Reds Plan To Be Shifty

The Reds are going to play the percentages on defense this season.

Jay Bell the bench coach, who came from the Arizona Diamondbacks, will guide the Reds' positioning on defense.

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A study of hitters around the league led by Sam Grossman, the Reds' Director of Baseball Research and Analysis, gives the Reds data that predict where opposing hitters are going to hit the ball.

Statistically, the Reds' defense fielded a higher percentage of batted balls than anyone else in baseball, indicating that the defensive players had a lot of range to get to balls.  Price and his staff want to give the players an even bigger advantage by shifting the infield and outfield according to the hitters' tendencies.

"The one thing that we can access through the compilation of data is where people will hit the highest percentage of area on the field.  We are going to be a little bit more inclined to defend the area the balls are hit," Price said.  "There will be times that they will beat the shift, but the data is pretty dramatic."

Price plans to explain this to his pitchers.

"Pitchers can be pretty tempermental about defensive alignment.  We know that," Price said.  "We want to have the discussion before hand not after, if the one in three line drives down the line."