The shift is a great tactic used by baseball teams to stack their defenders in areas where opponents hit the ball most frequently. But there is also a downside: you leave a big part of the field open. Rich Hill knows that all too well.
Hill was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. He began the game with two strikeouts before Ji-Man Choi reached on a bunt single in the bottom of the first. Choi was able to reach because the Dodgers had just one infielder on the left side, giving Choi tons of room to drop a bunt down and reach base easily. Hill was not amused.
The Dodgers starter immediately started dropping repeated F-bombs. Then as he headed to the dugout after retiring the following batter to end the inning, he could be seen mouthing complaints about the field being open to the shift.
You can watch the video below, but beware of the offensive language.
Rich Hill is not a fan of the shift. pic.twitter.com/0SKcXdMkTX
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) May 23, 2019
Hill is an intense competitor on the mound, as he’s shown many times in the past. That’s probably a big part of what the Dodgers like about him. But the team might think twice about employing the shift while he’s on the hill, or at least about doing so against a player who’s proven to beat it with a bunt.
