Deconstructing Ian Kinsler’s Defense (Or Lack Thereof)

See anything fishy right off the bat? If not, you probably should. Kinsler has already committed more throwing errors in 734 innings played in the field this season than in the 1,136 innings he posted in the field in 2007, and is on pace to set new career highs in both areas. But what’s even more startling is his apparent statistical regression range-wise, something I did not expect to see when poring over this data.

Not only has Kinsler’s RZR gone significantly backwards (ranking a dismal ninth out of 10 qualifying AL second basemen, and 18th out of 22 qualifying ML second basemen), but with 86 games of the Rangers’ 162-game Major League schedule in the books, Kinsler is well behind his career-high 2007 pace where OOZ is concerned. That’s more than a little troubling, particularly given that Chris Dial’s Defensive Runs Saved metric already pegged Ian as a slightly below-average defensive second baseman last season.