The Defense Thread, 2014

[Redskins Rick]

Ryan is awesome. He plays a fantastic 3B.

I still prefer Manny there.

[El Gordo]

Example no. 7,009 of why those numbers should be taken w a grain of salt.

We've all watched Markakis for years. Anybody else remember him looking as confused on a ball as Cruz did today? And trust me, this isn't a one off. This is how Cruz plays the outfield.

I take defensive metrics with a grain of salt. I just don't ignore them. They are good indicators of relative defensive ability in general. I have seen Markakis look bad in different ways in RF. He always looks like he runs with a load in his pants, and has trouble coming in on short fly balls. Pretty sure his poor numbers comes from poor range. He looks good catching what he can get to. I don't know if he is better or worse than Cruz, but the numbers tell me they are fairly close with the glove.

[Redskins Rick]

Not that far.... UZR ranked him 50th out of 62 qualified outfielders last year.

And the years before that?

[El Gordo]

Not that far.... UZR ranked him 50th out of 62 qualified outfielders last year.

That's interesting since Cruz didn't have enough PA to qualify last year. Out of 82 OF with 400 PA or more Cruz was #63 with -9.7 UZR and Markakis was #74 with - 14.1.

[Redskins Rick]

That's interesting since Cruz didn't have enough PA to qualify last year. Out of 82 OF with 400 PA or more Cruz was #63 with -9.7 UZR and Markakis was #74 with - 14.1.

What was the total number on that list?

[skanar]

That's interesting since Cruz didn't have enough PA to qualify last year. Out of 82 OF with 400 PA or more Cruz was #63 with -9.7 UZR and Markakis was #74 with - 14.1.

I just opened their fielding leaderboard and left the qualified criterion on... maybe it's by innings? Not sure how that happened...

[El Gordo]

I just opened their fielding leaderboard and left the qualified criterion on... maybe it's by innings? Not sure how that happened...

I used FanGraphs because they have UZR and qualifying is in terms of PA. Point is, Cruz isn't that good, but he is no worse than Markakis, and we don't have threads about how we hope Nick doesn't play much in RF and what a butcher he is. My guess is Cruz' hand eye coordination isn't as good as Nick's so he'll bobble some balls, but I think he gets better jumps and has better range. Both have good arms.

[Redskins Rick]

I used FanGraphs because they have UZR and qualifying is in terms of PA. Point is, Cruz isn't that good, but he is no worse than Markakis, and we don't have threads about how we hope Nick doesn't play much in RF and what a butcher he is. My guess is Cruz' hand eye coordination isn't as good as Nick's so he'll bobble some balls, but I think he gets better jumps and has better range. Both have good arms.

Nah, we save the tons of Nick threads about his batting and lack of speed.

Seriously, you are spot on.

Cruz was signed for his bat and that he hits LHP.

[Frobby]

Game 2, April 2

I only saw the back half of this game. Please add whatever I missed, good or bad.

The Sox broke this game open when Flaherty attempted a tough throw on a slow hopper with a runner on first. It's a tough play but one that Manny probably makes 19 of 20 times. Flaherty probably should have stuck the ball in his back pocket, but he threw a one-hopper that Crush had little chance to handle, so it's now 2nd and 3rd and one out. The next hitter singles to LF and when the runner on 2B tries to score, Lough makes an abysmal throw that is probably 6-7 feet into foul territory when it's cut off. A good throw might well have nailed the runner. Later in the inning, with two on, Webb induced a comebacker that should have been a tailor made DP ball, but he seemed to be too casual in gloving the ball, dropped it and had to settle for one out instead of an inning ending DP. Very ragged inning.

On the plus side, earlier in the game Davis stabbed a grounder and threw from his knees at a tough angle to start a 3-6-1 double play. Excellent play all around, with Hardy making a tough turn and Jimenez did a great job of getting to 1B in a hurry.

[eddie83]

Game 2, April 2

I only saw the back half of this game. Please add whatever I missed, good or bad.

The Sox broke this game open when Flaherty attempted a tough throw on a slow hopper with a runner on first. It's a tough play but one that Manny probably makes 19 of 20 times. Flaherty probably should have stuck the ball in his back picket, but he threw a one-hopper that Crush had little chance to handle, so it's now 2nd and 3rd and one out. The next hitter singles to LF and when the runner on 2B tries to score, Lough makes an abysmal throw that is probably 6-7 feet into foul territory when it's cut off. A good throw might well have nailed the runner.

Very ragged inning.

I might be wrong but it seems like to me that defense in general is poorer in April than any other month-don't know if the numbers would back me up or not. Tonight wasn't a real cold night though.

I was very surprised at Lough's throw. I didn't have an issue with Ryan trying to make that play.

[malkusm]

Game 2, April 2

I only saw the back half of this game. Please add whatever I missed, good or bad.

The Sox broke this game open when Flaherty attempted a tough throw on a slow hopper with a runner on first. It's a tough play but one that Manny probably makes 19 of 20 times. Flaherty probably should have stuck the ball in his back pocket, but he threw a one-hopper that Crush had little chance to handle, so it's now 2nd and 3rd and one out. The next hitter singles to LF and when the runner on 2B tries to score, Lough makes an abysmal throw that is probably 6-7 feet into foul territory when it's cut off. A good throw might well have nailed the runner.

Very ragged inning.

Great play in the 6th by Davis at first. Diving stop to his right side**, throw to second from his knees to start the 3-6-1 DP.

Edited - Thought Davis was left-handed since he bats that way but he's definitely wearing the glove on his left hand. Backhanded diving stop which makes it a bit more impressive.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I might be wrong but it seems like to me that defense in general is poorer in April than any other month-don't know if the numbers would back me up or not. Tonight wasn't a real cold night though.

I was very surprised at Lough's throw. I didn't have an issue with Ryan trying to make that play.

Same here. That was a horrible effort.

[Frobby]

Same here. That was a horrible effort.

It was, but anyone can make a bad throw once in a while. Hopefully we'll see a lot better from Lough.

[The Wedge]

Same here. That was a horrible effort.

At least he didn't spike himself.

[Going Underground]

At least he didn't spike himself.

I was at the game and was suprised they sent Pedroia. He was barely making it to third when Lough got to the ball. I know McClouth had a weak arm but I am not sure about Lough. I think he was all revved up and sort of rushed himself. Had an ugly game in general . Bunt in first inning was terrible. One game and see where it goes. The top of the seventh was ugly on defense.