Expanded 2013 Infield Shift Data

by
February 25, 2014

2/26 Update/Correction: The total number of shifts presented yesterday were wrong. In the database we were using, some of the records were duplicated. The duplicate records have been removed and the data should now be correct. You can find an updated Google doc with the updated data here. Sheet 1 has the player data, and sheet 2 has the team data. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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With discussions already beginning on how teams plan on implementing major shifts in 2014, I decided to make some basic information available on 2013 shift data.

Originally, the raw data was available in a limited form in the The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2014. Today, I am going to make two pieces of information available:

  • Which teams had a shift on when a hitter put a ball in play
  • Which players hit into the most shifts and the effect on their BABIP

Keep in mind, this doesn’t apply to strikeouts, walks, home runs, etc. In other words, data are not available for when a shift was implemented and the ball was not hit in the field of play. And when we say major shifts, we mean three players on one side of the infield.

Teams that implemented the most major infield shifts when balls were in play:

Total Times Shift Implemented When Ball Put In Play
Team Total BABIP w/ Shift On BABIP w/o Shift On BABIP
Orioles 470 0.279 0.296 0.294
Rays 466 0.253 0.297 0.292
Brewers 425 0.287 0.298 0.297
Pirates 422 0.287 0.299 0.296
Astros 407 0.310 0.312 0.310
Red Sox 364 0.256 0.299 0.297
Cubs 343 0.312 0.279 0.287
Yankees 326 0.325 0.307 0.307
Athletics 306 0.222 0.286 0.282
Royals 275 0.269 0.289 0.286
Indians 252 0.282 0.307 0.307
Rangers 249 0.289 0.294 0.297
Mariners 230 0.296 0.311 0.311
Reds 221 0.267 0.283 0.282
Angels 216 0.236 0.311 0.306
Blue Jays 177 0.311 0.299 0.300
Mets 154 0.292 0.304 0.304
Diamondbacks 152 0.276 0.292 0.295
Tigers 143 0.329 0.310 0.311
Giants 136 0.302 0.304 0.305
Marlins 122 0.271 0.300 0.303
Rockies 119 0.345 0.321 0.324
Braves 108 0.232 0.298 0.297
Padres 88 0.239 0.297 0.301
White Sox 83 0.313 0.297 0.298
Cardinals 66 0.242 0.312 0.311
Twins 65 0.339 0.311 0.312
Dodgers 50 0.300 0.304 0.301
Phillies 48 0.354 0.318 0.320
Nationals 41 0.293 0.301 0.300

Batters who hit into the most major infield shifts:

