OAKLAND, Calif. — Robinson Cano says he’s surprised to see opponents consistently employing defensive shifts — sometimes, extreme shifts — this season when he’s at the plate.
“Honestly, yes,” he said. “But that’s good. Let them keep doing that.”
Cano prides himself on hitting the ball to all fields and was often cited by teammates in the past as having the type of approach that forces opponents to play him straight up.
“It has been surprising that some teams have shifted him as much as they have,” manager Scott Servais said. “Everybody works off a different formula and the numbers they’re looking at for when they put severe shifts on.”
Cano is answering in the best way possible.
He had three hits Monday against Oakland, including a single when he just flicked the ball to the left side. He then hit two rockets to left field, a homer and double, on Tuesday against Athletics ace Sonny Gray.
Cano added two more hits up the middle in Wednesday’s 9-8 comeback victory, which completed a three-game sweep.
“I’m just trying to go with the pitch,” he said. “If it’s middle in, I try to pull it. If it’s middle away, I try to go with the pitch. If you try to go to left, and it’s inside, you’re going to jam yourself. I’d rather just go where the pitch is.”
So if opponents are going to shift, they’d better execute a pitch on the inner half of the plate, which is Cano’s hot zone. He entered Wednesday as the American League co-leader in home runs with nine and sole leader in RBI with 27.
Cano’s average is climbing, too. He’s up to .273 after a 14-for-37 stretch over the last nine games, which followed a feast-or-famine start to the season.
“The hits are coming,” Servais said. “By the end of the year, you’ll look up and (he’ll be where he always is). I’m excited about his production. His production has been outstanding in driving in runs.”
So much for the shift.
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