Defense from Orioles not stellar

[Going Underground]

I think most people knew this but:

 

"Obviously, we've got to improve on the starting pitching," Showalter said last month. "That falls under Captain Obvious, and I think we've taken a step back defensively, really, the last year or two at some places. I think we need to get that back in order — especially with a pitching staff that didn't strike out that many people. That's not going to change overnight. That's something we were really good at, and I thought it kept us from playing a home game in the playoffs last year.

"I think we've dropped our guard a bit defensively. I really do. We try to make a point of emphasis, and I think we've kind of lowered our standards in a couple of areas."

 

As a team, the Orioles tied for 20th in baseball with -17 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs. While that's better than last year's -25, the majority of the Orioles’ 2016 problems came in an outfield that dragged the whole operation down with a league-worst -51 DRS. This year, the outfield was responsible for -15 DRS, meaning everywhere else fell off rather significantly.

In the infield, first baseman Chris Davis went from eight DRS in 2016 to -5 in 2017. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop improved slightly from -1 to two DRS this year. But third baseman Manny Machado, who contributed 16 DRS last year between third base and shortstop, was down to six this season.

With Mark Trumbo shifting from a majority-right field role and being replaced primarily by Seth Smith and Joey Rickard, right field contributed only -1 DRS this year, while left field, manned by Trey Mancini and Rickard instead of Hyun Soo Kim and Rickard, also improved from -21 to -1.

 

 

Jones ended up being poorly rated by most fielding metrics for a second straight year despite moving his starting position deeper into center field at the front office's request. He went from -10 to -12 DRS in the process.

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-defense-20171006-story.html

 

 

 

[Can_of_corn]

They guy that lets Trumbo play in the outfield is talking about lower standards.

At least Buck didn't throw his new shortstop under the bus.

[bobmc]

22 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

They guy that lets Trumbo play in the outfield is talking about lower standards.

At least Buck didn't throw his new shortstop under the bus.

If he does, he might "lose the clubhouse"!  Oh wait....

I was surprised that Mancini/Rickard improved LF that much over mostly Kim in 2016.  OF assists?

 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, bobmc said:

If he does, he might "lose the clubhouse"!  Oh wait....

I was surprised that Mancini/Rickard improved LF that much over mostly Kim in 2016.  OF assists?

 

Kim only had 78 starts in LF (55CG) so it wasn't just him not getting the job done.  Rickard looked a lot better in the OF this season over last.

As for why the difference?  I don't follow the inner workings of the various defensive metrics so I can't tell you.

[Frobby]

You have to take the defensive metrics with a grain of salt, but I generally agree with what they say.    

[interloper]

The eyeball test would tell you this. In one of the final games of the season, during an Ubaldo start, I saw the entire infield miss balls they should have easily gotten to. Manny missed one, Beckham missed one, and Schoop missed one. This all occurred in a single inning! 

Davis had an off year, JJ had a bunch of errors, Schoop's range was poor, Beckham is Beckham, and Manny wasn't himself. That's before we even get to the outfield, and let's not.

[Slappy]

That was one of the more frank admissions I've seen from Buck since he first started here, and (I think) a thinly-veiled shot at Duquette.  

 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Slappy said:

That was one of the more frank admissions I've seen from Buck since he first started here, and (I think) a thinly-veiled shot at Duquette.  

 

Yep it was Dan that snuck down and put Trumbo's name in the lineup playing Right Field.

It was also Dan that went behind Dan's back to ownership to get Davis signed, pushing Trumbo into the outfield.

What I don't understand is why Buck didn't put his foot down when Dan told Buck to play Flaherty in the outfield in Boston.

 

[Frobby]

15 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Yep it was Dan that snuck down and put Trumbo's name in the lineup playing Right Field.

It was also Dan that went behind Dan's back to ownership to get Davis signed, pushing Trumbo into the outfield.

What I don't understand is why Buck didn't put his foot down when Dan told Buck to play Flaherty in the outfield in Boston.

 

Trumbo played 30 games in the OF.   That's not a lot, and a lot less than the year before.

We don't have any solid information that Buck went behind Duquette's back to get Davis signed.    In any event, that's irrelevant to Trumbo playing OF in 2017.    Re-signing Trumbo is the issue there.

But in any event, I really don't see anything in Buck's remarks that are a veiled shot at Duquette.   He's just stating the fact that the team wasn't as good defensively as it was a few years ago, something nobody can disagree with.   There's nothing the slightest bit controversial about what Buck said.

[Can_of_corn]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Trumbo played 30 games in the OF.   That's not a lot, and a lot less than the year before.

We don't have any solid information that Buck went behind Duquette's back to get Davis signed.    In any event, that's irrelevant to Trumbo playing OF in 2017.    Re-signing Trumbo is the issue there.

But in any event, I really don't see anything in Buck's remarks that are a veiled shot at Duquette.   He's just stating the fact that the team wasn't as good defensively as it was a few years ago, something nobody can disagree with.   There's nothing the slightest bit controversial about what Buck said.

Trumbo was acquired before Davis was signed in 2016.

If you go back and reread the original quote Buck is talking about the last two years.