Using general college baseball statistics, the shift prevents a minimum of .7 runs per game. That equates to 38 runs per regular season saved.
The shift improves a defense’s odds. It doesn’t guarantee that a hit won’t avoid it. As alluded to earlier, it’s a lot easier to recognize the hit that beats the shift than the routine play that was enabled because of it.
Ever play poker and know that the odds were prohibitively in your favor but lose to a “bad beat?” The concept is the same when a pull hitter hits an “excuse me” hit to the opposite side.
A college coaching staff, whose livelihoods depend upon winning, would be foolish not to shift when a batter’s stats called for it.