FORT MYERS, FLA. - FEBRUARY 2023: Home plate umpire Ben May directed Minnesota Twins Joey Gallo back to third base after a ball was called in he second inning Saturday, February 25, 2023 in Fort Myers, Fla. It was the Twins' (and Tampa Bay Rays') first experience with a violation of Major League Baseball's new rule restricting defensive shifts in the infield. Umpires waved their arms and stopped play, and Gallo made a logical assumption. He jogged home and scored. Turns out, the penalty for a shift violation, in this instance Rays second baseman Vidal Brujan standing directly behind second base, is a ball charged to the pitcher, not a free base. Gallo was sent back to third, and the Twins and Rays received Lesson No. 1 about this new era of baseball: “We’re all learning on the fly a little bit here,” as Rays manager Kevin Cash put it. The Twins hosted the Tampa Bay Rays during their first 2023 Spring Training games of the season in Hammond Stadium at Century Link Sports Complex.

Red Sox use shift loophole to counter Twins' Gallo

Bryan Mcwilliam
3 years ago
Star Tribune via Getty Images / Star Tribune / Getty

The Boston Red Sox may have found a loophole in Major League Baseball's new shift rules, and they put the discovery into play on Friday against the Minnesota Twins.

With a pull-heavy Joey Gallo at the plate, the Red Sox decided to move more than one of their outfielders to the right-field side of the playing field, essentially where teams used to position an extra infielder when shifting was allowed.

The alignment was legal, as MLB's new shift rules only apply to infielders.

At the start of each pitch, teams must have at least two infielders on either side of second base, with all four positioned on the infield dirt. Infielders may not switch positions unless there is a substitution.

Gallo ended up taking a walk after seeing the new defensive alignment for the first time, but he'll surely see plenty more of this throughout the 2023 campaign.

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