The Shift is not What is Killing Baseball, it is Hitter’s New Approach

Shifting your infielders over to spots on the field out of their normal position is not a new concept in baseball, in fact, it has been around for more than 70 years, but it has now become a huge part of every baseball game. The majority of hitters will face a shift in every at-bat, unless they are a consistent spray and pure hitter. Somebody that falls into this category is somebody like Ichiro Suzuki, Robinson Cano, and Joe Mauer. These are hitters who you can not predict where they will hit and shift against them for the most part.
With the huge increase in shifts in baseball, out come the people saying it is ruining the game. The majority of hitters will hit to one side. A left handed hitter will likely hit it to the first base side of the field towards right and a righty will likely hit the ball towards left. So, many teams will shift the third basemen towards the short stop spot. For a lefty, the short stop plays on the second base side, close to second base but a bit off. The second basemen then plays in very shallow right to cover the gap and the first basemen plays the line. Here is a photo example.

So, people believe that the shift is killing baseball, because players are now getting out more than ever due to the advanced analytics in the game now that can predict where you will likely hit the ball, and most of the time, that is exactly where it is hit. The majority of the people against it are older fans who believe it compromises the integrity of the game because the players are not in their “assigned” position.
For most hitters, they make no effort to try to slap the ball the other way. You would think that the guys who have been playing the game for their whole lives and are the best in the world at it could attempt to change their approach a bit and attempt to slap it the other way. They do not even try. Many players just hit ground balls or liners to the short stop playing in the grass. Although you cannot always hit exactly where you want, the shift would not be as big a problem if the hitter attempted to hit it the either way.
The real problem with the game is the three true outcomes- homerun, strikeout, and walk. The majority of hitters have an all or nothing approach. According to theringer.com, the MLB set a new strikeout record for the ninth year in a row, broke the homerun record, and 33.5% of at-bats ended with either a strikeout, walk, or homerun -the highest percentage in history.
The perfect example of the three true outcomes is Aaron Judge’s 2017 rookie of the year season. In 2017, Judge led the American League in homeruns with 52, walks with 127, and strikeouts with 208. He broke the record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie. He improved his approach this season though. He has 22 doubles, compared to 24 in his rookie season. He played 155 games in 2017 and 112 games in 2018. So, some players are actively looking to fix their approach, but others just want to have the big homerun all the time and if they can not have that, they will just take the strikeout.
In conclusion, the shift is not what is killing baseball. If anything, the shift and analytics are adding more layers and strategy to baseball, making it more interesting to watch and study. Although I am defending the shift, I am not the biggest fan of short stops and third basemen playing on the other half of the field, but it adds strategy, and if players really want to complain about the shift, then learn to hit for contact and hit it away from the shift. So, if you want to look for a scapegoat, look at three outcome hitters.