Report: Pirates One Of MLB's 'Shiftiest' Teams
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - There has been talk all throughout Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington's tenure about the "shifts" his defenses employ and how often they're used.
CBSSports.com Baseball Writer Matt Snyder took a look at all the teams across Major League Baseball and just how often they shift their defense.
To no real surprise, the Pirates employ the shifting technique more than any other team in the National League, using this method 659 times last year, 83 more times than the next closest team, the Milwaukee Brewers.
Despite the Pirates leading the National League in this category, the Houston Astros lead the American League, shifting their defense a total of 1,341 times. The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees also out-shift the Pirates.
To find out whether or not all these shifts make a real impact on games, follow the link above as Snyder goes deeper into the numbers and reveals the players who face these shifts most often.
