Joey Rickard is the real deal

[owknows]

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.

Fielding % is an imperfect metric, but does a pretty good job of clustering good and bad outfielders.

Particularly when the sample size is high enough.

[Can_of_corn]

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?

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.

That is exactly what I was talking about.

I never said Rickard was a poor defender. The conversation you are talking about was when another poster said he thought Rickard might be able to get a lot better. I took umbrage at the idea that someone who had been in professional baseball for that long had that much room for improvement.

[calmunderfire]

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?

Wow you're talking about outfield chances? How hard is it for a MLB outfielder to catch a popup? You mean he can field a flyball? Wow...

[calmunderfire]

That is exactly what I was talking about.

I never said Rickard was a poor defender. The conversation you are talking about was when another poster said he thought Rickard might be able to get a lot better. I took umbrage at the idea that someone who had been in professional baseball for that long had that much room for improvement.

That's what people don't get. Rickard is a rookie he turns 25 in May. Did he just start playing baseball?

[Can_of_corn]

That's what people don't get. Rickard is a rookie he turns 25 in May. Did he just start playing baseball?

It was the same way with Flaherty. There is a huge difference between a 22 year old rookie and a 25 year old rookie.

For the record I think they can get a win or two out of him for the next few years. He does look to be an improvement over last season's motley crew.

[PaulFolk]

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?

The problem is that we don't really know his "performance" in the minors. Fielding percentage isn't going to tell you that. And as far as I know, nobody tracks advanced defensive statistics for the minors.

[calmunderfire]

It was the same way with Flaherty. There is a huge difference between a 22 year old rookie and a 25 year old rookie.

For the record I think they can get a win or two out of him for the next few years. He does look to be an improvement over last season's motley crew.

With Kim being an unknown quanitity and Reimold being made of glass Rickard could have value. Yea, 2 WAR from him over the next few years is a pretty liberal guess, but the other options might produce negative WAR.

[owknows]

Wow you're talking about outfield chances? How hard is it for a MLB outfielder to catch a popup? You mean he can field a flyball? Wow...

Apparently difficult enough, that bad outfielders have comparatively low fielding percentages, and good outfielders have comparatively high fielding percentages.

[Can_of_corn]

Apparently difficult enough, that bad outfielders have comparatively low fielding percentages, and good outfielders have comparatively high fielding percentages.

While it is mostly true that poor outfielders have lower fielding percentages I would not assume that simply because someone have a high fielding percentage he is a good fielder.

I've never seen an outfielder get an error for a ball that didn't reach.

[owknows]

The problem is that we don't really know his "performance" in the minors. Fielding percentage isn't going to tell you that. And as far as I know, nobody tracks advanced defensive statistics for the minors.

Fielding percentage will tell you his propensity for defensive errors.

Admittedly imprecise, but the only metric that allows direct comparison to his current teammates (for the reasons you mentioned).

And while imprecise, fielding percentage generally correlates well to total defensive performance.

It is by no means "worthless"

[owknows]

While it is mostly true that poor outfielders have lower fielding percentages I would not assume that simply because someone have a high fielding percentage he is a good fielder.

I've never seen an outfielder get an error for a ball that didn't reach.

Yes. As a metric, it is less than perfect... but by no means "worthless", as has been suggested.

And it's value improves with sample size.

People generally make outfield errors BECAUSE of poor skills. Not in spite of good skills.

[Tryptamine]

fielding pct by itself is worthless. A .995 sounds great until you learn the guy has zero range. I'll take the guy with the lower fielding% whose range lets him get to 15% more balls.

[owknows]

fielding pct by itself is worthless.

Sigh.

A .995 sounds great until you learn the guy has zero range. I'll take the guy with the lower fielding% whose range lets him get to 15% more balls.

And drops 50% of them

[calmunderfire]

Apparently difficult enough, that bad outfielders have comparatively low fielding percentages, and good outfielders have comparatively high fielding percentages.

I bet the majority of errors in the outfield are throwing errors or basehits that turn into an extra base.

[Tryptamine]

Sigh.

And drops 50% of them

If you want to be absolutely extreme over the top scenario then sure.