Is MLB on its way to banning the shift? League will experiment in the minors in 2021

Baseball fans tired of line drives dying in the glove of a fielder positioned halfway to the next area code, take heart: The first step toward banning the shift will be taken this spring. 

Major League Baseball on Thursday announced a bevy of experimental rule changes that will be test-driven in the minor leagues this year, with the most notable coming at Class AA – that teams will be required to "have a minimum of four players on the infield, each of whom must have both feet completely in front of the outer boundary of the infield dirt." 

MLB also noted that, based on first-half data, it may require teams to position two infielders on either side of second base during the second half of the season. 

There's little secret to the motivation behind this and a bevy of other experiments: On-field action has diminished as home runs, strikeouts and walks are prevalent due to hitters' approaches.

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Yet those approaches are partially a result of a massive drop in batting average, due in part to less success on balls in play as teams utilize data to optimally position infielders – some playing as deep as the right-center field gap. 

Leaguewide batting average has fallen from .270 in 2000 to .245 last season. In the past two full seasons, it was at .248 in 2018 and .252 in 2019. 

While minor-league experimentation does not automatically ensure a rules change at the major league level, myriad rule changes came after trial periods in the minor leagues – from instant replay to various pandemic-season workarounds in 2020, such as placing a runner on second to start extra innings. 

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