Editing Baseball positioning (section)

===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"
}}