Earlier today, I was sent a link from Twitter follower Jonathan Holbert, talking about how baseball’s defensive shifts continue to grow. I thought the article was an interesting read for multiple reasons. First, as you know, we’ve been tracking the Pirates’ usage of defensive shifts a lot on this site. So that’s always a topic I’m watching for.
It seems that other teams took notice to the success the Pirates had with shifts last year. The article talks about how the Houston Astros tried to implement shifts during the 2013 season, but the pitchers objected. This year they showed their pitchers the data of how the increase in shifts helped turn the Pirates infield from a middle of the pack group to one of the best defenses in the majors in one year. The Pirates had the same infield defense from 2012 to 2013, so you could argue that the key difference came with the added shifts.
I don’t know if the Pirates are the poster child for the defensive shifts. The Rays have been shifting a lot longer than the Pirates, and the article focuses on the Rays as the leaders in this regard. But the success of the Rays can be contributed to many things, beyond just the shifts. Meanwhile, the shifts became the poster child for the success of the Pirates last year, even though it wasn’t the sole reason for their success.
It makes sense why shifting is catching on. Last year, 22 teams had a better BABIP with the shift on than they did with the shift off. The Pirates were one of those teams that had more success with the shift on.
So far during the 2014 season, the Pirates haven’t been one of the most aggressive teams with the shift. That link only shows the top five teams, so it is possible that the Pirates are still being aggressive, without being one of the most aggressive teams. Based on what we’ve seen in the games, they’re still shifting a lot. I’d imagine the numbers would show that they’re being aggressive, since they had no problem being aggressive when shifting wasn’t so wide-spread.
Links and Notes
Prospects
**Prospect Watch: Three Hits Each For Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco
**Prospect Reports: Phil Irwin Getting Back the Feel For His Pitches
**Prospect Highlights: Keon Broxton Continues to Hit, Walk-Off For Indianapolis
**Minor League Schedule: Zack Dodson Looks to Put Oblique Injury Behind Him
Pirates
**Brandon Cumpton to be the 26th Man, Nevin Ashley Could Come Up
**Russell Martin Expects to Return From the DL on Wednesday
**Podcast: Previewing the Pirates-Yankees Series With River Avenue Blues
2014 Draft
**Draft Prospect Watch: Keep an Eye on Kentucky’s A.J. Reed
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
It was fun to watch Anthony Rizzo bunt for hits against the shift twice! More sluggers (Pedro?) need to do that!
I’ve watched some hitters and wondered why they don’t try that. Pedro is one. Another is Adam LaRoche. Even though he’s slow, I’d think even he could bunt down the 3rd base line and end up at 2nd base before the defense chased the ball down.