Pittsburgh posted 659 defensive shifts in 2014, the most in National League

Pittsburgh posted 659 defensive shifts in 2014, the most in National League. January. 20, 2015 06:48. .

Ted Williams (1918-2002), who was the last player to achieve a batting average of .4 level, carried a drawing of defensive shift that he suffered in his book "Science of Batting." In the drawing the infielders are seen leaning rightward to the extent that the third baseman is positioned almost behind the second base, a practice that now has become very familiar to many baseball fans. Williams said that if players fail to master the push hitting, they cannot overcome shift.

David Otis, 40, William’s young colleague from the Boston Red Sox in the Major League, experienced this shift more than anyone else. According to "2015 Bill James Handbook," a compilation of Major League records, when Otis was standing at bat, the enemy team deployed defensive shift a total of 505 times. It means that shift was put in place in 83.9 percent of the 602 times at bat overall.

Otis was followed by famous batters for pull hitting such as Ryan Howard (453 times at bat), Chris David (400), Brandon Moss (398), and Brian McCann (394), who ranked among the highest. The effect is also very clear. Bill James concluded in his handbook that when shift is put in place, the batting average declines by .03 on average.

This shift is also important to Kang Jung-ho, 28, who is entering the Major League this year. Pittsburgh (659) is the team that used defensive shift more than any other teams in the National League. Houston with 1,341 had more shifts than any other teams in the American League.

Bill James Handbook said that defensive shifts, which totaled 2,464 in 2010, increased to 13,296 and the number of runs blocked through defensive shift was 195 in total last year, adding that as the more shifts are put in place, the fewer earned runs a team allows, it is necessary to more actively utilize defensive shift.