The Shift is Taking Over Baseball, But What About The Show?

[RaychelSnr]

Sixty years ago, a player-manager from the Cleveland Indians named Lou Bodreau came up with a defensive strategy to stop Ted Williams' brilliant hitting.

At the time, Williams was playing some of the best baseball ever -- even compiling a .408 batting average in a single season.

In an attempt to stop Williams, Bodreau came up with a defensive shift which was unorthodox but ended up effective:

Quote:

"[Boudreau] said, this is what I want you to do: See the the stuff I put on the blackboard? When I yell ‘Yo!’, that’s when everybody takes the position that I put on the blackboard,” Russ Schneider, Boudreau’s biographer, told me. “And the players said, ‘What’re you, crazy?’ Even his coaches said the same thing. ‘You can’t do that! How can you do that?’ He said, ‘We’re gonna do it.’” What Boudreau was diagramming would eventually go down in baseball lore as the “Ted Williams Shift.” It was a simple case of playing the percentages: Boudreau knew Williams was an extreme pull hitter, and therefore more likely to make an out if more defenders were shifted to the right side of the field. So he rolled out a crazy-looking alignment that packed all four infielders between first and second base..."

The shift has taken over baseball this year. The number of balls in play hit with a defensive shift on went from under 5% in 2011 to almost 30% of all balls in play this year.

As offensive numbers go down, there is some talk of banning the shifts in order to boost offensive numbers as one of many rules changes.

But so long as they're here, are you using defensive shifts in MLB The Show 16? If so, how effective have they been vs. a more traditional defensive alignment?

[bukktown]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

[left]Sixty years ago, a player-manager from the Cleveland Indians named Lou Bodreau came up with a defensive strategy to stop Ted Williams' brilliant hitting. At the time, Williams was playing some of the best baseball ever -- even compiling a .408 batting average in a single season. In an attempt to stop Williams, Bodreau came up with a defensive shift which was unorthodox but ended up effective: The shift has taken over baseball this year. The number of balls in play hit with a defensive shift on went from under 5% in 2011 to almost 30% of all balls in play this year. As offensive numbers go down, there is some talk of banning the shifts in order to boost offensive numbers as one of many rules changes. But so long as they're here, are you using defensive shifts in MLB The Show 16? If so, how effective have they been vs. a more traditional defensive alignment?

Offline- I didn't have much luck pitching to the shift. My strategy was offspeed pitches to pull shifts and fastballs away to push shifts. I don't know what generates the AI's timing but it seems random and shifting didn't help me.

Online- it's too exploitable for me to use. Gameplay seems better balanced without shifts

[KBLover]

In The Show, hitters can go against their tendencies at will because the tendencies aren't all that strong.

They provide some "bonuses" (pull hitters do a bit better pulling the ball) but those hit chart percentages aren't really much of a guide, even if you pitch into them (LH pull hitter - I throw offspeed inside, his bat should really get sped up but he slaps it the other way like he's Wade Boggs or something).

If hitters could do that consistently (either by ability or mindset), the shift wouldn't be much of a thing in the real game.

Honestly, I wish the CPU hitters would hit more to their spray charts modified by pitch location and for the Human hitter, make it more difficult to go against a hitter's tendencies.

[Jr.]

I utilize shifts a ton, but unfortunately, as others have said, the spray charts aren't represented well when it comes to how hitters make contact in-game. I'd still say it helps more than hurts, but there are times when a guy with 48% pull and 35% up the middle tendency will slap a ball on the ground down the opposite field line for an easy double.

[jada855]

Yeah hopefully playing defense will be improved in MLB 17! Especially when using player lock! Movement and flexibility will be key but only time will tell!

[Stout]

Quote: Originally Posted by jada855

Yeah hopefully playing defense will be improved in MLB 17! Especially when using player lock! Movement and flexibility will be key but only time will tell!

Defense feels so stale and lacks any fluidity, which amazes me because I would've thought by this point Sony would have seen what engine re-hauls can do with games like Madden and FIFA. If you make a diving play, especially on player lock, it just feels so robotic. Granted, I think most Madden players will remember the early issues with the Infinite Engine, but look at where it is now...the engine with MLB TS feels ten years older than it should.

[NYJin2011tm]

I hate it and would never use it in the Show or real life. I don't care what the numbers say.


Speaking of shifts how do you change the infield shifts in the Show 15? I can't seem to figure it out.

[Detroitfan4life1993]

I cant stand shifts irl and never use them in the show