A real battle shaping up at O's Shortstop

[wildcard]

We tend to think that Richie Martin is the leading candidate to break camp as the O's shortstop.  But is that true?   Defense will probably drive the decision.  Here is how they stack up:

Career minor league numbers at SS

1. (tie)Reinheimer 973 fielding percentage, 4.63 RF/9

1. (tie) Alberto  962 fielding percentage, 4.83 RF/9

3. Martin    961 fielding percentage,  4.47  RF/9

4. Jackson  945 fielding percentage, 4.32 RF/9

Offense at their highest minor league level

1. Alberto    309/330/438/768 at AAA

2. Jackson   247/354/417/771 at AA

3. Martin   272/346/394/739 at AA

4. Reinheimer  278./343/371/714 at AAA

It should be a good battle in ST.

 

 

 

[panick]

I'm not familiar with all the metrics used today. What is the RF/9?

[wildcard]

5 minutes ago, panick said:

I'm not familiar with all the metrics used today. What is the RF/9?

Range Factor per 9 innings is not a new stat.  Been around for ever.  But on minor leaguers its the best stat I have.

Maybe someone can offer a better evaluation tool.

[jabba72]

Reinheimer's minor league stats in the PCL are not very good, so i think that rules him out of the discussion.  That and he turns 27 in July suggests he is likely near his peak as a hitter. 

[wildcard]

Just now, jabba72 said:

Reinheimer's minor league stats in the PCL are not very good, so i think that rules him out of the discussion.  That and he turns 27 in July suggests he is likely near his peak as a hitter. 

But if defense drives the decision he will be right near the top.

[jabba72]

Just now, wildcard said:

But if defense drives the decision he will be right near the top.

I dont know the defensive reps at SS for any of these players, just that I thought Martin was going to be given at shot at winning the job. If his glove is rated worse that Alberto or Reinheimer's, that changes things I guess. If Martin shows he isnt ready, I dont think its a very promising bunch. I would rather see what Free Agent SS's are out there. 

[interloper]

I dunno if we can really tell much by these defensive metrics. They're all likely better than Villar or Beckham at SS, so in my mind, they are even Steven. Martin with the edge due to pedigree, but it will definitely be a good battle in Spring Training.

[now]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

We tend to think that Richie Martin is the leading candidate to break camp as the O's shortstop.  But is that true?   Defense will probably drive the decision.  Here is how they stack up:

Career minor league numbers at SS

1. (tie)Reinheimer 973 fielding percentage, 4.63 RF/9

1. (tie) Alberto  962 fielding percentage, 4.83 RF/9

3. Martin    961 fielding percentage,  4.47  RF/9

4. Jackson  945 fielding percentage, 4.32 RF/9

Offense at their highest minor league level

1. Alberto    309/330/438/768 at AAA

2. Jackson   247/354/417/771 at AA

3. Martin   272/346/394/739 at AA

4. Reinheimer  278./343/371/714 at AAA

It should be a good battle in ST.

 

 

 

I don't know where you're getting Martin's AA stats. The line I see for him at Baseball Cube, for 2018 AA Midland, is 

.300

.368

.439

.807

which would put him at the top of the pack for offense.

[ChrisP]

Villar? Wilkerson at 2b?

 https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/villajo01.shtml 

[Aristotelian]

I think Jackson has a real shot. I liked him slightly ahead of Martin, although I can't remember why. Cannon arm.

[Aristotelian]

8 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

Villar? Wilkerson at 2b?

 https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/villajo01.shtml 

I don't think we're going to see too much of Wilkerson with so many Rule 5 guys. Maybe after Villar is traded.

[VaBird1]

1 hour ago, now said:

I don't know where you're getting Martin's AA stats. The line I see for him at Baseball Cube, for 2018 AA Midland, is 

.300

.368

.439

.807

which would put him at the top of the pack for offense.

Those are his career AA numbers.

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, now said:

I don't know where you're getting Martin's AA stats. The line I see for him at Baseball Cube, for 2018 AA Midland, is 

.300

.368

.439

.807

which would put him at the top of the pack for offense.

They are career numbers.  Martin also played at AA in 2017.

[atomic]

You have to look at other players on the team to get a feel for what the offensive numbers mean.  Reinheimer  had the worst OPS of anyone on his team that had at least 80 at bats.  Similarly bad in 2017.  Martin' was fourth in regard to OPS of players with 80 at bats on his team.  PCL is notoriously a hitters league and with Reno having a team OPS of .803 compared to Midland's team OPS of .733 that sort of bares that out.  

[Moose Milligan]

Here's what this "real battle" looks like in my mind: