Astros’ Manager AJ Hinch told reporters on Tuesday that the four-man outfield is not just a gimmick. The Astros have experimented with it a little this spring and are prepared to use it in certain situations this year during the regular season. Hinch says that it will be used against pull-happy lefties, most likely on the road since Minute Maid Park has a relatively small outfield layout. The extreme shift would push second baseman Jose Altuve into shallow right, shortstop Carlos Correa to the first base side of second, and move third baseman Alex Bregman into true left field, sliding the other three outfielders towards the right field line. It would leave the third base side of the infield completely empty. Hinch cites two reasons for the extreme shift. The first of course being the numbers. There are hitters in this league that almost never hit the ball on the ground to the third base side and this defense puts the fielders in positions better suited to make plays for those kind of hitters. The second is psychological. It completely messes with the hitter’s head. The Astros are basically telling hitters, “We don’t think you can hit the ball over there.” It will cause some hitters to change their approach to try to beat the shift, pushing them away from what they do best. Those who don’t want to change their approach will be playing right into the Astros’ hands and have less grass to find between fielders. Now this won’t be seen often I’m sure, but I kind of like it. If you’re going to play the percentages and over shift why not go all the way? Leaving the third baseman up the middle doesn’t really add any value, but a fourth outfielder really makes a difference by eliminating gaps. Not every team could do this though. You need to be confident that one or more of your infielders can handle the outfield. It will be interesting to see how Bregman handles the assignment. He saw time in left field on his way to the big leagues before settling in at third base and he’s spent all of an inning and two thirds out in left in the big leagues but clearly AJ Hinch is confident in the young star. I guess we’ll have to wait until Hinch decides to break it out this year to see how it goes. Who knows? This might become common just like the current over shifts.
