In
baseball and
softball, while there are nine named
fielding positions, players may move around freely. The
positioning for the nine positions is very flexible, although they all have regular
depths—distances from
home plate, and sometimes lateral positioning. A
shift means that a player is playing in a noticeably different location than the norm for his positioning. A fielder who is playing
shallow or
in is playing closer to home plate, while a player playing
deep is playing farther from home plate than normal.
Regular terms are used for some positionings, for example,
double play depth is used when there is a
force play at
second base. This means the
shortstop and
second baseman are playing slightly closer to second base and sometimes a little bit shallower. This position makes it easier to turn the double play. Bringing the
corners in means the first and third baseman are both playing
in, this will often be used with runners at third base or when a
bunt is anticipated. The disadvantage of these defensive shifts is that they make more room for the hitter to hit the ball through the gaps for a base hit.
Sometimes in the bottom half of the ninth inning (or later), when a team has a man on third base and less than two outs, the defending team will pull the outfields in very far, almost creating three extra infielders. This is sometimes known as
do or die depth.
There are also some very irregular positionings. For example, versus excellent left-handed...
Read More