Which players hit into the most shifts and the effect on their BABIP
Player Bats Total BABIP w/ Shift On BABIP w/o Shift On BABIP
David Ortiz L 338 0.284 0.341 0.306
Adam Dunn L 254 0.248 0.286 0.262
Chris Davis L 235 0.294 0.410 0.341
Ryan Howard L 218 0.312 0.533 0.347
Adam LaRoche L 199 0.302 0.306 0.299
Carlos Pena L 196 0.301 0.267 0.293
Josh Hamilton L 196 0.270 0.332 0.307
Travis Hafner L 155 0.232 0.264 0.227
Pedro Alvarez L 142 0.317 0.264 0.279
Jay Bruce L 139 0.237 0.375 0.337
Prince Fielder L 131 0.298 0.309 0.314
Brian McCann L 123 0.179 0.299 0.288
Anthony Rizzo L 120 0.225 0.273 0.263
Kendrys Morales B 119 0.277 0.267 0.298
Jarrod Saltalamacchia B 119 0.286 0.427 0.370
Brandon Moss L 119 0.269 0.318 0.290
Justin Smoak B 118 0.305 0.281 0.283
Raul Ibanez L 115 0.209 0.286 0.270
Carlos Santana B 111 0.243 0.341 0.306
Robinson Cano L 107 0.299 0.310 0.310
Mitch Moreland L 104 0.260 0.261 0.255
Justin Morneau L 104 0.337 0.289 0.300
Albert Pujols R 101 0.257 0.260 0.274
Matt Joyce L 100 0.250 0.269 0.257
Jason Giambi L 99 0.202 0.149 0.182
Seth Smith L 96 0.281 0.353 0.330
Adrian Gonzalez L 95 0.232 0.328 0.311
Carlos Beltran B 90 0.244 0.341 0.311
Garrett Jones L 89 0.303 0.271 0.280
Jose Bautista R 88 0.318 0.241 0.273
Edwin Encarnacion R 86 0.163 0.260 0.239
Ryan Doumit B 80 0.288 0.261 0.263
Joey Votto L 80 0.325 0.381 0.377
Lance Berkman B 79 0.241 0.260 0.264
Alfonso Soriano R 75 0.240 0.288 0.278
Jason Kubel L 70 0.300 0.318 0.325
Brandon Belt L 68 0.324 0.323 0.338
Freddie Freeman L 68 0.338 0.391 0.372
Lucas Duda L 68 0.177 0.323 0.262
Matt Adams L 67 0.284 0.380 0.343
Carlos Gonzalez L 66 0.470 0.330 0.383
Matt Wieters B 66 0.242 0.275 0.259
Luke Scott L 65 0.354 0.278 0.304
Andrew McCutchen R 60 0.233 0.360 0.357
Yoenis Cespedes R 58 0.310 0.290 0.278
Mark Reynolds R 57 0.193 0.274 0.258
Adam Lind L 57 0.298 0.327 0.322
Evan Longoria R 57 0.246 0.327 0.319
Josh Reddick L 56 0.232 0.286 0.275
Juan Francisco L 54 0.444 0.281 0.320
Chris Young R 50 0.240 0.234 0.222
Hank Conger B 50 0.260 0.297 0.292
Nick Swisher B 50 0.280 0.278 0.288
Ike Davis L 49 0.286 0.258 0.255
Jason Bay R 49 0.245 0.223 0.246
Chase Utley L 47 0.149 0.336 0.301
Chase Headley B 46 0.261 0.326 0.315
Mike Napoli R 46 0.413 0.315 0.344
Mark Trumbo R 43 0.186 0.274 0.271
Curtis Granderson L 43 0.256 0.337 0.303
James Loney L 42 0.333 0.348 0.342
Yonder Alonso L 41 0.342 0.296 0.310
A.J. Pierzynski L 39 0.180 0.288 0.285
Kyle Seager L 37 0.135 0.297 0.294
Pablo Sandoval B 34 0.147 0.297 0.284
Lyle Overbay L 32 0.344 0.310 0.300
