{"id":402,"date":"2018-02-27T08:06:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T13:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/?p=402"},"modified":"2018-02-27T02:07:32","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T07:07:32","slug":"4-position-players-shifting-around-the-diamond-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/2018\/02\/27\/4-position-players-shifting-around-the-diamond-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"4 position players shifting around the diamond in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who has been to a professional baseball game has heard David Bowie\u2019s \u201cChanges\u201d blaring during a pitching change. But in 2018, change brings on new meaning across Major League Baseball with a host of prominent players making a switch in the position they play.<\/p>\n

With strange house cleanings across the league during the offseason, new prospects rising through the ranks and age also factoring in, some veteran players are being left with the choice of sitting on the bench more than they\u2019d like (and more than fans would like) or learning a \u201cnew\u201d position.<\/p>\n

Factor in the underwhelming free agent season that occurred during the offseason, some teams are also left wanting more at certain positions. Here are the players who are making the biggest changes across the MLB.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Brewers have an overcrowding issue in the outfield. and while it is a good problem to have, it’s a problem nonetheless.<\/p>\n

After making a deal to acquire Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins on January 25 and also signing veteran outfielder Lorenzo Cain to a five-year, $80 million, the Brewers were left with six outfielders for three spots. How do you fit everyone into that situation as one big happy family? Someone had to move.<\/p>\n

To do this, the Brewers will utilize Braun at least part-time at first base, a position that he has never played before. Braun seemed to be in good spirits when talking to Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel<\/em> about the different equipment that he would need for the new position.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Zack Cozart, Los Angeles Angels<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cozart is making the most common move for a position player – the move from shortstop to third base. The 32-year-old Cozart is starting to reach the latter stages of his career and is coming over from the Cincinnati Reds after spending eight years as the shortstop, batting .253 for his career.<\/p>\n

Cozart is joining a star-studded infield after the Angels traded for Ian Kinsler to bring him over from the Detroit Tigers, and mainstay Andrelton Simmons, who was never a candidate to move given his reputation as an elite defender at shortstop. This leaves Cozart to move to third, a position he has not played professionally. Other notable veterans who have made the move from shortstop to third base include Alex Rodriguez and Cal Ripken Jr.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dee Gordon, Seattle Mariners<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gordon is making perhaps the most drastic move out of all of the position changes in baseball this coming season. It\u2019s typical to see older players transition to first base or the designated hitter role in the American League. It\u2019s just a little less common is it for a middle infielder to transition to the outfield, which is exactly what Gordon is doing.<\/p>\n

Not long after the Marlins traded Gordon to Seattle, it was announced that Gordon would move to center field. That gives Gordon, who batted .308 and swiped 60 bases last year, about four months to figure out how to judge fly balls and how to hit the cutoff man. Gordon\u2019s speed is exactly what managers hope for in a center fielder, and according to Statcast\u2019s sprint speed metric, Gordon was fourth in the big leagues with an average of 29.7 feet covered per second at top speed, which will be a welcome sight to manager Scott Servais.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hoskins is a first baseman by trade but he is also the low man on the totem pole in Philadelphia now that the Phillies have signed Carlos Santana. Hoskins saw 50 games in the major leagues in 2017, in which he clubbed 18 home runs and drove in 48 runs. The efficiency brought new life to a frustrated fan base.<\/p>\n

But with the addition of the veteran Santana, it\u2019s tough to make the argument to keep Hoskins at first base and the thin outfield depth chart gives the Phillies\u2019 new manager Gabe Kapler plenty of incentive to make the move. With Hoskins in the outfield, Philadelphia will only have four outfielders on the depth chart, leaving plenty of opportunity for Hoskins to pick up where he left off in 2018 at the plate in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who has been to a professional baseball game has heard David Bowie\u2019s \u201cChanges\u201d blaring during a pitching change. But in 2018, change brings on new meaning across Major League Baseball with a host of prominent players making a switch in the position they play. With strange house cleanings across the league during the offseason,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3935,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[109,55,108,107],"class_list":["post-402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-seattle-mariners"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3935"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions\/424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/sportsreporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}