If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

[Blzer]

... and teams gave themselves the ability to place them anywhere, as well as realigning other positions at their disposal, how do you think most teams would rearrange their defenses, and why?

Do you think they would simply make it a rover position? That is, the area kind of behind the middle infielder on the hitter's pull side? Would they insert a fourth outfielder so there's LF, LCF, RCF, and RF?

I would probably foresee a fifth infielder, literally right up the middle of the diamond behind second base (maybe with a bit of a shift here or there), but perhaps on the fringe of the grass so they can cover pop-ups behind them as well. This can allow 2B and SS to better cover their respective .5 holes, and the corners can better protect their lines. I guess it would depend on who's hitting, the team they're playing, and the player in question to play the position... but I assume that a team would stick by one principal only when it comes to defensive formations in this regard.

What do you all think?

[SPTO]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

i'd put a guy between 2nd and 1st kinda like a mirror of the shortstop. I dunno, seems logical to me.

[cubsfan203]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

I think I would go for a 4th outfielder. The reason being I'd rather limit the number of extra base hits than the number of singles.

[Knight165]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

i'd put a guy between 2nd and 1st kinda like a mirror of the shortstop. I dunno, seems logical to me.

Ummm he's called the second baseman.
Perhaps you mean a man straight up the middle by the 2b bag?

M.K.
Knight165

[SPTO]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

Ummm he's called the second baseman.
Perhaps you mean a man straight up the middle by the 2b bag?

M.K.
Knight165

Well I thought with the guy between 2nd and 1st the 2B just shifts over to cover the middle like you said.

I should've been a bit more expansive.

[snepp]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

The addition of the extra fielder would lessen the likely hood of getting burned by "over-shifting" your defense, allowing you to be much more aggressive with your positioning. I would align them whenever the combination of pitching and hitting profiles suggest would be the most likely place for the ball to get hit.

[Blzer]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

The addition of the extra fielder would lessen the likely hood of getting burned by "over-shifting" your defense, allowing you to be much more aggressive with your positioning. I would align them whenever the combination of pitching and hitting profiles suggest would be the most likely place for the ball to get hit.

Yeah, I wonder if the tenth defenseman would allow for so many different shifts, coverages, and opportunities to have different players be that tenth man. Like, it could let another lefty be in the lineup. It could get a DH-like player to permanently stand on first base. It could allow for a pitcher's helper lol. I'm just saying that the opportunities become endless here, and each team would probably have their own style.

It could practically take away the names of the old positions, if you truly wanted to reinvent the look of your defense (you could make your outfield a box or trapezoid, for instance). I'm just wondering what the best "general area" would be for such a player, or where you see most managers using him if he was to be employed.

[snepp]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

If you've got a runner on 1st or 2nd I'd guess the best general place to put them would be behind 2nd. You could play your middle infielders a little wider, increasing your chances to either turn two or at least hold runners at 3rd by knocking down balls you wouldn't get to otherwise.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

I think I go with a 4th outfielder. You may give up more singles, but would prevent more doubles and triples (gaps and lines) as well as potentially take away more runners going 1st to 3rd or 2nd to home on singles.

I think you still move them around a bit depending on the situations.


With a tenth fielder, what do you think the impact to batting averages would be on batting average? 20 points? 50 points? 100 points?

[Blzer]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

I think I go with a 4th outfielder. You may give up more singles, but would prevent more doubles and triples (gaps and lines) as well as potentially take away more runners going 1st to 3rd or 2nd to home on singles.

I think you still move them around a bit depending on the situations.


With a tenth fielder, what do you think the impact to batting averages would be on batting average? 20 points? 50 points? 100 points?

It obviously depends on the kind of player and the way the outfield is shaped. If you're taking away singles, you're affecting non-power hitters more. If you're affecting gap shots, you can take 20-30 hits away for some power hitters.

I'd say 40 points would be shaved from everybody's batting average at the very least.

[daflyboys]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

...it would kill the game.

Sorry... I thought this was sentence completion!

[areobee401]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

As a Red Sox fan and having Jarred Saltalamacchia as our catcher. I'd opt for my 10 player to backup the catcher.

[Blzer]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

...it would kill the game.

Sorry... I thought this was sentence completion!

Oh, it would obliterate the game.

I'm just wondering what kind of strategy would be performed by teams here. It almost allows for total customization with a tenth player.

[daflyboys]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

Ohhhh ok..... then I vote for the guy standing 1/2 way between the pitcher and catcher to act as a screen to the batter..... like in hockey.

Maybe not.
<<<---- blood

[bwburke94]

Re: If baseball had a tenth defensive position...

As a Red Sox fan and having Jarred Saltalamacchia as our catcher. I'd opt for my 10 player to backup the catcher.

Which would be an automatic balk.
EDIT: And spell his name correctly, please.