Let's Talk Middle Infield Shifting: How Can You Apply This to the Amateur Level of Baseball?

Let's Talk Middle Infield Shifting: How Can You Apply This to the Amateur Level of Baseball? 

"Hit 'em where they ain't." - Willie Keeler

If you were to Google search Willie Keeler, odds are you would find his Baseball Hall of Fame plaque. The first sentence on Keeler's description on Keeler's plaque reads, "Baseball's Greatest Place-Hitter." Keeler was a master at hitting the ball or bunting the ball where defensive players could not get him out. Let's fast forward to the "Splendid Splinter" Mr. Ted Williams. Williams is arguably the greatest hitter that ever lived. In my opinion, Williams wrote one of the best works on hitting, The Science of Hitting, and it still stands up to this day. So let's go back in time on a double header at Fenway Park in Boston. July 14, 1946 is the exact date and the Cleveland Indians were thinking of ways to get the pesky Williams off base. In between the doubleheader, Player-Manager Lou Boudreu taught the Indians what would become the William's Shift. Boudreu believed that Williams was an extreme pull hitter. So as you can see, the Indians packed William's pull side with tons of infielders. The first two plate appearances by Williams made the shift work. He would hit into it the shift both plate appearances. One time, he even hit it to Boudreu. After this, the shift was used on Williams for the rest of his career. 

(The Ted Williams Shift.)

Now you are probably thinking how can I use this? Well not to this extreme. What I am laying down for you is the belief of why shifting works.  What I have found to be useful is the middle infield being shifted. It is not a severe shift, but it is a useful one to clog up the holes that pesky hitters like Keeler would have hit through. The 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates used this type of shift with the belief that most hitters would hit into this shift. It is not what most baseball fans would believe what a true shift is. This is more of a slight shift. Here is a picture of this shift on a right handed hitter.

(Shift to a RHH: 3B hugs third base line, SS is close to the hole that a ground ball can go through, 2B is close to the middle and second base.)

As you can see the short stop is more towards third base, while the third baseman is closer to the third base foul line. The second baseman is closer towards the middle of the infield and second base. The theory behind this is the belief that a hitter's bat path is up the middle and the pull side, and he is naturally not trying to hit the ball to the back side. This has trickled into the Minor Leagues and Major Leagues. The same shift holds true for left handed batters as well..

The next question to answer is what are the benefits of this slight shift of the middle infielders? The answer has two parts. The first answer to this question is that it takes away hits from hitters that can drive a defense and a pitcher crazy. The other aspect is that if a ground ball is hit to the glove hand side of the middle infielder, that it is much easier to catch a ground ball on the glove hand side than it is on a back hand play. Another benefit of this is that if a ball is hit to that side, the momentum of the middle infielder is already going towards first base.

Another aspect of this is that you don't necessarily have to stay in double play depth for this shift. Notice I didn't say not to use a double play depth in a double play situation, but you don't have to. It is all up to the discretion of a coaching staff to make that decision. Many Major League teams do not go into a double play depth because they want to stay in this slight shift to fill up holes in the defense. With that being said, Major League teams also have advanced statistics that most amateur level programs do not have. With that being said, advanced analytics is coming to the amateur game. Last season a program called 6-4-3 Charts brought a form of advanced analytics to the NCAA Division I game of baseball. This year, the 6-4-3 Charts program will be available to use for NCAA Division II and below.

The game is changing, and sometimes it is good to think outside of the box. Look at it this way, as a coach everyone will not agree with everything you believe. Most people will not want to get out of their comfort zone, but why not? As humans we naturally want to learn and grow. As you are reading this keep an open mind to this slight defensive shifting, it may just help you win a game or two.