/ STAFF WRITER
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Clayton Kershaw is going to take some convincing.
“I think just mentally for me I can live with a hard-hit ball getting through a hole as opposed to a soft, cheap ground ball that goes through because no one is playing there because of a shift,” Kershaw said. “Mentally, it’s just easier for me to swallow. You start making excuses in your head like, ‘Ah, I made my pitch.’ You just don’t want to have that in the back of your mind. At least I don’t.”
The rising tide of analytics has washed onto the field with overshifted defenses becoming more common last season than ever.