Shifted Routine

With teams shifting regularly, on-field awareness becomes even more important

Welcome to Warning Track Power, a weekly newsletter of baseball stories and analysis grounded in front office and scouting experiences and the personalities encountered along the way.

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There’s a story that was shared with me by a baseball veteran several years ago. He recalled the time he had watched an opposing farm director working with minor league catchers prior to a game.

The instructor would throw a ball past the catcher towards the backstop. The catcher would then pursue the ball, gather it, and throw to a base. The repetitions went on for a while.

Later, when questioned about the drill, the farm director explained that these catchers would be called upon to retrieve live balls in game situations. He wanted them to practice corralling wild pitches and gain the feel for quickly picking balls up and throwing accurately to bases.

The summary went something like: “You can’t expect someone to do something in a game that he’s never practiced.”

I’ve carried that idea around with me ever since hearing that story, and I refer to it often — in all facets of life. It remains relevant in baseball, perhaps never more so than during these shift-heavy seasons.

This past Thursday night, two Padres players collided violently in shallow left field in pursuit of a fly ball. If you so desire, you can view the play by clicking here.

The ball’s flight and direction should have made for a routine defensive play. But with Padres shortstop C.J. Abrams shifted slightly to the right side of second base for left-handed hitter Tommy La Stella, the pop up presented a dangerous challenge.

The ball came off the bat of the Giants batter at an innocuous 73 MPH. Combined with a launch angle of 45 degrees, Statcast projects an expected batting average of .180 on such contact. Nobody’s winning a batting title off of those swings.