Bob Costas was on the call for Tuesday’s Boston Red Sox-Tampa Bay Rays game on TBS, and he spoke the truth during one play in the fourth inning.
Franchy Cordero was batting with one out in the bottom of the fourth and laced a first-pitch slider toward right field. Cordero hit a hard line drive, but it went second baseman Taylor Walls, who jumped to make the catch for an out.
You can see the play from the video below, which came from NESN’s call.
On the TBS call, Costas made note of how much Cordero had been robbed by the Rays’ shift.
“There is a classic base hit for 100 years,” Costas said. “But in this case, it’s clutched by Taylor Walls.”
Costas noted that a similarly batted ball might become a hit next year.
“Might be a base hit as soon as next year.”
MLB is considering rules that would limit a defense’s ability to shift. The proposed change would force teams to start plays with two infielders on either side of second base. The infielders would have to begin pitches with both feet on the dirt. Such rules would prevent teams from placing infielders into the outfield the way the Rays did to rob Cordero of a classic hit.
I’m all for the rule change for the exact reason Costas mentioned. Cordero stung that ball. He hit it 114.6 mph and over the head of where a second baseman traditionally stands. In the past, that’s always been a hit. But in today’s MLB, it goes for an out.
The analytics departments for teams have become too good, and that’s taken a lot of fun out of the game. Who wants to see a classic base hit be caught for an out in shallow right field? The biggest and best hits come from pulled balls, not from ones going to the opposite field. It’s in the best interest of the game to have balls like the one hit by Cordero go for a hit.
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