The Indians' Francisco Lindor embraces the Cubs' Willson Contreras after All-Star Game batting practice Monday before the Home Run Derby at Nationals Park in Washington.
WASHINGTON — David Ortiz can now laugh, sort of, at the shifting culture of baseball. For Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado, Bryce Harper and most every other All-Star hitter, dealing with different defensive alignments is just part of the game.
Tune in tonight and there’s no telling where fans will see fielders at Nationals Park. Especially in what’s become merely an exhibition — why not try a five-man outfield?
Count Joey Votto among the boppers who’d love to do away with infielders clustered on the grass.
“It seems crazy, it seems like it’s taking some fun part of the game away,” the retired Red Sox slugger said Sunday before managing the Futures Game.
There’s been talk that baseball, concerned that less action in the field could translate to fewer fans in the stands, might consider a rule regarding shifts.
Perhaps it would mean only two infielders on each side of the diamond. Or possibly they’d all be required to stay on the dirt.
“Maybe something where you can only shift a couple guys each inning,” Arenado offered.
As for the debate about shifts damaging the game, “certainly I understand it,” he said.
“We were just talking about this the other day and we looked up the research a little bit. It’s led to way less singles, but more walks and more doubles,” he said.
No one employs more shifts than AL manager A.J. Hinch of Houston, so look for second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Manny Machado to be moving around when Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Kemp and the other NL stars come to bat.
Despite all the top talent at the plate, All-Star Games rarely turn into run-fests. They’re often limited by the strong stable of pitchers each team brings, boosted by dominant relievers such as Craig Kimbrel, Josh Hader and Kenley Jansen ramped up to throw one inning apiece.
The AL won last year 2-1 at Miami on Robinson Cano’s homer in the 10th inning. Not since 2007 have both teams scored more than three runs in a game.
That’s the trend across baseball these days. Going into the break, there have been more strikeouts than hits in the majors. The overall batting average is .247 at the break, and it could dip to the lowest figure in nearly a half-century.
“I think offenses are down because of the shift. I see a lot of guys hit balls hard up the middle that are usually hits that are outs,” Trout said.
Harper, a six-time All-Star at 25, is caught in the vortex. Set to play in the showcase at his home ballpark, he’s batting only .214 with 102 strikeouts, along with 23 homers.