Defensive shifts becoming prominent in minor leagues, too

CEDAR RAPIDS – Edgar Corcino of the Cedar Rapids Kernels hit a bullet of a line drive up the middle the other night against the Burlington Bees. It almost knocked over the pitcher.

But the ball didn't turn out to be a base hit. Burlington shortstop Jake Yacinich, a former Iowa Hawkeye, was stationed perfectly up the middle behind the mound, fielded it and threw out a frustrated Corcino easily at first base.

Welcome to professional baseball in 2015, where virtually everyone employs some kind of defensive shift on virtually every opposing hitter. Even at the low-Class A, Midwest League level.

'I think a lot of it has to do with the organization's philosophy,” Kernels Manager Jake Mauer said. 'A lot of teams here in this league that do shift, do it in the big leagues a lot. My guess is that it's a mandate from up top.”

No one in the 16-team MWL shifts more than the Quad Cities River Bandits, and that's not by accident. Mauer said he talked to QC Manager Josh Bonifay, who told him the parent Houston Astros mandate it for all of their minor-league clubs.

The Astros are as big into sabermetrics (the application of statistical analysis to compare the performance of players), tendencies, defensive shifts and all that as any organization in Major League Baseball. They employ Sig Megdal (an engineer by trade) as what they call their Director of Decision Sciences.

It was so telling that the River Bandits shifted Corcino a couple of months ago, even though he had never played against them. The outfielder was in the Detroit Tigers organization originally, got released and played two years of independent baseball before signing with the Minnesota Twins and eventually getting sent to Cedar Rapids.

He's a switch hitter. When he bats lefty, teams generally place their third baseman well off the line, their shortstop directly up the middle or to the right of second base and their second baseman in the second-base hole.

'When we talked to (Bonifay) about it, he said it came from the top, but also their scouts, they had literally pages and pages of information. Their scouts chart everything,” Mauer said. 'It'd be like ‘Jeff Johnson is a pull guy. So let's put everybody on this side of the infield. Then we put one guy over the other side of the fence, and we've got a chance.'”

The Kernels shift some, but not nearly to the degree of teams like Quad Cities and Peoria, which is a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate. Houston General Manager Jeff Luhnow came from the Cardinals.

The Twins have installed a system called TrakMan this season at Veterans Memorial Stadium, which provides a plethora of data, from things like exact pitch speed, location and movement to velocity of balls hit. Kernels video intern Chris Glynn sets up cameras behind home plate and records each at-bat and pitch.

It's not uncommon to see Kernels hitters and pitchers in the 'video room” in the home clubhouse following games, watching themselves or looking at collected TrakMan data.

'I'd say we're starting to get caught up. Chris, our video guy, does a good job, and we have tons of information now,” Mauer said.

He is quick to point out that all this new information and all this defensive shifting isn't necessarily a great thing, especially in the lower minors. Sometimes it's just too much for players learning the professional game.

He added that pitchers don't always have the ability at this level to locate pitches where they want, which can make defensive shifts moot.

'I'm not a super big fan of it, but that's kind of the way the game is going, so I'm not out and out opposed to it,” he said. 'If you have hard evidence, you'd be foolish not to use some of it.”

Mauer was asked if all the shifting is taking 'baseball instinct” out of the game.

'Yeah, 100 percent,” he said. 'That's exactly what's going on. You take more (away) of kind of being a baseball player. I hate to say it, but that seems more and more what the game is going to. It's going more toward guys aren't thinking so much for themselves. They rely on tendencies more than relying on what your eyes tell you. Sometimes your gut feeling is going to be right more than what tendencies say.”

Like many, he believes you'll start seeing more and more players using bunts to beat shifts. If you're a left-hander, for instance, and the third baseman is playing at the shortstop position, it's a free hit if you can drop a bunt toward the line.

'With PEDs more out of the game, guys aren't hitting it over the fence as often,” he said. 'So it's going to go back more to manufacturing runs again.”

IOWANS IN THE MINORS

Here is your weekly look at what local, area and former University of Iowa players are doing in the minor leagues:

- Chad Christensen (Cedar Rapids Washington): A five-game hitting streak has raised the outfielder's batting average to .255 in 81 games for high-Class A Fort Myers (Twins). Also has 13 stolen bases.

– Matt Dermody (University of Iowa): In 23 relief pitching appearances for high-A Dunedin (Blue Jays), has 2-0 record, one save and 4.10 earned run average. Opponents hitting .310 against him.

– Kris Goodman (Iowa): Third baseman for the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Marlins is hitting .136 (3-for-22) with a home run.

– Nick Hibbing (Iowa): With low-A West Virginia (Pirates). Has appeared in six games and has a 1.38 ERA.

– Jon Keller (Cedar Rapids Xavier): Has 3.71 ERA for high-A Frederick (Orioles), with three saves and a 3-4 record. Has allowed just 50 hits in 53.1 innings.

– Mitch Keller (Cedar Rapids Xavier): Still recovering from right forearm strain and has not pitched this season. Is on roster of Rookie-level Bristol (Pirates).

– Sasha Kuebel (Iowa): Is 2-0 with two saves and 2.19 ERA for Rookie-level Johnson City (Cardinals). Has struck out 15 in 12.1 innings.

– Derrick Loveless (Solon): Homered and drove in three in a recent game for high-A Dunedin (Blue Jays). Season average at .220 in 78 games.

– Colin Rea (Cascade): Still has pitched in just two games since getting promoted to Triple-A El Paso (Padres). Threw shutout inning last week in the Major League Baseball Futures Game at Cincinnati.

– Scott Schebler (Cedar Rapids Prairie): Recently activated after short stint on disabled list at Triple-A Oklahoma City (Dodgers). Outfielder hitting .245 in 75 games, with 10 homers and 32 RBIs.

– Eric Toole (Iowa): Outfielder has appeared in 20 games for Rookie-level Boise (Rockies) and has .265 batting average and eight stolen bases.

– Justin Toole (Iowa): Eric's brother, a third baseman, is hitting .202 in 44 games at Double-A Akron (Indians).

– Jake Yacinich (Iowa): Shortstop for Burlington Bees (Angels) of Midwest League has .260 average in 67 games.

– Taylor Zeutenhorst (Iowa): Had two hits in last-played game for Clinton (Mariners) of Midwest League. Has .239 average and a pair of homers in 48 games for LumberKings.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com