Editing Baseball positioning (section)

==Common types of positioning==

Regular terms are used for some positionings. For example, ''double play depth'' is used when there is potential for a [[force play]] at [[second base]].  This means the [[shortstop]] and [[second baseman]] are playing slightly closer to second base and sometimes a little bit shallower.  This position makes it easier to turn the [[double play]].

The [[first baseman]] is said to be ''holding the runner'' if he positions himself right at first base with one foot on the base, ready to receive a [[pickoff]] throw from the pitcher if the runner strays too far from first base between pitches.

''Bringing the corners in'' means the first and third baseman are both playing ''in'' (closer than usual to home plate); this will often be used with runners at third base or when a [[bunt (baseball)|bunt]] is anticipated.

The disadvantage of these defensive shifts is that they make more room for the hitter to hit the ball through the gaps for a base hit or lay down a successful bunt too far from any fielder to make a play resulting in an out.

Sometimes in the bottom half of the ninth inning (or later), when a team has a runner on third base in a tie game with less than two outs, the defending team will pull the outfielders in very close, almost creating three extra infielders.  This is sometimes known as ''do or die'' depth. The reason for positioning this way in this situation is that there is no point in having the outfielders playing deep, waiting to catch a fly ball for an out; if they do, the runner at third base will be able to [[tagging up|tag up]] when the ball is caught and then run to home plate to score the winning run. So the outfielders can contribute constructively only by filling the gaps between the infielders.

===Infield shift===
{{main|Infield shift}}
Some extreme repositioning known as a [[Infield shift|shift]] was used against [[pull hitter]]s, a strategy that became more prevalent in Major League Baseball since the late-2000s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/9-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-shift/c-276706888|title=9 things you need to know about the shift|website=MLB.com|language=en|access-date=2018-11-28}}</ref> For example, versus excellent left-handed pull-hitters like [[Ted Williams]], [[David Ortiz]], [[Joey Gallo (baseball)|Joey Gallo]] and [[Ryan Howard]], teams would move more players to the right side of the field.  They would sometimes play with the shortstop behind or even to the right of second base. The second baseman may simply move to the right, in which case this just qualifies as a shift, or he might move deeper into shallow [[right field]].  Another variation had the third baseman move to where the shortstop would play in the shift, leaving the shortstop (who is generally the team's best infielder) to cover the left side of the infield.

Many believe that this shift was first employed against Ted Williams in the 1940s, as thought up by then-[[Cleveland Indians|Indians]] [[Manager (baseball)|manager]] [[Lou Boudreau]]. However, it was first used against [[Cy Williams]] in the 1920s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hornsby |first=Rogers |author-link=Rogers Hornsby |date=April 29, 1930 |title=Hitter's style sets infield, Hornsby's tip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354941126/?match=1&clipping_id=170286585 |access-date=2025-04-14 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |page=16 |language=en |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Matt |date=2021-06-22 |title=Evolution Of The Shift: The Real Issue In MLB |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/article-numbers-evolution-shift-real-issue-mlb |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gagnon |first=Cappy |title=Cy Williams |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cy-williams/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>

The infield shift was restricted by MLB beginning in the [[2023 Major League Baseball season|2023 season]].

{{gallery
|Image:baseballpositioning-shallow.png|Infield and outfield in
|Image:baseballpositioning-infielddeep.png|Infield deep
|Image:baseballpositioning-doubleplay.png|Double play depth
|Image:baseballpositioning-cornersin.png|Corners in
|Image:baseballpositioning-shift.png|Left-handed pull-hitter shift, aka "overshift"
}}