I always wondered why they decide to throw pitches that make it easier to break the shift. They pitched Fielder away... he takes it the other way... and thus there's nobody there.
Yep. You have to mix it up though, otherwise the hitter can just look at the fielding alignment and know where the pitch will be. Same thing smart hitters can do when a catcher slides out off the plate right before the pitch = outside's coming. Or vice-versa. If you need to go outside with the shift on, go up and out (hard to hit it on the ground).
sorry, i did totally forget about blister problem. i'd have been fine with it otherwise. not must-win, but a loss would have been demoralizing. moot point now, thank jeebus. turned a potentially miserable loss into a feel-good win.
I love this whole 3 CFers in the OF thing. They've all been so good so far. I'm sure the pitchers (other than Keuchel, he doesn't need OFers) feel the same.
