Fangraphs: Victimized By Infield Hits

http://www.fangraphs.com/community/victimized-by-infield-hits/

We see it every night. A weak groundball to a defensively incapable player, a broken-bat roller behind the mound into no-man's-land, a slap hit into the vacated area caused by the shift, a tomahawk chop resulting in a dirt-bounce that goes 20 feet upward. Not good enough to be a true hit, not bad enough to be an error. Infield hits are awkward.

"It'll look like a line drive in the box score," the broadcasters chirp happily. And while that's very true, I would argue that infield hits are ESPECIALLY demoralizing for pitchers. Usually, the pitcher made a quality pitch, got the groundball he was looking for, and had little control over the infield defensive positioning or assignments. But because the official scorer ruled the play too difficult for a fielder to make, any runs driven in by the infield hit or resulting later in the inning will be earned.

Infield hits are the result of bad defensive skill, poor defensive positioning, poor use of the shift, sloppy weather conditions, speedy runners, jittery infielders, and/or good old fashioned bad luck.

Zach Britton has more saves than hits allowed past the infield. Wow.