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Monday, June 07, 2010

Weekly DRS Update (Defensive Stats through games of June 6, 2010)

Google Doc of DRS

Best defensive player in the NL thus far has been Chase Utley, which is pretty typical.  Chase is several runs ahead of the Angel Pagan, Andres Torres and Matt Holliday.  The player with the worst DRS is Pittsburgh’s Aki Iwamura, but that whole Pirate team is a mess.  Honorable mention to the Bucs’ Lastings Milledge and the Astros’ Carlos Lee.  The surprise here is Pedro Feliz.  Maybe he finally hit the wall, but he has always been a very good defensive player and as yet has struggled. 
From a team perspective, the Giants have the best looking defense thus far.  One of the natural debates revolves around the bias from strikeout staves and, well, good pitchers generating easier chances.  The Pirates are far behind, generating about five wins between the two teams on defense alone.

Best defensive player in the AL has been Alberto Callaspo for the Royals.  At the other end of the spectrum, Howie Kendrick has clearly heard enough about Derek Jeter’s weak defense and has gone screaming past him with extra poor performance.  Kendrick had a very bad week afield. 

Team-wise, the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners have performed the best and neither is a surprise.  The team at the bottom is the Cleveland Indians, which is unusual for them.  They have played only half as bad as the Pirates.

For your enjoyment, here is the Fangraphs leaderboard and the TZ leaderboard at Baseball-Reference.  The biggest difference I can spot is Carl Crawford leads both of those ratings, and is a +2 (a difference of about 6 runs).

Chris Dial Posted: June 07, 2010 at 01:35 PM | 17 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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   1. Chris Dial Posted: June 07, 2010 at 02:33 PM (#3552195)
Well, I definitely need a shorter article title...
   2. Shooty would run in but these bone spurs hurt! Posted: June 07, 2010 at 02:46 PM (#3552205)
Can Pittsburgh really be that bad? They're lapping the field!
   3. 1k5v3L Posted: June 07, 2010 at 03:43 PM (#3552288)
So, the M's are great with the gloves. How come they suck?
   4. RJ in TO Posted: June 07, 2010 at 03:51 PM (#3552298)
Best defensive player in the AL has been Alberto Callaspo for the Royals.

Isn't this the same Callaspo that has been repeatedly talked-down by the Royals because of his defense at 2B? They really don't know what they're doing, do they?
   5. Shooty would run in but these bone spurs hurt! Posted: June 07, 2010 at 03:55 PM (#3552302)
So, the M's are great with the gloves. How come they suck?

Are you joking? You can't even hit a ball past the pitcher with a glove. It's too soft!
   6. Harveys Wallbangers Posted: June 07, 2010 at 04:08 PM (#3552318)
Gotta wonder how much Milwaukee's bad outfield plays a role in the pitching issues?

I still remember Sheehan raving about Corey Hart's defense years back and wondering what the h*ll he was referencing. Hart has a poor arm and after a few injuries has become even more wall shy. He's fine coming in but a disaster going back on a ball. Gomez has also been a real disappointment. He keeps misjudging balls and having to leap to snare them before they go over his head. And obviously he isn't always successful.
   7. 1k5v3L Posted: June 07, 2010 at 04:22 PM (#3552333)

Isn't this the same Callaspo that has been repeatedly talked-down by the Royals because of his defense at 2B? They really don't know what they're doing, do they?
He's mostly played at 3b this year.
   8. RJ in TO Posted: June 07, 2010 at 04:26 PM (#3552340)
He's mostly played at 3b this year.

I know. It was more a comment about how the Royals had an obvious asset that they seemed determined to turn into a non-asset - they replaced Callaspo at 2B with an obviously inferior hitter in the offseason, and were talking about him as a bench guy for a while.
   9. bads85 Posted: June 07, 2010 at 04:27 PM (#3552342)
Can Pittsburgh really be that bad? They're lapping the field!


So much for the new management's blueprint.
   10. Norcan Posted: June 07, 2010 at 04:28 PM (#3552345)
Isn't this the same Callaspo that has been repeatedly talked-down by the Royals because of his defense at 2B? They really don't know what they're doing, do they?


Is this sarcastic, because he was legitimately awful at second base last year, empirically and statistically. Or maybe you don't know that his stellar defense is coming at third, not second. His poor defense in the majors prior to this year was mystifying. In the minors he was said to be a solid shortstop who moved off the position because of Erick Aybar and then played a good second base. How did he go from there to an awful second baseman with stone hands?
   11. Chris Dial Posted: June 07, 2010 at 04:51 PM (#3552388)
His strength at SS (and I don't know) could be arm strength. That has impact at third that it wouldn't have at second. If range is the issue, then 3B will mitigate that.
   12. Rally Posted: June 07, 2010 at 05:04 PM (#3552401)
Are you joking? You can't even hit a ball past the pitcher with a glove. It's too soft!


Not true. I've seen Vlad Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, and Gary Matthews Jr. hit the ball pretty far with their gloves. The Mariners are just weak. Must be the revolutionary idea of no weights in the exercise room.
   13. Chris Dial Posted: June 07, 2010 at 08:31 PM (#3552673)
Jim and I are in discussions to set a permalink to update on the front page, but I think that having all the weeks in one doc may show us things about the swings of a week or month that happens over the course of a season.

I hope the present presentation is to everyone's liking.
   14. Russ Posted: June 08, 2010 at 04:38 PM (#3553676)
So much for the new management's blueprint.


You really need to take into account Chris's comment about the effect of poor pitching on the defense. Something is awry with the Pirates right now, but it's very difficult to suss out whether it is the pitching or the defense. For example, there was NO indication that McCutchen should be a -6 during his minor league time, I mean that almost doesn't make any sense given his raw athletic ability. I think the Pirates are really a hot mess right now in the field (pitching and defense), so sophisticated models are going to break down.
   15. Ron Johnson Posted: June 08, 2010 at 04:47 PM (#3553706)
By the way Chris I approve of the new organization. The use of colors makes it a heck of a lot easier to read the multi-column format.
   16. Mr Dashwood Posted: June 14, 2010 at 06:49 PM (#3558927)
Time for a weekly update, no?
   17. Foghorn Leghorn Posted: June 14, 2010 at 07:08 PM (#3558942)
You really need to take into account Chris's comment about the effect of poor pitching on the defense. Something is awry with the Pirates right now, but it's very difficult to suss out whether it is the pitching or the defense. For example, there was NO indication that McCutchen should be a -6 during his minor league time, I mean that almost doesn't make any sense given his raw athletic ability. I think the Pirates are really a hot mess right now in the field (pitching and defense), so sophisticated models are going to break down.
Russ, Mike E. has noted something about the Pittsburgh OF in the past. However, McLouth is still staggering. McCutcheon's raw speed doesn't make him a good fielder (I know you know). And -6 could easily be a reflection of the balance between LDs from a weak pitching staff and FBs from a better one. There is little I can do about a mid-season balance of BIP.

We'll see how he ends up (but this week is even worse for Pittsburgh).

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