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Analytics, Roster Construction and the New Shift Rule




I've been wondering about Astro's analytics and the New Shift Rule. Suppose a situation where a LH batter comes up who pulls his ground balls at a rate that up until now would call fo a shift. I assume the Astro's will station the SS as near to the 2nd base boundary line as permitted. Who should that be? Should Pena play 2nd with his better range and Altuve play at the boundary? How often would Altuve need to make a long throw vs how many extra balls would Pena get to?

How does the new rule figure into the evaluation of potential 1Bmen? Is range now important enough to tip the scales? How does Yuli's range compare to Rizzo's or Bell's?

There is some very interesting analytic work to be done.