Three St. Louis Cardinals infielders toed the grass between second base and first at Citi Field on Monday night, standing within a few feet of each other, like wide receivers bunched along the line of scrimmage.
It was an exaggerated defensive shift and, at the plate, Lucas Duda might have been questioning if his vision was sound. There appeared to be three second basemen, nobody within 10 feet of where the shortstop normally stood and a third baseman holding Curtis Granderson hard to the bag at third.
Even more than usual, the formation teased Duda: Go the other way if you can.