The heart of this game is in the details, so if you look closely enough, you might see a Tigers player pull an index card out of his back pocket before any given pitch.



These index cards are the new Bible of positioning, and especially in the infield, they are integral to everything that’s going on.



“We’ve got it printed out every day,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Each player, where they’re supposed to play, and they know the numbers. Every one of them.”



Like plenty of teams in Major League Baseball, the Tigers are shifting more and more. It’s the analytics trend Gardenhire has bought into the most. It’s also an area where — yes — the Tigers are quite good.



Last season the Tigers shifted on 16.7 percent of opposing plate appearances, good for 15th in baseball. The Tigers also ranked No. 5 in FanGraphs’ Shift Runs Saved stat, which assigns positive credit for plays that get...