Teams relying on shift more often

Several times a game, Nolan Arenado takes a couple of giant steps to his left and fills the hole at shortstop.

A necessary evil for the Colorado Rockies Gold Glove third baseman, who doesn’t particularly care for the view from that spot. But he is on board with anything that gets outs.

The Rockies are among the teams utilizing the shift more often this season, relying on analytics to be more aggressive on defense. Through Sunday, Colorado has shifted the infield 141 times on balls in play and is on pace for 816, which is seven times the Rockies’ total last year and by far the highest percentage increase in the majors, according to Baseball Info Solutions. The next closest is Arizona, which is on pace for 659 shifts, 2.6 times more than a season ago.

As a whole, moving infielders from left to right – or right to left – and back again is trending up across the majors. So far, teams have shifted on 3,395 balls in play this year, which factors out to 17,666 times over a 162-game season.

That is on pace to be up nearly 33 percent from last year’s total of 13,298. There were only 2,357 shifts in 2011.

Besides the Rockies and Diamondbacks, other teams relying on the shift more often include Detroit (on pace for 532), Cincinnati (502) and San Diego (491).

For some fielders, moving even the slightest bit can be awkward. That’s the case for Arenado, one of the top fielding third basemen. When he moves over to the shortstop hole with a pull-prone left-handed hitter up, he feels out of sorts.

“Your instincts are a little different, because you’re like, ‘I usually don’t make this throw,’ ” Arenado said. “You definitely have to get used to it.”

The Pittsburgh Pirates employ a different approach. Rather than move shortstop Jordy Mercer more toward second and third baseman Josh Harrison to the shortstop hole, they simply bump Harrison all the way over to the middle.

That way, it’s just one player out of position instead of two.

Hamilton closer to Rangers return

Josh Hamilton is getting closer to the Texas Rangers’ home ballpark.

The Rangers said that Hamilton will report to Double-A Frisco after the end of Triple-A Round Rock’s homestand.

Hamilton is expected to play Saturday and Sunday for the RoughRiders, then have Monday off before scheduled games Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Rangers will then determine whether Hamilton needs more games in the minors or is ready to get back to the major leagues.

Clearing the bases

The Red Sox have placed RHP Justin Masterson on the 15-day disabled list and recalled left-handed reliever Robbie Ross Jr. … RHP Kyuji Fujikawa was activated from the 15-day disabled list, and the Japanese reliever made his debut for the Rangers, pitching a scoreless inning. … Atlanta LHP Mike Minor will miss the rest of the season after shoulder surgery. … The Cardinals have placed outfielder Jon Jay on the 15-day DL with tendinitis in his left wrist. … Mets center fielder Juan Lagares missed his third straight game because of a strained right side.