness to explain it.

I think he objects to your use of the words "refuse", "refusing", etc. I think he is suggesting it is possible that Davis can't do it or that the coaches would rather Davis take a shot at a home run or a double rather than the bunt. It is also possible that the coaches didn't want Davis to attempt to bunt because it might diminish the probability of Davis righting his miserable season. Not arguing, just pointing out that it does not mean that player A is selfish because player A didn't do X. There are realistic possibilities that do not include "refuse".

[CA-ORIOLE]

You don't know anything about Chris's character. It is frustrating to see him hit ground balls into the shift but that does not mean he is selfish. For all you know, his coaches are telling him to swing. They were shifting against him in 2013 and nobody called him selfish because his approach was producing.

Also, he has done it. He has shown bunt plenty of times and executed successfully at least once:

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/141651-Chris-Davis-bunted-against-shift

I agree with you that I would like to see him bunt more but no need to make personal accusations.

I remember it. bobmc's comments in that thread were pretty insightful.

It shows to me how difficult it is to execute - perfect bunt and almost tossed out in spite of it. Had to really extend himself.

Besides taking away any chance of a HR or extra base hit, it's just not that easy to do.

[wse120372]

Here is another great article regarding Davis and the shift.

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/chris-davis-swallowed-by-the-shift/

The best way to help Davis is for the batters ahead of him (I'm looking at you Adam Jones) get on base so the opposing team cant shift on him in 83% of his at bats.

[Ruzious]

Having an entire offseason to work on his skills, I expect Davis will be able to make more adjustments this season.