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Baseball Analytics -Adding The 4th Outfielder

BuffetParrothead

BuffetParrothead

Heisman Winner
Nov 22, 2015
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I been noticing more and more teams using the 4th outfielder configuration to control big hitters.

The other night I watched the Reds deploy five outfielders as the announcer said there's only two infielders on the dirt as the Atlanta batter Freeman flipped a ball between third and short into the outfield without an outfielder.

The times I notice this outfield configuration it hasn't worked out well.

It seems to slow game down and take some of the action away from the game of baseball.

Any thoughts!
 
I hate the shift becoming more and more common. frustrates me that a MLB hitter cant adapt and hit a ground ball down third base line (for a lefty) and basically get a stand up double cause the third basemen is playing shortstop..

5 outfielders, what the hell does that look like?
 
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yikes. this is gutsy. You seriously cant tell me a major league left handed hitter cant check swing a ground ball to the left of the pitcher? This is something that he cant accomplish?

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Zeldas Open Roof said:
I hate the shift becoming more and more common. frustrates me that a MLB hitter cant adapt and hit a ground ball down third base line (for a lefty) and basically get a stand up double cause the third basemen is playing shortstop..

5 outfielders, what the hell does that look like?
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I was a baseball fan as a kid, Clemente, the Buccos, Captain Willie, Bug loose on the rug and all that.... I just can't stand it anymore, with the whole Moneyball analytics crap, take pitches, play for walks or HRs, never steal, the ball never in play, change pitchers every 1/3 inning! It's too boring! I miss the old game, Stargell windmills, the Antelope with a big lead, the game is tooooooooooooooBoing now, I've quit on it for years now. And yeah, how come if everyone stands to the right, these millionaires can't learn to hit it to the left, like Pete Rose would do, he'd bat .400 if they put shifts on him.
 
Zeldas Open Roof said:
yikes. this is gutsy. You seriously cant tell me a major league left handed hitter cant check swing a ground ball to the left of the pitcher? This is something that he cant accomplish?

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How about tap the ball down the 3B line just inside the bag, a slow roller would probably be a double.
 
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ameoba defense said:
Just bunt the ball down the line.
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Exactly. If batters want teams to stop shifting so much against them then a solid bunt towards third base that goes for an easy double does it faster than anything else. The problem, as it were, is that too many of these hitters are too "proud" to do that. Why that shift is an affront to their very manhood, and they aren't giving in to something like that!

As long as batters continue to stupidly hit into shifts like that teams will keep doing it. As they should.
 
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I love the unwritten rules in baseball.You learn them in Little League and know if you break them there are consequences. Baseball ruled it's self untill the snowflakes started falling. May Baseball RIP!
 
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Joe the Panther Fan said:
Exactly. If batters want teams to stop shifting so much against them then a solid bunt towards third base that goes for an easy double does it faster than anything else. The problem, as it were, is that too many of these hitters are too "proud" to do that. Why that shift is an affront to their very manhood, and they aren't giving in to something like that!

As long as batters continue to stupidly hit into shifts like that teams will keep doing it. As they should.
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Imo . In that situation a major league pitcher wouldn't give him a pitch to bunt in that direction . Usually .
 
mike 301 said:
Imo . In that situation a major league pitcher wouldn't give him a pitch to bunt in that direction . Usually .
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The interesting thing is that there is no pitcher in the league that I have noticed that changes the way they pitch based on a shift. If teams did that, for instance, they should basically never throw a pitch further away from the hitter than the inside corner. But teams (and pitchers) simply don't do that. They continue to pitch guys the way that they always do. Which means that hitters would get a ton of pitches that would be easy to bunt that way.

And in any event, it's not really that hard to bunt a ball towards third base if the pitch is a strike. In fact Bob Walk talks about that all the time when pitchers are trying to bunt. Just this past weekend he said after some pitcher bunted the ball in the wrong direction on a sacrifice attempt that it's actually easy to bunt the ball in a particular direction, assuming that the player is actually trying to do that rather than just trying to bunt the ball anywhere.
 
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Joe the Panther Fan said:
The interesting thing is that there is no pitcher in the league that I have noticed that changes the way they pitch based on a shift. If teams did that, for instance, they should basically never throw a pitch further away from the hitter than the inside corner. But teams (and pitchers) simply don't do that. They continue to pitch guys the way that they always do. Which means that hitters would get a ton of pitches that would be easy to bunt that way.

And in any event, it's not really that hard to bunt a ball towards third base if the pitch is a strike. In fact Bob Walk talks about that all the time when pitchers are trying to bunt. Just this past weekend he said after some pitcher bunted the ball in the wrong direction on a sacrifice attempt that it's actually easy to bunt the ball in a particular direction, assuming that the player is actually trying to do that rather than just trying to bunt the ball anywhere.
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Tom Glavine was in the Atlanta booth not to long ago and talked about the lack of bunting skills in today's game pitchers included.
 
