If you've watched enough Twins games this season, you're accustomed to seeing the Twins shift — or Twins opponents shift their defense when hitters such as Logan Morrison step to the plate.
It has become routine, sometimes at the chagrin of baseball purists. The Twins did something related in Monday's loss to the Brewers that isn't as common as the shift, but is a technique a few teams employ from time to time — playing four outfielders.
The Twins had four players spread across the outfield and only three in the infield for one plate appearance from Eric Thames on Monday.
What was the Twins' thinking behind this?
One reason may be that in 145 plate appearances this season, Thames, a lefthanded batter, has hit only two ground balls to the third-base side of the infield, according to his spray chart on Fangraphs.com. But Thames has hit enough line drives and fly balls to left field to make the Twins respect his ability to reach the outfield from there.
In other words, the Twins placed the seven fielders against Thames in the most likely spots he will hit the ball — across the outfield and the right side of the infield. Thames walked in that appearance.
The Twins haven't deployed the four-outfielder formation that often. The only other hitters who have faced four outfielders against the Twins were the Mariners' Kyle Seager and the Blue Jays' Justin Smoak, according to Statcast.
Per Statcast, only six teams have had four outfielders at various times this season. The Astros have done it just as often as the Twins have, primarily against Rangers pull-hitting slugger Joey Gallo. They even pulled out four outfielders for a few at-bats against Morrison back in April.