Chris Carter R 32 0.344 0.295 0.307
Eric Hosmer L 31 0.355 0.325 0.345
Jonny Gomes R 30 0.133 0.322 0.300
Jed Lowrie B 30 0.200 0.311 0.309
Shin-Soo Choo L 30 0.400 0.356 0.350
Ben Zobrist B 29 0.310 0.300 0.303
Domonic Brown L 29 0.345 0.291 0.295
Victor Martinez B 28 0.071 0.312 0.300
Colby Rasmus L 27 0.407 0.369 0.347
Dan Uggla R 27 0.111 0.256 0.243
Kelly Johnson L 26 0.231 0.282 0.268
Mike Moustakas L 26 0.192 0.246 0.244
Alex Gordon L 26 0.269 0.316 0.311
Josh Willingham R 25 0.280 0.266 0.262
David Murphy L 25 0.200 0.240 0.225
Adrian Beltre R 25 0.280 0.314 0.326
Mark Teixeira B 25 0.000 0.500 0.133
Vernon Wells R 22 0.409 0.272 0.270
Eric Chavez L 21 0.238 0.341 0.320
Miguel Montero L 21 0.095 0.258 0.278
John Buck R 20 0.250 0.250 0.256
Andre Ethier L 20 0.500 0.313 0.332
Michael Morse R 20 0.300 0.290 0.282
Billy Butler R 20 0.350 0.347 0.338
Jhonny Peralta R 20 0.100 0.373 0.381
Travis Snider L 20 0.450 0.304 0.302
Daniel Nava B 20 0.550 0.341 0.352
Jason Heyward L 20 0.150 0.292 0.283
Paul Goldschmidt R 20 0.400 0.324 0.340
Nelson Cruz R 19 0.474 0.295 0.294
Dustin Ackley L 19 0.368 0.289 0.287
John Jaso L 18 0.500 0.312 0.333
Stephen Drew L 18 0.222 0.322 0.314
Jimmy Rollins B 18 0.611 0.290 0.294
Josh Donaldson R 17 0.118 0.313 0.326
Matt Carpenter L 17 0.177 0.380 0.367
Michael Saunders L 17 0.529 0.288 0.310
Nate Schierholtz L 17 0.235 0.282 0.288
Nick Markakis L 17 0.059 0.297 0.301
Paul Konerko R 16 0.375 0.262 0.266
Scott Hairston R 16 0.125 0.202 0.184
Will Venable L 15 0.200 0.308 0.316
Giancarlo Stanton R 15 0.267 0.327 0.326
Carlos Quentin R 15 0.467 0.287 0.301
Matt Holliday R 14 0.429 0.321 0.317
Aaron Hill R 14 0.286 0.306 0.309
Joe Mauer L 14 0.214 0.391 0.389
Rick Ankiel L 13 0.539 0.275 0.321
Chris Parmelee L 13 0.077 0.271 0.274
Jason Castro L 13 0.231 0.363 0.348
Ian Kinsler R 13 0.385 0.305 0.301
Daniel Murphy L 13 0.077 0.309 0.314
Todd Frazier R 12 0.083 0.276 0.271
Nate McLouth L 12 0.417 0.281 0.281
J.P. Arencibia R 12 0.417 0.237 0.249
Eric Hinske L 12 0.167 0.219 0.235
Franklin Gutierrez R 12 0.333 0.273 0.298
B.J. Upton R 12 0.417 0.256 0.262
Miguel Cabrera R 12 0.500 0.342 0.347
Bryce Harper L 12 0.417 0.296 0.298
Evan Gattis R 11 0.364 0.267 0.254
Troy Tulowitzki R 11 0.727 0.308 0.331
David Wright R 11 0.455 0.350 0.362
Dioner Navarro B 11 0.546 0.292 0.311
Adam Jones R 11 0.364 0.323 0.321
Aramis Ramirez R 11 0.000 0.308 0.300
Todd Helton L 10 0.200 0.283 0.276
Wil Myers R 10 0.100 0.363 0.372
Xavier Paul L 10 0.800 0.315 0.319
Matt Kemp R 10 0.300 0.366 0.363
