Retroactive changes in UZR methodology affect a few Orioles

[Frobby]

Fangraphs announced today that it was retroactively changing past UZR ratings using newly available hang time data, and dampening certain “extremes” they attribute to “noise” in the data, going back to 2012.    They provided a chart of those player-seasons affected by at least 5 runs, and it impacted several Orioles, as follows:

2013 - Jones +7.4, Markakis +7.3, Machado -10.2.

2014: Lough -5.5, Jones -7.1

Manny’s drop was in his Platinum Glove season — you have to wonder if he would have won if the UZR metric had been that much lower.     Adrelton Simmons, who won the NL Platinum Glove, had a similar drop that year.   Ditto Alex Gordon and Kevin Kiermeyer in the years they won the PG.   I guess that’s the “dampening” Fangraphs is referring to.

This really goes to show you that defensive metrics, which feed into WAR, are a work in progress, and need to be taken with a grain of salt (along with WAR).

 

[Il BuonO]

I’ve always preferred DRS. There are enough differences between the two that I’m confident makes DRS more comprehensive.