Defensive Wizard

Kyle Farmer’s versatility helped him reach the Major Leagues

Farmer played all four infield positions plus catcher this season with the OKC Dodgers. Photo by OKC Dodgers.

Over the last number of years, defensive strategies have shifted in a number of ways throughout Major League Baseball.

Besides the now typical defensive realignment based on a batter’s tendencies, the use of players who can play multiple positions has seen the biggest rise.

Kyle Farmer — a utility man for the Oklahoma City Dodgers, who is currently with the Los Angeles Dodgers after a September call-up — is a prime example.

With OKC this year, Farmer played all four infield positions, plus catcher.

Having that much versatility helped Farmer make the 2018 Opening Day roster for the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he has played first and third base, as well as catcher.

“It helps the manager out with so much flexibility,” Farmer said. “You can play anywhere at any point in the game, especially in the National League with so many switches happening.”

After completing a four-year career at Georgia — primarily as a shortstop — the Dodgers drafted Farmer as a catcher in the eighth round of the 2013 MLB June Draft — a position he had never played.

Farmer has a .993 fielding percentage in 331 games played at catcher in the Minors. Photo by OKC Dodgers.

Farmer said that learning how to block balls in the dirt and gain hip flexibility were the toughest parts about the switch.

“At shortstop you’re used to catching groundballs with your glove and not stopping them with your chest,” Farmer said. “I had to get out of the habit of picking sliders out of the dirt.”

However, an area of catching that Farmer was familiar with is pitch sequencing. This is the practice of how a pitcher and catcher attack a hitter with different pitches. As a shortstop, Farmer learned how to read a hitter’s swing and decipher his approach, i.e., where he wants to try and hit the ball.

So, when Farmer took on catching duties full-time, this was part of the game he latched on to.

“I enjoy catching because it’s a team inside of a team,” Farmer said. “You’re working with a pitcher trying to get him through the inning without any damage.”

Learning to play catcher has not only helped Farmer stay on the field defensively, but it has also helped him get better at the plate as a hitter — learning more closely how opposing pitchers and catchers are attacking him.

In 503 career games in the Minors, Farmer has a career slash line of .295/.347/.441 with 33 home runs and 145 doubles.

It wasn’t until the 2015 season that the Dodgers decided to make Farmer a utility man and let him play the infield again. Instead of moving back to shortstop, however, he started playing third base when he wasn’t catching.

“The big difference is it’s more of a reaction at third,” Farmer said. “Whereas at shortstop there is more technique to get around the ball. At third you just have to react to it and get your glove down to it.”

Since the initial move back to the infield, Farmer has seen his versatility increase exponentially — which leaves Farmer juggling between four different gloves.

“I don’t have a first baseman’s glove. I use Travis Taijeron’s,” Farmer said. “He’s got the best one on the team. I use the same infield glove all around the infield and I have two catcher’s mitts as well.”

The former collegiate shortstop has now played all four infield positions in the Minors. Photo by OKC Dodgers.

Even with the carousel of gloves, Farmer is still able to play at a high level defensively everywhere he goes. In 2018 between OKC and Los Angeles, Farmer only made four errors in 738.2 innings, as of Sept. 20.

Now that Farmer is back big in the big leagues with Los Angeles, he doesn’t forget how the shift in defensive strategies helped him get there.

“The fact that I’m playing more positions helped me get to the big leagues,” Farmer said. “It is a huge advantage.”