Mark Kotsay L 10 0.100 0.235 0.224
Marlon Byrd R 9 0.556 0.355 0.373
Will Middlebrooks R 9 0.667 0.245 0.262
Ryan Ludwick R 9 0.111 0.305 0.276
Eric Sogard L 8 0.125 0.308 0.298
Brett Wallace L 8 0.375 0.268 0.321
J.J. Hardy R 8 0.125 0.273 0.272
Dustin Pedroia R 8 0.500 0.328 0.335
Neil Walker B 8 0.250 0.291 0.277
Andrelton Simmons R 8 0.250 0.262 0.260
Logan Morrison L 8 0.250 0.279 0.278
Hunter Pence R 8 0.625 0.320 0.315
Matt Dominguez R 7 0.000 0.253 0.256
Jayson Nix R 7 0.286 0.348 0.343
Michael Bourn L 7 0.714 0.342 0.346
Daric Barton L 7 0.000 0.270 0.269
Carl Crawford L 7 0.571 0.320 0.318
Manny Machado R 7 0.571 0.324 0.330
Omar Infante R 7 0.429 0.334 0.335
Jason Kipnis L 7 0.429 0.340 0.362
Jedd Gyorko R 7 0.429 0.296 0.294
Danny Espinosa B 7 0.000 0.184 0.199
Joaquin Arias R 7 0.714 0.302 0.315
Shane Victorino B 7 0.000 0.333 0.328
Justin Upton R 6 0.167 0.318 0.313
Donald Lutz L 6 0.333 0.259 0.284
Jon Jay L 6 0.333 0.327 0.326
Daniel Descalso L 6 0.167 0.281 0.288
Geovany Soto R 6 0.000 0.337 0.307
Michael Cuddyer R 6 0.500 0.384 0.384
Trevor Plouffe R 6 0.667 0.287 0.304
Asdrubal Cabrera B 6 0.167 0.273 0.279
Steve Lombardozzi B 6 0.000 0.290 0.285
Jesus Montero R 6 0.000 0.266 0.241
Alex Rios R 5 0.000 0.316 0.307
Ryan Raburn R 5 0.000 0.311 0.299
Brendan Ryan R 5 0.000 0.231 0.240
Laynce Nix L 5 0.400 0.292 0.281
Danny Valencia R 5 0.400 0.355 0.343
Oswaldo Arcia L 5 0.600 0.339 0.340
Ryan Flaherty L 5 0.600 0.234 0.253
Jordan Danks L 5 0.200 0.337 0.333
Starlin Castro R 5 0.400 0.300 0.298
Jacoby Ellsbury L 5 0.400 0.343 0.341
Devin Mesoraco R 5 0.400 0.261 0.267
Denard Span L 5 0.200 0.306 0.312
Wilin Rosario R 5 0.000 0.326 0.316
Luis Valbuena L 5 0.200 0.266 0.253
Mike Trout R 5 0.400 0.374 0.377
Nolan Reimold R 5 0.600 0.252 0.266
Ryan Braun R 4 0.500 0.364 0.368
Andy Dirks L 4 0.000 0.299 0.288
Mike Zunino R 4 0.000 0.286 0.275
Yasiel Puig R 4 0.250 0.407 0.401
Brandon Crawford L 4 0.000 0.305 0.295
Dayan Viciedo R 4 0.250 0.322 0.319
Alexei Ramirez R 4 0.750 0.304 0.311
Steve Pearce R 4 0.500 0.299 0.333
Carlos Corporan B 4 0.250 0.299 0.285
Cody Ross R 4 0.250 0.300 0.318
Brett Gardner L 4 0.250 0.374 0.368
Brennan Boesch L 4 0.750 0.200 0.240
Chad Tracy L 4 0.250 0.171 0.198
Casper Wells R 4 0.000 0.208 0.195
Welington Castillo R 4 0.250 0.365 0.365
Kelly Shoppach R 4 1.000 0.319 0.349
Jerry Hairston R 4 0.250 0.223 0.219
Jean Segura R 4 0.000 0.335 0.334
Russell Martin R 4 0.000 0.281 0.273
Allen Craig R 4 0.250 0.350 0.365
Shelley Duncan R 4 0.000 0.174 0.192
Jose Lobaton B 4 0.500 0.311 0.300