Pizzaboy1 said:
I love the unwritten rules in baseball.You learn them in Little League and know if you break them there are consequences. Baseball ruled it's self untill the snowflakes started falling. May Baseball RIP!
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That’s the problem, there are so many unwritten rules, even professional players don’t know all of them.

What inning is to late to bunt to break up a no hitter, are you allowed to flip your bat after a home run, how slow is too slow around the bases after a hr? A mlb player a few years ago made the mistake of running over the mound on his way back to dugout after he grounded out, other manager was pissed. He had no idea this was an unwritten rule.

Someone needs to write down all of these unwritten rules
 
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Joe the Panther Fan said:
The interesting thing is that there is no pitcher in the league that I have noticed that changes the way they pitch based on a shift. If teams did that, for instance, they should basically never throw a pitch further away from the hitter than the inside corner. But teams (and pitchers) simply don't do that. They continue to pitch guys the way that they always do. Which means that hitters would get a ton of pitches that would be easy to bunt that way.

And in any event, it's not really that hard to bunt a ball towards third base if the pitch is a strike. In fact Bob Walk talks about that all the time when pitchers are trying to bunt. Just this past weekend he said after some pitcher bunted the ball in the wrong direction on a sacrifice attempt that it's actually easy to bunt the ball in a particular direction, assuming that the player is actually trying to do that rather than just trying to bunt the ball anywhere.
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Plus , back in the day (Bob Gibson) would put one right up past the batters ear .
 
Pitt79 said:
Baseball sucks, worst, most boring sport in the world. WHO CARES what country's "pastime" it might be?
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Kiick thee ball
Kiick thee ball harder.

The National Pastime as the Babe said the greatest game ever.

Who cares what Euro Trash and Third World dumps watch
 
paulbl99 said:
Kiick thee ball
Kiick thee ball harder.

The National Pastime as the Babe said the greatest game ever.

Who cares what Euro Trash and Third World dumps watch
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What are you talking about? I'm just talking about how freaking boring baseball is, not any other sport. I watched a lot of baseball the other night, I watched two whole pitches before I got bored and turned it off.
 
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mike 301 said:
Plus , back in the day (Bob Gibson) would put one right up past the batters ear .
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Speaking of which, did anyone watch the game against the Dodgers last night? Dodgers had a runner on second and the batter hit a single to right. The throw comes into the plate, it's a little late and up the third base line. Cervelli steps up the line to catch the ball, he's a couple feet inside the baseline, and as the runner is coming past him he throws a forearm right into Cervelli's kidney area. I can't ever remember anyone doing something like that before. And it was clearly intentional. The Pirates challenged the play for catcher interference, but I guess since the ball wasn't there yet and the runner was still in the base line they called the run good.

But getting back to your point, back in the day the next time that guy came up to bat he'd have had a ball in his ear.
 
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Joe the Panther Fan said:
Speaking of which, did anyone watch the game against the Dodgers last night? Dodgers had a runner on second and the batter hit a single to right. The throw comes into the plate, it's a little late and up the third base line. Cervelli steps up the line to catch the ball, he's a couple feet inside the baseline, and as the runner is coming past him he throws a forearm right into Cervelli's kidney area. I can't ever remember anyone doing something like that before. And it was clearly intentional. The Pirates challenged the play for catcher interference, but I guess since the ball wasn't there yet and the runner was still in the base line they called the run good.

But getting back to your point, back in the day the next time that guy came up to bat he'd have had a ball in his ear.
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Well this is close to the ear>?
I wonder what he did? Spit sunflower seeds on the catchers head?
Or he hit a HR in a previous inning, moon walked around the bases in baseball spikes pointing to where the HR went?
0513-chris-iannetta-baseball-face-espn-1200x630-2.jpg
 
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Joe the Panther Fan said:
LOOK AT ME!!! LOOK AT ME!!!! DAMN IT, I SAID LOOK AT ME!!!!
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I like getting a lot of attention, IMO it's TOTALLY NORMALLY to fight for and demand attention, anyone that claims to not want attention is lying or mentally ill, so yeah, HELL YEA...LOK AT ME. ME. ME! LOL!
 
Zeldas Open Roof said:
My goal in life is to go to a pirate game with Pitt79 and delpanther. That would be either the best experience of my life or the worst.

Either way, it would be memorable.
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We'd have a good time, We could hang out drink beers, have a few laughs. I just don't like the sport, doesn't mean I don't have a good time hanging out in the stadium drinking and socializing. I could even tell stories about baseball, like when I stayed for a whole 18 inning game vs. the Cubs one night in the early '80s until like 4 am and met Captain Willie.
 
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