Will a new forced forward defense be established for the lowest outfield in 30 years?Chief Epstein's every move is boring these days The reason is...
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The Athletic, a U.S. sports media outlet, should make a rule to force outfielders to advance their defensive positions as a way to improve the recent sharp decline in Major League Baseball's slugging percentage' introduced the argument.
According to the report, this year's big league double rate (1.59 per game) was the lowest in 23 years since 1992. The number of triples (0.13 per game) is the lowest since the beginning of the Major League Baseball.
The number of league doubles reached 9,197 in 2007, but only 7,745 this year. There were about 1300 fewer.
There are now only 628 triples, up from 939 in 2015. In 2019, there were 8,531 doubles, but this year, there are only 8,373 doubles and triples combined.
Above all, the number of balls that coolly divide left-center and right-center, which were the flowers of baseball, is rapidly decreasing. The reason is that outfielders' defensive positions are getting deeper. The media reported "In the 10 years compared to 2015, the defensive positions of league outfielders have retreated by more than 3m on average. We are much closer to the fence." According to Baseball Servant, a major league statistics site, left field starts at about 11 feet (about 3.5 meters), center field starts at 6 feet (about 1.8 meters), and right field starts at 3 feet (about 0.9 meters).
On the other hand, the development of batting technology is focused on sending 'strong'hit balls 'far'. As a result, defenders also block with as short a hit as possible and play defense that does not give up long balls. As the average physicality of outfielders has also risen, the number of big guns who hit double-handed hits is increasing to stop at first base.
Theo Epstein, the master of the Boston Red Sox who broke the `Curse of Bambino' while he was the head of the Boston Red Sox, raised the issue in 2022 when he was an adviser to the Major League Baseball secretariat. He came up with the idea of `drawing a defensive limit in the open field, and preventing a defender from crossing that line before a pitcher throws a ball' and tested it in spring camp.
In other words, it is an outfield version of the controversy over the shift ban that once took place at home and abroad. If there are restrictions on the defense position in the outfield, the hole will naturally grow, and the number of doubles and triples will increase.
Freddie Freeman, Alex Bregman and others have actively supported the idea. Bregman rarely gets a double unless it's a direct hit on the fence. I'd rather give him first base, he complained. Freeman, a four-time season double winner, also said, `It's become really difficult to hit a double these days. I want more hits."
Theo Epstein, the league's best general manager, is a person who actively introduced baseball statistics and analysis, so-called saber matrix, into team management. He stressed that `Baseball fans love doubles and triples rather than home runs, that dynamic action between runners and defenders, great defense and base running.'
In particular, strong batting over 95 miles (about 157 kilometers) recorded a batting average of 541 in 2016, but this year it is only 403. This is also directly linked to the fall in slugging percentage. For this reason, Epstein and other league officials said that they should draw a certain line in the outfield and force outfielders to advance their defensive positions. "Infrared shift restrictions have also been passed. I would approve if a similar method was established in the outfield" is getting louder.
So far, it's just a theory. Earlier, in the case of ABS (automatic ball determination system), data was accumulated through sufficient tests in minor leagues and independent leagues, and nevertheless, the big leagues have only established a challenge rather than a full-scale introduction.
For the change of regulations to be discussed, it is expected to be possible only after the labor-management negotiations (CBA) with the Major League Baseball players' union scheduled for the end of 2026 are completed. However, unlike the KBO League, the U.S., which has enough stages to test, is expected to go through tests such as minor leagues and independent leagues if discussions begin in earnest.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
