I wrote over a year ago about the possible impact of banning the shift (Impact of Banning the Shift) so I wanted to revisit it for the 2024 season so far. This gives the hitters and pitchers a season (2023) to adjust to the change. Again, we will look at just pulled baseballs on the ground (which the shift was used for) for the 2024 season up to this point.
| Batting Average (2024) | Batting Average (2022) | Difference |
| 0.281 | 0.222 | +0.059 |
We are definitely seeing an increase in batting average so far on pulled baseballs on the ground, resulting in about 6 more hits per 100 baseballs pulled on the ground. Recall that the impact in the previous post was -0.031, about 3 less baseballs that were hits with the shift. A caveat here is that we are only about a month and a half into the season, so it could change by the end (which I till revisit!).
Let’s look at the hitters that were identified as being the most negatively impacted by the shift in the previous post (if they are still playing in MLB)
| Name | Batting Average (2024) | Batting Average (2022) | Difference |
| Joey Gallo | 0.429 | 0.071 | +0.358 |
| Byron Buxton | 0.552 | 0.146 | +0.406 |
| Eddie Rosario | 0.214 | 0.081 | +0.133 |
| Jose Ramirez | 0.235 | 0.340 | -0.105 |
| Joc Pederson | 0.233 | 0.250 | -0.017 |
| Salvador Perez | 0.467 | 0.208 | +0.259 |
| Ozzie Albies | 0.375 | 0.167 | +0.208 |
Nearly everyone on the list that was negatively impacted by the shift are showing more success in 2024 on pulled baseballs on the ground. Jose Ramirez sprays the ball all over the field and Joe Pederson’s difference is not as large as the others, so something else may be going on there.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes up at the end of the season, but players are definitely seeing large improvements without the shift.
Analytics In The Outfield 
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