Way late to the party on this one...
I came in ready to hate all of Manfred's ideas... but... I kind of like these changes? I like stolen bases and balls in play. The shift takes so many hits away and turns everyone into .240 hitters messing with launch angle to hit it over the shift. Will be interested to see how these are received.
This just rewards the dead pull lefty hitters who go for launch angle by giving them a chance on their ground balls. I don't see this as discouraging the pull in the air / launch angle guys. I'd rather teach / reward lefties to go oppo and spray.
