PHOENIX (AP) — Craig Counsell needed to add some power to his lineup a couple of years ago. The Milwaukee Brewers manager then decided to use bigger players to make up his four-man infield.
Thus, he sacrificed defensive range in exchange for power on the wood.
“They combined for a weight of over 1,000 pounds (453 kilograms),” Counsell recounted with a laugh. “I don’t think they’ll ever see that again.”
Starting next season, it’s going to be harder to hide a couple of big hitters in the infield. One of baseball’s most visible rule changes for 2023 will limit infield travel, which had grown exponentially and largely driven down batting averages throughout the majors.
There are two hopes: One points to more hits coming from lefties like Kyle Schwarber or Corey Seager, some of the hitters affected by the defensive adjustments. Another suggests that greater athleticism will be displayed by those who play defense in the infield.
“I’m sure some guys will like it and some guys won’t,” said Dustin Pedroia, a former Boston Red Sox second baseman and four-time Gold Glove winner. “You have to have range now as an infielder. You have to be able to catch the ball and you have to be fast. Some guys will have to adjust and some guys will do better.”
Hitters in the majors had a .243 average the previous season. It was the lowest since 1968.
The new rule states that all four infielders must have both feet at least on the outer edge of the infield. Two of those players must be on either side of second base when a pitch is thrown.
In addition, Major League Baseball mandated that the dirt area in the infield have uniform dimensions across all 30 parks. The edge of the outfield must be 95 feet from the front of the rubber on the mound.
A few hitters, notably New York Mets star Jeff McNeill, adapted to exploit the gaps left by infield shifts, with drives that sent the ball into open spots.
Most stuck to their hard-hitting strategies, in part because pitchers wanted to make it harder for the ball to hit the opposite field — something that makes even leading hitters in the majors struggle against 98 mph fastballs, up and inside.
Josh Rojas, a left-handed hitter for Arizona, said he wasn’t too worried about the changes. He considers them just the latest chapter in the eternal battle between pitcher and hitter, which has been going on for more than a century.
“The holes will be at different points,” said Rojas. “My goal as a hitter is to find them and use them to my advantage. There will always be gaps, it is not possible to cover all the ground”.
During the offseason, teams asked the commissioner’s office numerous questions about ways around the new restrictions.
Morgan Sword, MLB’s executive vice president, said clubs primarily asked three questions:
—Can an infielder get moving during the pitch and run to the other side of the diamond, so there are three players on one side of second base once the ball is put into play? The answer is no.
“Can an infielder get moving during the pitch and run onto the outfield grass so that he’ll be there by the time the ball is put into play?” No.
—Can the teams move the outfielders, for example placing the left ranger on the right side, leaving their meadow uncovered? Yeah.
Umpires will have discretion to apply the rules.
“They will know if a team is trying to break the spirit of a rule,” Sword said.
Major League Baseball hopes the limits on these adjustments will result in one or two more hits per night. The impact would not only be on hitting, but on speed and agility, which would be more important for infielders to cover more ground defensively.
“Those are the requirements. You have to catch the ball and also hit,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’re not just going to put someone in a spot, saying, stand where that X is. athletic virtues.
The limit on travel was tested in the minors. Lovullo said that after speaking with Shawn Roof, the organization’s manager at Double-A, he hopes the hitting will improve.
“He said this makes a difference,” Lovulo said. “There are more balls that go hit.”
