News
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill hates the shift more than kids hate broccoli
As a baseball fan who likes to see action, hits, runners on base, etc., I loathe the shift. Nothing is more demoralizing than a line drive to right field that the second baseman fields 10 yards away from the dirt to steal a hit. But, then again, as a Yankee fan few things were as satisfying as seeing David Ortiz robbed of many, many hits in his career. The shift is great when it benefits you're team, and awful when it doesn't. In other news, water is wet.
MLB pitchers share this same sentiment, happy to get out of an inning thanks to the shift but furious when a hitter takes advantage of it by finding the wide open spot on the field. Perhaps no pitcher has ever been as furious over it as L.A. Dodgers left hander Rich Hill on Wednesday night in Tampa. Facing another lefty in Ji-man Choi, a pull hitter, L.A. shifted everyone to the right side of the infield. Choi took advantage, laying down a bunt to third base, where no one was home, and picking up an easy single. Hill was not pleased, to say the least. Check out the video courtesy of @Jomboy_, the best baseball follow on Twitter:
Jeez, Rich. LANGUAGEEEEE:
Hill has shown some anger on the field before, but that's about as demonstrative as you'll ever see any pitcher, in the first inning no less. There were two outs and nobody on, and Hill wound up getting out of the inning. Relax, guy!