Joey Rickard is the real deal

[El Gordo]

Buck raved about his defense all spring, especially his routes to the ball.

I think Joey Rickard is a good defensive outfielder, but we've haven't seen it yet entirely. Adjustments to the ballparks, the second and third decks, and big league crowds and play in general are all still happening, IMHO.

Obviously Buck doesn't know anything.

[Tx Oriole]

Joey is a very good defensive outfielder. What are you guys talking about? Buck would not put him in center if he wasn't.

What do you expect? That's our friend Cal.

[Ven6]

Would you rather have Snider, De Aza or Para back?

Your question is a bit aggressive and a complete non sequitur.

I like Joey R. I'm glad we have him. And I think he will play good D for us. He's just still adjusting.

So why are you asking me about those scrubs?

[jjnono]

With Rickard penciled in at the top of the lineup I feel like we have as close to a true leadoff hitter as we've had in several years (since Roberts, at least). I love that he's having success and helping the ballclub. I'd love to see him walk more and raise that OBP, but I'm pretty happy about his addition to the team so far...

[Frobby]

After Jimmy Paredes straight up raked for 1/3 of last season before looking like he was swinging a dead fish for the last three months of the season, I'm not going to make any major assessments of Rickard's long-term ability at the plate. He's hot right now and there is probably not much of a book on him. He's taking advantage of it and helping us win games in the present, so I'll ride that train while he's rolling. He's only drawn two walks, but he has shown a good eye at the plate and worked pitchers deep into counts.

Defensively, you can't teach speed or hustle and he certainly has both. He's probably relied on his speed too often throughout his career as an outfielder and that's hurt his development in reading balls off the bat. At worst, he's the outfield equivalent to Flaherty and I'm satisfied with that.

Very fair assessment.

[TakebackOPACY]

Yeah I think he has a chance to get a lot better defensively.

He had four seasons in the Rays system to get better. You think the O's have better instructors?

See, I read dan-0's comments as saying that he has a chance to get a lot better because he has left a lot of room for improvement. Clearly, if he had gotten a lot better defensively in those four seasons with the Rays, it would be more difficult for him to improve a lot now.

[Can_of_corn]

See, I read dan-0's comments as saying that he has a chance to get a lot better because he has left a lot of room for improvement. Clearly, if he had gotten a lot better defensively in those four seasons with the Rays, it would be more difficult for him to get a lot better now.

Turns out he was too lazy to type "slightly" so he used "lot" instead.

[Can_of_corn]

5 hrs later, still can't catch a break.

Come on now, that wasn't in the least bit mean spirited.

[owknows]

He had four seasons in the Rays system to get better. You think the O's have better instructors?

And in those 4 years in the Rays System, Rickard posted a fielding percentage of .984 in 683 total chances.

That's a pretty good number.

And it includes the early years of the minors, where he was presumably still learning his craft.

By comparison Reimold (who is generally considered a + defender) has a .974 career fielding percentage.

And Jones who is generally considered at least "good", has a .985 career fielding percentage.

How much better does he need to get?

[Can_of_corn]

And in those 4 years in the Rays System, Rickard posted a fielding percentage of .984 in 683 total chances.

That's a pretty good number.

And it includes the early years of the minors, where he was presumably still learning his craft.

By comparison Reimold (who is generally considered a + defender) has a .974 career fielding percentage.

And Jones who is generally considered at least "good", has a .985 career fielding percentage.

How much better does he need to get?

I'd have to talk to the various official scorers before making a determination.

[flaoriolesfan]

Watching spring training and so far this year I think Joey looks more comfortable in CF than LF,once he gets used to playing left everyday I think he will be fine.

As for the OBP I think he should have more walks, I've seen a couple of at-bats where the umpire called a strike on a pitch that I thought was not there,so in my eyes he

should already have a couple more. If he could learn to lay down a decent bunt he should also pick up some more infield hits. Hey I'm just enjoying seeing him and hoping

that we picked up a good one. So far so good.

[owknows]

I'd have to talk to the various official scorers before making a determination.

If you'll pardon my saying so, this seems a bit evasive.

You stated that the O's are in trouble defensively in the outfield, and that Rickard had 4 years to learn how to play defense in the minors.

And then took another poster to task regarding his less than precise language in defense of Rickard.

But when shown that Rickard's statistical defense is better than Reimold's and equal to Jones' , you wave your hands and exit stage left.

Could it be that you were mistaken, and Rickard is better than you believed?

[PaulFolk]

And in those 4 years in the Rays System, Rickard posted a fielding percentage of .984 in 683 total chances.

That's a pretty good number.

And it includes the early years of the minors, where he was presumably still learning his craft.

By comparison Reimold (who is generally considered a + defender) has a .974 career fielding percentage.

And Jones who is generally considered at least "good", has a .985 career fielding percentage.

How much better does he need to get?

The only thing more meaningless than fielding percentage is minor league fielding percentage.

Those stats don't really tell us anything about how good a fielder Rickard is. They don't tell us what kind of routes he takes, what kind of jumps he gets, what kind of range he has, or anything. It basically just tells us whether a ball clanged off his glove or not.

Look at the play two nights ago where he got a late break on a Tulowitzki fly ball and it fell in for a double. That doesn't count against his fielding percentage, but it wasn't a good defensive play.

[Babypowder]

And in those 4 years in the Rays System, Rickard posted a fielding percentage of .984 in 683 total chances.

That's a pretty good number.

And it includes the early years of the minors, where he was presumably still learning his craft.

By comparison Reimold (who is generally considered a + defender) has a .974 career fielding percentage.

And Jones who is generally considered at least "good", has a .985 career fielding percentage.

How much better does he need to get?

Fielding percentage is an awful statistic that means nothing, and I don't believe Reimold is generally considered a plus defender by many here... or by advanced metrics.

[owknows]

The only thing more meaningless than fielding percentage is minor league fielding percentage.

Uhhhh... what?

If anything, minor league fielding percentage will UNDER-represent a player's potential... not OVER-Represent it.

Yeah... he made a less than stellar play the other night. It happens.

What better represents his long term defensive potential... one play... or his performance in 682 minor league chances?