Yankees' Voit against banning shifts: 'You gotta adapt'

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit isn't a fan of potential future rules that might limit defensive shifts.

Instead, the slugging infielder thinks offenses need to learn how to beat shifts and force more standard alignments.

"In my opinion, you gotta adapt in this game," Voit said, according to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. "If you don’t adapt, you find your way out of it.

"And I think a lot of players have found the way out because of the shifting. It’s smart. If you’ve got to hit the ball to the opposite field or try to do something different with your approach, you change it."

His comments came after Thursday's announcement that the minor leagues will play with several experimental rule changes this season that could later be adopted at the major-league level. Some of the rules limit shifts in an effort to increase the number of balls in play while also improving the pace of games.

In Double-A, clubs will be required to play at least four defenders on the infield, and they all need to have both feet in front of the outfield grass. Teams won't be able to deploy a four-man outfield.

Additionally, Double-A may institute a rule that will force teams to play two infielders on either side of second base during the second half of the season, resulting in a more drastic change.

However, instead of rules forcing a change, Voit thinks players need to make the appropriate adjustments.

"So I think guys need to adapt to the game," he said. "And I think (extreme shifting is) smart. Obviously, it’s worked for a lot of teams and helped a lot of teams that usually wouldn’t be around, be in the playoffs every year."

Voit, who's an extreme pull hitter, essentially hits the ball over the defense to beat shifts. He hit .277 despite a .268 BABIP in 2020 while mashing 22 home runs over 56 games.