Red Sox find way to use defensive shift against Joey Gallo
Aug 14, 2017; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Joey Gallo (13) in the dugout after hitting a home run in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota Twins slugger Joey Gallo was no doubt pleased to see Major League Baseball significantly restrict defensive shifts, but one team has already found a way to exploit a loophole in the new rules to use against him.
Gallo wound up facing an outfield shift by the Boston Red Sox on Friday. The Red Sox shifted their entire outfield to the right, with center fielder Adam Duvall essentially playing a shallow right field to plug the hole between first and second.
Shift on Gallo with Duvall in shallow RF pic.twitter.com/2uEdOzQj8T
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) March 3, 2023
This is actually completely legal because the new rules against shifts only apply to infielders. In this instance, the Red Sox have their infield aligned legally, and essentially use a third outfielder as an extra infielder. Essentially, as long as Duvall stays deep enough, this is a legal shift.
Gallo was vocal in support of banning the shift, but this probably is not what he had in mind. Expect a lot of other teams to deploy strategies like this against left-hand pull hitters, which might force MLB to look into limits on outfielders, too.
