Is Jones overrated Defensively?

[LookinUp]

His poor reads off the bat and poor first steps do.

His poor reads and first steps hurt his range. What's the cause of him having 3 balls hit the side of his glove instead of a very large pocket? I think it comes down to one of three categories:

1) maybe he just doesn't have great hand/eye coordination. I find this hard to believe, but you never know as it relates to this specific function.

2) it has something to do with his eyes. Could be depth perception. Could be that he's looking away at the last second a la a receiver dropping an easy pass. Could be that his eyes are bouncing while running.

3) maybe he loses focus at the last second. That could manifest itself in looking away at the last second or simply relaxing during an athletic play.

In almost any case, this is correctable and Jones should spend some time thinking about it and correcting it. Acknowledging that he should have caught those balls is fine, but understanding why he didn't is most important.

[El Gordo]

Vision bouncing is a very real thing. Just go outside and run with your mouth open, then close it. You'll notice the difference. If you don't, at least onlookers will get a laugh at your expense.

I seriously doubt anyone has ever studied the effects of bubble gum one way or the other, so to call it a myth is incorrect. It's a hypothesis. Nothing more or less.

Indeed it is, which is why Jones and DiMaggio glided after a ball and got criticized for it. I really don't notice Jones mouth open when he's running do you, or are you just making that up? If you kept your mouth open while running with bubble gum in it, it seems to me you might swallow it. Maybe you should try this at home and see.

[El Gordo]

His poor reads and first steps hurt his range. What's the cause of him having 3 balls hit the side of his glove instead of a very large pocket? I think it comes down to one of three categories:

1) maybe he just doesn't have great hand/eye coordination. I find this hard to believe, but you never know as it relates to this specific function.

2) it has something to do with his eyes. Could be depth perception. Could be that he's looking away at the last second a la a receiver dropping an easy pass. Could be that his eyes are bouncing while running.

3) maybe he loses focus at the last second. That could manifest itself in looking away at the last second or simply relaxing during an athletic play.

In almost any case, this is correctable and Jones should spend some time thinking about it and correcting it. Acknowledging that he should have caught those balls is fine, but understanding why he didn't is most important.

Not getting to the ball in time to be under control when making the catch, because the poor reads, and first steps, got you there late.

[Mayor McCheese]

Not getting to the ball in time to be under control when making the catch, because the poor reads, and first steps, got you there late.

To me its almost like he always tried to time it on the run instead of running hard and getting underneath it... why you may ask he does not get under neath the ball?... because its not look flashy enough!

Buck needs him to get his act together.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Poor reads, good reads. There are always balls that you are going to have to catch on the run at the last second. The read doesn't matter when it comes to actually catching the ball. That still doesn't explain that he's just plain MISSING the ball.

To some extent it does. But certainly not as many as we're seeing.

[glenn__davis]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I always actually found it much easier to catch the ball when you glide to it. It's smoother and allows you to track the ball better and adjust easier. If you're just standing still waiting, your feet get antsy, it's more difficult to make an adjustment if you misread.

I don't know - I have no problem with gliding to the ball. I do think image is important to Jones, but with all that stuff I don't think he's actually thinking "Hey, I need to look cool while I do this".

[El Gordo]

Poor reads, good reads. There are always balls that you are going to have to catch on the run at the last second. The read doesn't matter when it comes to actually catching the ball. That still doesn't explain that he's just plain MISSING the ball.

When you are trying to catch a ball at the edge of your extension it's always going to be hit or miss. If Jones got a better jump on the first inning ball, he would have caught it. When I played I would always run under control on a ball I thought I could get to easily because running hard to get there early, could cause me to lose sight of the ball. Jones' problem is he doesn't always judge correctly which balls he can get to easily.

[Ruzious]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I always actually found it much easier to catch the ball when you glide to it. It's smoother and allows you to track the ball better and adjust easier. If you're just standing still waiting, your feet get antsy, it's more difficult to make an adjustment if you misread.

I don't know - I have no problem with gliding to the ball. I do think image is important to Jones, but with all that stuff I don't think he's actually thinking "Hey, I need to look cool while I do this".

When I think of gliding, I picture someone not moving their feet - and floating through the air. I'm guessing your view of gliding is a bit different. :scratchchinhmm:

[El Gordo]

What I'm saying is that there are always going to be balls that you just barely get too and have to make a running catch on. You expect ML outfielders to catch those bals the great majority of the time. Jones is not doing that. Whether he could or should have gotten to the ball sooner and made an easier catch is a separate issue as far as I'm concerned. He got there and dropped it. He did it in the playoffs last year and it seems about 3-4 times already this year. ML outfielders, even if they get great jumps, are going to be in the position of having to make difficult catches on the full run or close to it. He was actually starting to slow down as he was attempting the catch last night or the collision with the wall would have been much worse.

I really get the idea you didn't play the OF very much.

[olehippi]

Those who expect perfection will always find failure.

IMO, Adam Jones is an well-above average CF'er who, of late “appears” to be having some difficulties defensively. I say he “appears” to be having problems because there are some many variables involved. Others have noted this and the "near misses" that result. If a certain batted ball may be uncatchable for many CF'ers, but the really good players, like Jones, seem to get a quicker jump and use speed to make those fly balls look catchable, even if they don't make the catch. Also, every player has their good and bad moments, but unless we are actually watching the game when those bad moments happen, we usually see only a player's good moments highlighted.

[DrungoHazewood]

Those who expect perfection will always find failure.

IMO, Adam Jones is an well-above average CF'er who, of late “appears” to be having some difficulties defensively. I say he “appears” to be having problems because there are some many variables involved. Others have noted this and the "near misses" that result. If a certain batted ball may be uncatchable for many CF'ers, but the really good players, like Jones, seem to get a quicker jump and use speed to make those fly balls look catchable, even if they don't make the catch. Also, every player has their good and bad moments, but unless we are actually watching the game when those bad moments happen, we usually see only a player's good moments highlighted.

It's not apparent to me that Jones is above average, nor that his difficulties are in holding onto balls that other MLB CFers wouldn't get to. If anything he's below average in first-step quickness and when he was younger he was faster and more able to make up for that weakness.

I don't think the preponderance of either objective or subjective evidence points to him being a good CFer any more. The debate is really "is he good enough with the bat to justify having his glove in center?"

[Why Not?]

It's not apparent to me that Jones is above average, nor that his difficulties are in holding onto balls that other MLB CFers wouldn't get to. If anything he's below average in first-step quickness and when he was younger he was faster and more able to make up for that weakness.

I don't think the preponderance of either objective or subjective evidence points to him being a good CFer any more. The debate is really "is he good enough with the bat to justify having his glove in center?"

.....and how much does the team lose/gain by moving Jones to LF and inserting a better defensive player with (likely) a weak bat.

[Orioles0615]

.....and how much does the team lose/gain by moving Jones to LF and inserting a better defensive player with (likely) a weak bat.

If for what ever reason he did move to left, which he won't, wouldn't they just switch him with Mclouth?

[slakattack]

If for what ever reason he did move to left, which he won't, wouldn't they just switch him with Mclouth?

Despite Jonsey's latest antics...Nate is a much worse fielder with a rag arm

[CA-ORIOLE]

Despite Jonsey's latest antics...Nate is a much worse fielder with a rag arm

Yeah, I don't think switching Mclouth and Jones nets us much, if anything at all. Just doesn't make sense. I'd prefer Jones in RF ultimately (maybe as soon as next year for me), but this is just something we're going to be dealing with.