Cleveland — For as much as it’s debated within the organization, heatedly at times, as much time and manpower is spent on it, as much analytical data is generated for it, the Tigers don’t overshift on defense all that much.
According Statcast and FanGraphs, the Tigers use a shifted defense 11.5 percent of the time — 325 total shifts going into Friday's game against the Indians. That ranks 24th in the Major Leagues. The vast majority of those shifts are against left-handed hitters.
And, it’s been relatively successful. Opponents’ slash-line against the Tigers’ shift is .