Off-Topic Forum

The problem with baseball is that these new strategies work when it comes to the ultimate goal for managers---winning.  How do you beat the shift, not a bunt, a home run.  A home run is a guaranteed run.  A walk is better than a hit because there is no chance of the defense making a great play.  It is better to get a walk or a home run becuase you take the defense out of it.

On the same note, since everyone is trying to hit a home run, how to you avoid it...the strikeout.  Don't let the batter hit the ball.  Ground ball pitchers were great when people hit for average, because the batters put the ball in play more, and the pitchers could force the ground ball.  Now that players are playing only for the home run, a pitcher pitching for ground balls is going to struggle.

Does this make the game better - no....but it helps you win, especially if you do it and no one else does it.  When everyone does it, it makes the game boring.  Of course if you do not adopt these strategies, you may win a game, but you will lose in the long run.

There just aren't many people who hit for average anymore. There aren't many players like Tony Gwynn and George Brett anymore. Trout is probably that, and he is hitting .333 but he's injured, so that makes the current average leader The Man of Faith, Nick Castellanos, with an average of .320, and shoutout to David Fletcher for having 147 hits at the moment, tied for most in the league, which shows that some can still do it.
But the strikeouts are going up, and I don't see them coming down soon. And yes the pitching is getting better, but the strikeouts are going up at an alarming rate.

Interesting perspective that I agree with other than would ammend one point. 

 "How do you beat the shift, not a bunt, a home run."

A good hitter gets a hit 3 out of 10 times (great hitter now days).  The most prolific lifetime home run hitter per at bat (Mcgwire) hit one homerun every 10.61 at bats.  I would gladely trade a free bunt single almost every time they shifted (someone that knows how to handle the bat should be able to bunt to the wide open side of field safely 8 or 9 times out of 10 versus a 1 in 10 - 40 chance at a home run).  The other team is shifting becuase you have shown statistically that are unable to hit the ball to that side of the field.  Once you keep bunting for hits that is no longer the case.  They would have to move out of the shift in order to stop your bunts.  You would then be free to able to get more pull hits again because they are not shifting against anymore.  Hitting is about making adjustments and I am very surprised that very few times the hitter is being shifted against do they take what the defense if giving them.  My team would be instructed to bunt against a shift with rare exceptions and I feel that would better in the long run.  Of course most of the Major Leaguers now days do not know how to bunt so we would have to train them and drill it.

Bunting seems to looked over nowadays, but it's definitely important. Someone like Nicky Lopez could definitely leg out a bunt base hit, but there's not many players who even try for it anymore. 
 

Also the squeeze play just kinda died

If you truly like a no strikeouts, hit for an average player look no further than the Chicago White Sox's own Nick Madrigal.  In three years at Oregon State, he only struck out 37 times with 58 walks and 221 hits (.361/.422/.502).  In the minors, he performed similarly with 21 strike outs to go with 51 walks and 194 hits (.309/.371/.398).  And thus far in the majors he's struck out 24 times to go with 15 walks and 96 hits (.317/.358/.406).  Statcast backs up his ability to put the bat to the ball with only a 9.2% whiff rate in the Show (10.7% - 2020 & 8.4% - 2021) compared to a league average 24.5%.  This isn't driven by stellar plate discipline as he is in line with league average on overall swing rate and chase rate.  

Three outcome batters have recently gotten out of control.  One batter in particular has lead the league in homeruns, walks, and strikeouts in four out of his six years in his prime.  And by recently, I mean recent relative to human history because this occurred in 1923, 1924, 1927, and 1928 with one George Herman Ruth.  Yes, chicks have always dug the long ball.

I do! And my one happy correction to your post is that he's now a member of the Chicago Cubs, my team of choice. 
v3

Every sport has changed dramatically . Yes Baseball with the strike out or homerun . Pro basketball with the up tempo style started by Rick Pitino and others 1000 3's a game . Pro Football with the spread offense with Steve Spurrier and Bob Stoops leading the way. 1500 pass attemps per game. Oklahoma in 1986 would throw 1 pass a game now they throw on every play. Hockey is about speed not the bruisers anymore.

Still think the Cubs won the Kimbrel trade

Mardrigal is probably gonna be a star

Baseball has changed so much that I am going to view this entire DVD set of the 1974 Cincinnati Red. I guess you could say I will be "Bench watching"

Nice.