Salvador Perez R 4 0.000 0.320 0.320
Ryan Sweeney L 4 0.250 0.305 0.291
Carlos Gomez R 4 0.500 0.356 0.362
Greg Dobbs L 4 1.000 0.246 0.251
Jack Hannahan L 4 1.000 0.265 0.267
Stephen Vogt L 4 0.250 0.298 0.280
Conor Gillaspie L 3 0.333 0.273 0.288
Gregor Blanco L 3 1.000 0.340 0.342
Jaff Decker L 3 0.333 0.118 0.150
Gaby Sanchez R 3 0.000 0.291 0.293
Andrew Brown R 3 0.000 0.279 0.282
Ryan Roberts R 3 0.000 0.286 0.308
Coco Crisp B 3 0.667 0.263 0.265
Luis Cruz R 3 0.000 0.192 0.199
Juan Uribe R 3 0.333 0.322 0.327
Kevin Youkilis R 3 0.000 0.282 0.266
Joe Mahoney L 3 0.667 0.261 0.250
Jose Altuve R 3 0.333 0.325 0.331
Yuniesky Betancourt R 3 0.333 0.203 0.219
Brandon Phillips R 3 0.000 0.284 0.283
Wil Nieves R 3 0.667 0.380 0.367
Alexi Amarista L 3 0.333 0.265 0.273
Brayan Pena B 3 0.000 0.304 0.289
Marwin Gonzalez B 3 0.000 0.260 0.279
Martin Maldonado R 3 1.000 0.185 0.207
Cody Ransom R 3 0.000 0.278 0.258
Desmond Jennings R 3 1.000 0.307 0.308
Mike Carp L 3 0.667 0.425 0.422
Darin Ruf R 3 0.333 0.326 0.322
Alfredo Marte R 3 1.000 0.256 0.289
Howie Kendrick R 3 0.000 0.356 0.347
Kyle Blanks R 3 0.000 0.315 0.333
Mike Baxter L 2 0.000 0.292 0.274
Dexter Fowler B 2 0.000 0.321 0.306
Gerardo Parra L 2 0.000 0.320 0.316
Chris Heisey R 2 0.500 0.243 0.246
Cliff Pennington B 2 0.000 0.293 0.296
Luis Jimenez R 2 0.000 0.296 0.286
John Mayberry R 2 0.000 0.299 0.292
Fernando Martinez L 2 1.000 0.222 0.265
Alejandro De Aza L 2 1.000 0.335 0.340
Brad Hawpe L 2 1.000 0.500 0.471
A.J. Pollock R 2 0.000 0.302 0.294
Delmon Young R 2 1.000 0.309 0.304
Ben Francisco R 2 1.000 0.136 0.174
Rob Brantly L 2 0.500 0.271 0.274
Jordany Valdespin L 2 1.000 0.221 0.226
Andy Parrino B 2 0.000 0.192 0.172
Munenori Kawasaki L 2 0.000 0.257 0.267
Chris Johnson R 2 1.000 0.388 0.393
Ryan Zimmerman R 2 0.000 0.339 0.338
Eduardo Nunez R 2 0.000 0.300 0.301
J.D. Martinez R 2 0.000 0.322 0.319
Eric Young B 2 0.000 0.304 0.304
Roger Bernadina L 2 0.000 0.250 0.251
Kevin Frandsen R 2 0.000 0.249 0.243
Mike Aviles R 2 0.000 0.268 0.264
Jose Molina R 2 0.000 0.291 0.274
Marc Krauss L 2 0.500 0.209 0.276
Ian Desmond R 2 0.000 0.347 0.345
Starling Marte R 2 1.000 0.365 0.374
Darnell McDonald R 2 0.500 0.317 0.311
Brock Holt L 2 0.000 0.239 0.232
Josh Thole L 2 1.000 0.190 0.204
Derrick Robinson B 2 0.000 0.347 0.339
Jordy Mercer R 2 0.000 0.307 0.322
Brett Pill R 2 0.000 0.279 0.273
Alex Gonzalez R 2 0.500 0.211 0.219
Nolan Arenado R 2 0.000 0.306 0.300
Ryan Lavarnway R 2 1.000 0.344 0.364
Nate Freiman R 2 1.000 0.269 0.313
Placido Polanco R 2 1.000 0.289 0.288
