Willie Keeler, a 19th-century right fielder who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, coined an ambitious phrase that still holds true today: Keep your eye clear, and hit ‘em where they ain’t.
That advice still applies today, although it has recently become more strenuous for hitters to find holes in the infield. As baseball evolves, so does the mindset of having an idiosyncratic approach to every player.
Defensive shifting has become more frequent and individualized in the past few years. Infielders don’t just shift against the most powerful hitter anymore. They strategically position themselves in certain spots of the infield — and in some cases the outfield — to counter the bats of every hitter in a lineup.