OPINION: Banning the Shift Will Make Baseball More Enjoyable in 2023

Major League Baseball will look a bit different in 2023. For the first time, MLB has placed restrictions on defensive shifting. Here's why banning the shift will improve the sport as an entertainment product.

Major League Baseball is going to look a bit different in 2023.

For the first time in MLB history, there will be restrictions placed on defensive shifts. MLB.com lists the following rules, pertaining to shifts, on its website:

• The four infielders must be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber.
• Infielders may not switch sides. In other words, a team cannot reposition its best defender on the side of the infield the batter is more likely to hit the ball.
• If the infielders are not aligned properly at the time of the pitch, the offense can choose an automatic ball or the result of the play.
• This rule does not preclude a team from positioning an outfielder in the infield or in the shallow outfield grass in certain situations. But it does prohibit four-outfielder alignments.

Major League Baseball hopes to enhance the sport as a television product, by putting restrictions on shifts. In recent years, teams have mastered shifting, and as a result, hitters have often hit the ball directly to where a defensive player is positioned.

By restricting shifts, the hope is that there will be more contact-hitting and offense in the sport. Meanwhile, defensive players with more range and athleticism will be rewarded and be of greater value to for their efforts in the field.

One executive once compared allowing defensive shifts to heightening outfield walls. If MLB teams were to heighten outfield walls, there would be less home runs, and no home-run robbing catches. Baseball would be less exciting. Through banning the shift, baseball should be more exciting and enjoyable as a product in 2023 and beyond.

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