The Defense Thread, 2015

[Redskins Rick]

I know it's a SSS, but I think Reimold has matured as an outfielder and is playing plus defense.

Yes, I know, he got turned around on one, but heck, even AJ does.

He got on his horse and tracked down several, and if he keeps that up, Lough will only need to defensive sub the other corner OF position.

[Frobby]

I know it's a SSS, but I think Reimold has matured as an outfielder and is playing plus defense.

Yes, I know, he got turned around on one, but heck, even AJ does.

He got on his horse and tracked down several, and if he keeps that up, Lough will only need to defensive sub the other corner OF position.

I thought Reimold was looking pretty good defensively in 2012 before his neck injury. And I remember that in 2013 or 2014, someone made a comment about Urrutia watching Reimold play LF in Norfolk and being told by his coach, "that's what a major league outfielder looks like." So, I think he has improved a good deal from the shaky fielder we saw earlier in his career.

[Frobby]

- In the first inning, Young misplayed a ricochet off the wall so badly that Jones had to roam far into RF to retrieve it. Jones made a strong throw home but the runner beat it.

- Pearce at 1B grabbed a grounder towards the hole and threw strongly to Manny to nab Tex running from 2nd to 3rd.L

[Scrat1]

- In the first inning, Young misplayed a ricochet off the wall so badly that Jones had to roam far into RF to retrieve it. Jones made a strong throw home but the runner beat it.

- Pearce at 1B grabbed a grounder towards the hole and threw strongly to Manny to nab Tex running from 2nd to 3rd.L

Smart play by Flaherty and Pearce to double up on Cabrera at first too.

[Frobby]

- Chen helped himself twice by covering 1B, once on a DP.

- Flaherty made several nice plays on grounders towards 1B.

- Reimold threw out a runner at 2B on a nice tag by Hardy as Utley over slid the base just slightly.

- Manny made a nice stop and throw from deep 3B.

10 consecutive errorless games.

[backwardsk]

The Chen cover on the DP shouldn't go unnoticed. He sprinted to the bag, set himself up, and stretched to meet the ball. Earlier this season, there was a key play where Tillman casually got to the bag, stretched before he could read the throw and he couldn't come up with Manny's tailing throw. It extended the inning and turned the game into a loss. This team as a whole is a playing a more crisper brand of baseball.

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[Frobby]

June 17

The 9th inning got interesting. After a leadoff walk:

- Davis took a grounder and made a good relay to Hardy, but Britton got a late start to 1B and Hardy wisely ate it instead of trying to lead Britton.

- Manny tried to cut off a grounder headed towards Hardy, but it tipped off his glove and it left runners on the corners.

- Flaherty handled a chopper, tagged the runner as he tried to jump out of reach, and made a tricky throw to Davis that completed a game-ending DP.

Though I didn't see it, Wieters made a throwing error on the first stolen base attempt off him of the year, allowing the runner to get to third base, and the runner later scored on a wild pitch. Wieters also failed to nab a second runner on a stolen base later.

[backwardsk]

First batter of the game, JJ made a nice throw deep in the hole to get Revere.

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[El Gordo]

June 17

The 9th inning got interesting. After a leadoff walk:

- Davis took a grounder and made a good relay to Hardy, but Britton got a late start to 1B and Hardy wisely ate it instead of trying to lead Britton.

- Manny tried to cut off a grounder headed towards Hardy, but it tipped off his glove and it left runners on the corners.

- Flaherty handled a chopper, tagged the runner as he tried to jump out of reach, and made a tricky throw to Davis that completed a game-ending DP.

Though I didn't see it, Wieters made a throwing error on the first stolen base attempt off him of the year, allowing the runner to get to third base, and the runner later scored on a wild pitch. Wieters also failed to nab a second runner on a stolen base later.

Flaherty made a great catch going into the stands in the 2cnd Inning?

[Palmoripken]

A little ugly tonight with Matt's throwing error and Manny's boot but two nice ones by Flash including the game ender and the one Gordo mentioned in the 2nd or 3rd.

[Frobby]

- Manny made a nice play on a hard-hit short hop to his backhand side.

- In the 9th, with a runner on 1st, Reyes hit a routine chopper to Flaherty. However, Davis didn't retreat to 1B, Britton was slow to cover, and Reyes beat Britton to the bag. Very frustrating play to watch.

[Frobby]

June 23

- Hardy made a tremendous throw grabbing a ball up the middle and a super quick release with a lot of zip to nab Pedroia by inches in the 6th.

- Snider made a very weak throw from shallow LF and Ramirez was able to score from 2B on a single.

[Frobby]

June 24

Defense arguably cost us the game tonight. In the 6th, Davis fielded a routine grounder but the ball dropped out of his glove as he started to run to 1B, and Norris was slow covering so De Aza beat the relay throw. It went as an error on Davis but the pocket of his glove broke on the play and Norris was partially at fault.

Next batter, Caleb Joseph has a pretty egregious passed ball that puts the runner on second. Leon makes a nice bunt that Norris tries to barehand but misses, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out when it should have been two out Abd none on. The Sox then scored five unearned runs. Game over.

[webbrick2010]

JJ has a range factor of 3.45 which puts him in the bottom 10% of all ML shortstops.

Couple that with an OPS of .567 and he is statistically one of the worst SS's in the majors. It really looked like he was in pain running to first last night. I don't think his back is right and I wonder if it will ever be again. I hope the O's are working hard on finding a SS for the remainder of this year and the future.

[Frobby]

JJ has a range factor of 3.45 which puts him in the bottom 10% of all ML shortstops.

Couple that with an OPS of .567 and he is statistically one of the worst SS's in the majors. It really looked like he was in pain running to first last night. I don't think his back is right and I wonder if it will ever be again. I hope the O's are working hard on finding a SS for the remainder of this year and the future.

I'm not at all worried about Hardy. Fangraphs has him ranked 4th among starting shortstops in UZR/150, at 14.0, down just a sliver from last year's 15.4. He's hitting over .300 in June, and though he doesn't seem to have the power he had a few years ago, he's been extremely reliable in the clutch and I always feel he has a good approach in RISP situations. He will be our starting shortstop through 2017, and most Orioles fans will be glad about it.