Major League Baseball is experimenting with new rules this fall to fundamentally change the sport

Beyond the ill-informed effort to demand an unnecessary salary cap in baseball, one of the primary points of discussion around the sport have been the decline in offensive production.

Strikeouts continue to increase , while league-wide batting averages have declined.

There's an endless discussion around the importance of situational hitting, of putting the ball in play, and the supposed lack of talent among modern hitters.

This "back in my day" thinking is wrong for any number of reasons, including the mountain of data we now have demonstrating it, but it ignores several key factors that have impacted the on-field product.

Major League Baseball, though, realizes that the reduced run scoring environment doesn't always make for the most exciting viewing.

And they're right.

DODGERS DYNASTY ON THE BRINK AFTER THE MILWAUKEE BABIP MACHINE DIALS UP ANOTHER WIN FOR BREWERS One of their initial efforts to combat the surge in run prevention was to restrict infield shifting.

For years, infielders were allowed to stand virtually anywhere, including in some extreme cases, in the middle of the outfield.

Those shifts significantly reduced the likelihood of ground balls to the pull side turning into hits, as they had for most of baseball history.

The league issued some specific guidelines about extreme positioning, essentially requiring shortstops and second basemen to remain on their side of second base, among other changes.

Mostly, it worked.

League-wide, batting averages on ground balls surged after baseball instituted new rules.

Here's how it's looked since 2018: While still low, the mid-.240's represents a significant increase from the shift era.

Fans though, might not have noticed more ground ball hits, and the data bears that out.