nbcwashington.com/Needham: Defense First for Nats

I didn’t realize Chris Needham had a gig with the local NBC affiliate…

After the number crunching is done, it gives an estimate for how good or bad a fielder is compared to his peers. It ain’t perfect, but it’s a good estimate.

The main Nats centerfielders (Dukes and Milledge) are basically 20-25 runs below an average centerfielder. That’s a lot of balls dropping that others would’ve caught, which can’t help a young pitching staff that’s developing on the fly.

Nyjer Morgan, on the other hand, has some impressive defensive statistics. While he hasn’t played a ton of centerfield (owing to the Buccos having an All-Star there), he’s a wiz in left. And when he’s played center, he’s been on the order of 20 runs better than average.

Even if you assume that he can’t keep that pace up for a full season and he’s only 10 runs better than average, that’s a 30-run improvement over Milledge and Dukes. That’s a lot of extra outs. And that’s why, even if the names going back and forth don’t make much sense, it should help the Nats’ on-field product, and the development of those young arms.