The new MLB season will introduce new rules to the league, but one rule change impacts fantasy baseball more than the others. The MLB decided to ban shifts starting this year and it is a rule that will positively impact hitters across the league. Groundball pitchers are losing their fantasy value though.

Since the shift was introduced batters worked to reduce how many ground balls they hit, which made groundball pitchers valuable. Mainly against lefthanded hitters, groundball pitchers lowered the MLB batting average to around .240. Hitters routinely hit into the shift and were thrown out. The ban on the shift is predicted to raise the batting average to around .255. While left-handed batters will see the most improvement this year without the shift, groundball pitchers will be hurt.

Pitchers Whose Fantasy Value Will Be Impacted

These right-handed groundball pitchers will be facing a large number of left-handed hitters. They will take a hit in their fantasy value this draft season.

Sandy Alcantara, MIA

Logan Webb, SF

Kyle Wright, ATL

How Much Does This Affect Their Rankings?

I am dropping all right-handed, groundball pitchers only two to three spots in my rankings. The banning of the shift is predicted to only add one hit per game on average. As the years roll on we will see a return of the ground balls, but players are accustomed to hitting the ball in the air. Time will do more damage to the groundball pitcher, but this year it will only cause minimal damage.

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