Erick Aybar B 2 1.000 0.300 0.305
Tyler Moore R 2 0.000 0.283 0.283
Juan Pierre L 2 1.000 0.288 0.281
Logan Forsythe R 2 1.000 0.250 0.270
Andrew Lambo L 2 0.000 0.385 0.333
Leonys Martin L 2 1.000 0.332 0.329
Alex Rodriguez R 2 0.000 0.292 0.290
Yunel Escobar R 2 0.000 0.282 0.286
Chris Iannetta R 2 1.000 0.281 0.282
Josh Harrison R 2 1.000 0.213 0.250
Jeff Mathis R 2 0.000 0.259 0.264
Tyler Flowers R 2 0.000 0.245 0.250
A.J. Ellis R 2 1.000 0.287 0.289
Torii Hunter R 2 1.000 0.343 0.348
Guillermo Quiroz R 1 0.000 0.247 0.259
Alex Liddi R 1 0.000 0.154 0.125
Alex Avila L 1 0.000 0.312 0.289
Hanley Ramirez R 1 0.000 0.349 0.344
Wilson Ramos R 1 0.000 0.290 0.284
Ronny Cedeno R 1 0.000 0.332 0.330
Kolten Wong L 1 0.000 0.231 0.196
Nick Hundley R 1 0.000 0.303 0.296
Angel Pagan B 1 1.000 0.311 0.309
Justin Sellers R 1 0.000 0.239 0.239
Steve Clevenger L 1 0.000 0.300 0.273
John McDonald R 1 0.000 0.125 0.123
Donovan Solano R 1 0.000 0.302 0.301
Melky Cabrera B 1 0.000 0.331 0.331
David DeJesus L 1 0.000 0.292 0.306
Ben Revere L 1 0.000 0.367 0.367
Dave Sappelt R 1 0.000 0.276 0.282
Derek Norris R 1 0.000 0.274 0.280
Norichika Aoki L 1 0.000 0.330 0.317
Matt Tuiasosopo R 1 1.000 0.359 0.358
Alex Presley L 1 0.000 0.340 0.338
Francisco Cervelli R 1 0.000 0.250 0.241
Juan Perez R 1 1.000 0.373 0.363
Shane Robinson R 1 0.000 0.311 0.295
Scott Van Slyke R 1 0.000 0.247 0.265
Ichiro Suzuki L 1 0.000 0.293 0.295
Kole Calhoun L 1 0.000 0.313 0.322
Kirk Nieuwenhuis L 1 0.000 0.250 0.289
Christian Yelich L 1 1.000 0.387 0.395
George Kottaras L 1 0.000 0.204 0.220
Jose Reyes B 1 1.000 0.309 0.312
David Freese R 1 1.000 0.324 0.334
Brett Lawrie R 1 0.000 0.289 0.287
Skip Schumaker L 1 0.000 0.288 0.295
Endy Chavez L 1 0.000 0.341 0.314
Alberto Callaspo B 1 1.000 0.269 0.267
Ramiro Pena B 1 1.000 0.320 0.333
Carlos Triunfel R 1 0.000 0.212 0.189
Sean Rodriguez R 1 0.000 0.349 0.338
Justin Maxwell R 1 0.000 0.357 0.353
Jeff Francoeur R 1 0.000 0.250 0.246
Pete Kozma R 1 0.000 0.280 0.279
Jose Iglesias R 1 0.000 0.359 0.354
Juan Lagares R 1 0.000 0.302 0.306
Darwin Barney R 1 0.000 0.219 0.216
Freddy Galvis B 1 0.000 0.252 0.256
Zack Cozart R 1 0.000 0.288 0.290
Yasmani Grandal B 1 0.000 0.250 0.260
Alberto Gonzalez R 1 1.000 0.228 0.267
Corky Miller R 1 0.000 0.278 0.270
Logan Schafer L 1 0.000 0.275 0.263
Caleb Gindl L 1 1.000 0.192 0.240
Buster Posey R 1 1.000 0.322 0.322
Michael Brantley L 1 1.000 0.302 0.310
DeWayne Wise L 1 0.000 0.224 0.247
Moises Sierra R 1 1.000 0.387 0.395
Michael Young R 1 1.000 0.322 0.324


Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.
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bob
11 years ago

From the team data, I plotted BABIP vs. Total Major Shifts, and there is more correlation than I would expect. Consider that there are, at most, only a few shifts per game but the effect seems surprisingly large on the overall BABIP. My hypothesis is that teams that use a major shift more often also position their fielders more intelligently to reduce BABIP when they are not in a major shift. But I wonder about the effect of the shifts on total bases. Perhaps teams that focus on reducing BABIP by careful fielder positioning are actually giving up more bases on fewer hits by leaving bigger gaps in coverage?

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dang
11 years ago

As a Phillies fan, I wasn’t surprised to see Ryan Howard near the top of the list in terms of number of times he was shifted on. I was interested in breaking down the numbers, though, and things don’t come apart nicely.

According to chart – Howard had 218 times he was shifted on. He had 317 total PA in 2013, leaving him with 99 PA where either he wasn’t shifted on, or he didn’t put the ball in play (BB, K, HR).

However, his 2013 stats read – 23 BB + 95 SO + 11 HR = 129 PA where the ball wasn’t put into play. What is the source of the discrepancy? And how many PA did Howard have where the ball was put into play and the shift wasn’t on?

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Jeff Zimmermanmember
11 years ago
Reply to  dang

We found an error with the source data and are trying to correct the error.

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Colin Pating
11 years ago

How can the information on the Dodgers add up? Only 50 shifts but the overall BABIP is skewed towards the shift BABIP.

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GTB
11 years ago

The top 10 teams that had a positive impact on BABIP with their impact were:
Angels 0.075
Cardinals 0.070
Braves 0.066
Athletics 0.064
Padres 0.058
Rays 0.044
Red Sox 0.043

Of theses the Cardinals and Padres shifted less than 100 times. Maybe they should be shifting more.

Teams who actually produced a negative impact were the Blue Jays, White Sox, Yankees, Tigers, Rockies, Twins, Cubs, and Phillies.
A shift would seem to me to be a manager’s decision. The ability to execute it and to need it would seem to be a function of coaching and fielding ability. I wonder how the shift effectiveness correlates to fielding stats. For example, the Cardinals have the reputation for little range but good fielding, perhaps meaning that they handle the ball well when they get to it. This would support the benefit of the shift for them.

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Thomas Logie
11 years ago

With the Yankees, working on shifts last year would have been difficult because of the numerous infield combinations they had to deploy because of injury. That said, they will need to improve on this if they are going to use them. A better mastery of the computer data and better pitch selection to match the shift should help. I notice also that Beltran (at least from one side of the plate) and McCann were succeptible to shifts last year. Teixera might also have that tendency. One would hope that the presence of Ellsbury and Gardiner on base will make shifting more difficult — remember how Johnny Damon made the Phillies pay for the shift in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series.

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Steve
11 years ago

This stuff is fascinating. How would one go about getting shift data?

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Steve
11 years ago

Jeff, is the shift more prevelent and/or effective based on handedness of pitcher?

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matt w
11 years ago

Hi Jeff,
It looks like there’s still a hitch in the updated spreadsheet — looking at Pedro Alvarez, he’s listed as having a .301 BABIP with the shift on, a .281 BABIP with no shift on, and a .278 overall BABIP, which I don’t think can be right. (At least, I don’t think it’s possible for some Simpson’s paradox effect to explain it, though I could be overlooking something.)

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Brendan
11 years ago

Jeff, you are a badass.

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finger
10 years ago

This is only anecdotal but the cubs routinely would employ a shift and then throw nothing but low and away to the batter. The opposing hitter would just poke through the enormous hole left by the shift. Maybe that was why sveum got the boot so quickly.

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socalbirdfan
10 years ago

Hey Jeff,

Do you have the numbers for 2014?

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