Jones Playing Deeper in 2017

[Can_of_corn]

Be interesting to see how it plays out over the season.

[Frobby]

It's interesting to read that Jones's sprint speed is 27.2 mph, which is league average for an outfielder.   I think you'd want your CF to be a bit faster than that.    

[Aristotelian]

Duvall's ball last night was similar to the ones in the article and AJ caught it easily. With a man on base, that would have gotten the Reds to within 1 and would have made things very interesting.

[El Gordo]

19 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It's interesting to read that Jones's sprint speed is 27.2 mph, which is league average for an outfielder.   I think you'd want your CF to be a bit faster than that.    

That doesn't seem right. " Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds for the 100m race in Berlin 2009 (as shown in the video above) places him at a top speed of 30 mph with an average speed of 23.5 mph."http://running.competitor.com/2014/02/junk-miles/6-animals-faster-than-usain-bolt_95078

27.2mph would make him faster than Mantle to 1B wouldn't it?

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

That doesn't seem right. " Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds for the 100m race in Berlin 2009 (as shown in the video above) places him at a top speed of 30 mph with an average speed of 23.5 mph."http://running.competitor.com/2014/02/junk-miles/6-animals-faster-than-usain-bolt_95078

27.2mph would make him faster than Mantle to 1B wouldn't it?

I messed that up.   27.2 feet/second, not mph.   27.2 ft/sec = 18.5 mph.    

[El Gordo]

3 minutes ago, dan-O said:

Have they measured him this year I wonder? Because to me he looks a bit faster and leaner than usual.

Bordick quoted Statcast as having him hit 20 mph on one running catch yesterday.

[El Gordo]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I messed that up.   27.2 feet/second, not mph.   27.2 ft/sec = 18.5 mph.    

That's 3.3 seconds to 1B. Mantle from the left side was 3.1 IIRC.

[baltfan]

For reference.

 

Top 2016 Sprint Speed by outfielders
29.8 feet per second -- Hamilton
29.7 feet per second -- Buxton
29.1 feet per second -- Lorenzo Cain
29.0 feet per second -- Paulo Orlando
28.7 feet per second -- Jake Marisnick
28.6 feet per second -- Gregory Polanco / Travis Jankowski / Max Kepler
28.3 feet per second -- Christian Yelich
28.2 feet per second -- Kevin Kiermaier

[Babypowder]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

It's interesting to read that Jones's sprint speed is 27.2 mph, which is league average for an outfielder.   I think you'd want your CF to be a bit faster than that.    

This is why his range has never been spectacular. While he is fast compared to your average major leaguer, his speed is below average for a center fielder.

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, Babypowder said:

This is why his range has never been spectacular. While he is fast compared to your average major leaguer, his speed is below average for a center fielder.

He was faster when he got to Baltimore.   I definitely would say he had CF-worthy speed, possibly  above average.    Like most people, he's not as fast at 31 as he was at 22.

[ChuckS]

Fairly confident his defensive numbers will improve this season with the deeper positioning. 

Likely plays his next contract as a right fielder and becomes a plus defender again. Could see an uptick in offense as well due to less stress and wear and tear from holding down CF.  We saw that from Tori Hunter later in his career when he moved to right. 

[El Gordo]

1 hour ago, baltfan said:

For reference.

 

Top 2016 Sprint Speed by outfielders
29.8 feet per second -- Hamilton
29.7 feet per second -- Buxton
29.1 feet per second -- Lorenzo Cain
29.0 feet per second -- Paulo Orlando
28.7 feet per second -- Jake Marisnick
28.6 feet per second -- Gregory Polanco / Travis Jankowski / Max Kepler
28.3 feet per second -- Christian Yelich
28.2 feet per second -- Kevin Kiermaier

Bolt is 10 mph faster than Hamilton,  I wonder what Gentry's speed is in comparison to AJ

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

Bolt is 10 mph faster than Hamilton,  I wonder what Gentry's speed is in comparison to AJ

I wish they published all the data, but they just gave the top and bottom guys.   Jose Bautista was the slowest (23.2 ft/sec, I believe).

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

Bolt is 10 mph faster than Hamilton,  

Instinctively, that doesn't seem true.   Bolt can run the 100 meter dash in 9.6 seconds; for Hamilton, it's probably in the high 10's.    So how can Bolt run 50% faster than Hamilton at top speed (30 mph vs. 20 mph).     Something must be wrong there.   

[El Gordo]

7 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Put a glove on him, baseball spikes, run on grass, and turn his head while he's running and let's see what the gap is.

On the basepaths? Batting gloves?