Every other sport has rules for what the defense can and can't do, why shouldn't baseball?
I’m trying to think through the other major sports and can’t really come up with any equivalent limitations on the ability for an opposing defense to adjust how it approaches a specific player…
NFL defenses can drop as many guys as they want into coverage against Patrick Mahomes and use safety help on Tyreke Hill… do we say “run the ball or throw to the uncovered guy” or “you must line up one safety on the each side of the field and they can’t go more than 15 yards from the line of scrimmage”?
NBA teams could opt to send more guys at Joel Embiid and I think most of us would say “learn how to pass out of the double team.”
If an MLB batter can only hit the ball hard to one side of the field and not both, why shouldn’t a defense be able to respond in the the same way an NBA defense will sag off Rondo when he’s behind the 3 point line or an NFL defense stacks the box against a Pats team lacking deep threats? A more limited hitter
should have a harder time than a more well rounded one.