Jul 13, 2016 6 min read

During his five seasons as manager of the Traverse City Beach Bums, Gregg Langbehn didn’t utilize a defensive shift – positioning of three infielders on the same side of the diamond – against an opposing batter.

After two years away from the Frontier League, Langbehn’s philosophy on defensive alignments has, well, shifted.

Langbehn has employed infield shifts extensively in his first season as manager of the Wild Things. It’s part of a trend that started less than a decade ago at the major league level and has trickled down to the minors, including the independent leagues.

Since hiring Clint Hurdle as manager for the 2011 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the most aggressive major-league teams when it comes to employing shifts. The Wild Things, who won 5-0 against Schaumburg late Saturday night, are quickly becoming the Frontier League’s version of the Pirates, often positioning shortstop Austin Wobrock behind or on the right-field side of second base against left-handed pull hitters. Washington even has used a defensive shift to the opposite side against right-handers.

“Studying it, and seeing how much guys hit into the shift has made me change my mind about it,” Langbehn said. “There are more left-handed hitters who are pull guys, and that has carried over to this league.”

Washington is not the only team in the Frontier League utilizing shifts. Little by little, other teams are employing their own versions of “The Shift,” though some are not as drastic as Washington’s, which often places the second baseman in shallow right field.

“It at least impacts the psyche of the hitter,” Langbehn said. “When we think the guy is going to pull the ball, then we’re going to move our defense to where we think we can be best positioned.”

Langbehn said there is more information available to Frontier League managers these days to help them decide where to position fielders. The league uses Pointstreak Sports Technologies as its statistical service, and the official scorer at each ballpark notes where every ball put in play is hit. As a result, managers can generate a spray chart for every opposing hitter with a simple click of a computer mouse, analyze the data and create a defensive game plan for each batter.

“There is more information out there,” Langbehn said. “Now, how accurate is that information, I don’t know. But it’s something I look at all the time. We’ve been beaten by shifting, but for the most part our middle infielders have done a good job of communicating and positioning themselves according to the hitter and the pitch count.”

The rainout Thursday at Joliet means Washington, if it plays all 96 regular-season games and has no additional weather-related changes in the schedule, will have 49 home games and 47 on the road. Because the Wild Things have no more trips to Joliet, the game will be made up Aug. 26 as part of a doubleheader at Consol Energy Park.

It will be the second of two doubleheaders that week for Washington. The Wild Things host Traverse City in a twinbill Aug. 23. They also will play two games Aug. 9 at home against Lake Erie. That includes the resumption of a suspended game.

The Wild Things will benefit from having an off day before each of those doubleheaders. The day before the twinbill against Joliet is the only Thursday the Wild Things have off the entire season.

“It will be interesting how it plays out with our rotation,” Langbehn admitted. “If everybody stays healthy, we’ll have enough pitching for that stretch. I’ve never been a fan of doubleheaders because it always seems like you split.”

With Matt Sergey (2014-15) recently joining the Oakland Athletics organization, the Wild Things have six former players and a former manager currently either in the major or minor leagues, plus a pitcher playing professionally in the Mexican League.

• Pitcher Vidal Nuno (2011) has pitched in 29 games out of the bullpen for the Seattle Mariners. The lefty is 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA. The Wild Things’ opening day starter in 2011, Nuno has 33 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Nuno pitched in his 100th career major league game Sunday, throwing one scoreless inning against Baltimore.

• Outfielder Stewart Ijames (2013-14) has settled into a starting role for the Mobile BayBears, the Class AA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ijames is batting .268 with 12 doubles and is second on the team with 10 home runs.

• Outfielder Quincy Latimore (2013) is in his sixth season in the Class AA Eastern League and second with the Bowie Baysox, an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Latimore is batting .213 with nine home runs and 30 RBI.

• Chris Smith (2011-12) is having a stellar season pitching in relief for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Toronto Blue Jays’ affiliate in the Eastern League. Smith has pitched in 26 games out of the bullpen for New Hampshire and has a 1-2 record with three saves. He has 50 strikeouts in only 39 innings. Opponents are batting .212 against Smith.

• Former Wild Things manager Darin Everson (2010-11) is having an interesting season as the manager of the Hartford Yard Goats, the Colorado Rockies’ affiliate in the Eastern League. Everson managed the New Britain Rock Cats last season but the franchise relocated to Hartford this year. However, a new stadium in Hartford remains unfinished and legal issues have left the stadium padlocked and work stopped. It is not clear when the stadium will be completed and opened.

Meanwhile, the Yard Goats have played 85 games as a traveling team and put together a 46-39 record.

• Pitcher Michael Hepple (2013) has pitched for Class AA Binghamton and Class A St. Lucie, of the Florida State League. Hepple has a combined 2-4 record and 6.21 ERA.

• Sergey, who pitched the only perfect game in Frontier League history for the Wild Things against Gateway in August 2014, made his debut Monday with Stockton of the Class A California League. He pitched five innings against Lake Elsinore and did not get a decision. He allowed three hits, two runs and one walk with six strikeouts.

• Former Wild Things pitcher Ernesto Zaragoza (2015) signed in the offseason with Aquascalientes of the Mexican League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Zaragoza has made 13 starts and has a 6-3 record and 3.83 ERA.