Pull hitter

In baseball, a pull hitter is a batter who predominately hits the ball to the side of the field from which they bat.

[1]: 674 Baseball lexicographer Paul Dickson recorded a usage of "pull hitter" in a 1925 column by Chilly Doyle in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "The Pirate catcher (Earl Smith) is one of the league's 'pull' hitters; that is, Earl, a lefthand batter of the slugging type, smashes most of his wallops to rightfield.

'"[3]: 164 Ted Williams wrote, "the ideal hit is a pulled ball 380 feet because that's a home run in most parks in the big leagues".

[4] Charley Lau explained, "the best pitch to pull is one thrown on the inner half of the plate", i.e. the side closest to the hitter.

[8] For a left-handed power hitter like Harold Baines, a full "shift" moves the third baseman to the shortstop's normal position.

[10] In 2023, Major League Baseball essentially banned the full shift by requiring two infielders on either side of second base before each pitch.