Marlins second baseman Luis Arráez spent much of this season hitting around .400 and is among the most difficult players in baseball to strikeout. That had the Rockies getting needlessly creative with the game on the line in the 10th inning on Sunday.
While the shift has generally become a relic of baseball’s past with the new rules, it wasn’t outright banned. Teams are required to have at least two players on both sides of second base at all times, forcing teams to bring in an outfielder in order to deploy a shift.
It’s a risky defensive alignment because it leaves a massive gap in the outfield. But on Sunday, the Rockies knew that Arráez was putting the ball in play with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th inning. So, they brought the infield in and had center fielder Brenton Doyle playing in on the dirt as a second baseman. They also had right field totally unoccupied.
Well, Arráez beat that shift easily.
NOW PLAYING: LUIS ARRAEZ'S GREATEST HIT. #MakeItMiami pic.twitter.com/vDm8fNqjW0
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 23, 2023
Arráez walked off with a single to right field. Now, had right fielder Nolan Jones been playing in his regular spot in the outfield, he might have been able to make a play and attempt a throw home on the tagging runner. It may have also been a single regardless, but you’d like to see the outfield playing shallow in that situation given Arráez’s lack of power.
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Still, the Rockies made that play way more difficult than it had to be by deploying a five-man infield instead of putting players in their natural positions. Like, why would Rockies manager Bud Black even trust Doyle — who has zero professional games in the infield — to make that play when an inning-ending double play was in order on grounders to second or short? It was beyond strange.
You can’t blame fans for roasting the Rockies after that choice backfired.