The defense thread, 2020

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Frobby said:

 

 

Well, so much for keeping him down all year.    

Obviously the Davis injury forced his hand.

[Moose Milligan]

One could argue that Valaika is going to cost us this game tonight.

[OFFNY]

14 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

 

One could argue that Valaika is going to cost us this game tonight.

 

o

 

2 Errors, Too Many Strikeouts as O’s Fall in Road Trip Opener

(By Steve Melewski)

https://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2020/08/two-errors-too-many-strikeouts-as-os-fall-in-trip-opener.html

 

o

[OFFNY]

o

 

(vs. YANKEES, 9/04) )))))) [Twi-Night Doubleheader]

 

Bad defense by the Orioles was a major factor in both games of the doubleheader ...... in one game the offense and the pitching was able to overcome it, in the other it wasn't.

In the game in which the Orioles won, the pitching ceded 0 Earned Runs over 7 Innings Pitched. 

In the game in which the Orioles lost, the error which set the tone to start the 3rd inning led to 3 Yankees runs, 2 of which were unearned. 

 

o

[Frobby]

Game 46, Sept. 13

Mullins made a fantastic diving catch in short LCF to end the 7th inning.   

But with 2 out and one on in the 8th, Nunez mishandled a routine grounder and tried a shovel throw to Tate, who was late covering 1B and couidn’t find the bag as he received the ball.    Bad play by both of them, and Gleyber Torres made them pay with a 2-run double that cost the O’s the game.   

Amazingly, the play was scored as a hit.

 

[Philip]

51 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Game 46, Sept. 13

Mullins made a fantastic diving catch in short LCF to end the 7th inning.   

But with 2 out and one on in the 8th, Nunez mishandled a routine grounder and tried a shovel throw to Tate, who was late covering 1B and couidn’t find the bag as he received the ball.    Bad play by both of them, and Gleyber Torres made them pay with a 2-run double that cost the O’s the game.   

Amazingly, the play was scored as a hit.

 

This is the real problem with the Orioles, there’s too much sloppy play that isn’t called an error.
There’s also a lot of plays that a good player would make that a mediocre player doesn’t, even when he’s trying his best. Short or weak throws, an extra step getting to the ball, and so on. Every time Trumbo, “… Back off and play it on a hop,” I wondered if a mediocre outfielder would have gotten to the ball.

Yesterday, the flyball that Stewart caught for a sacrifice fly, he just managed to snowcone it in his glove, and it almost went for an extra base hit. Was that because he is slow, he misread the ball, he was out of position, or he just had to run a long way? I don’t know, but with a solid fielder, I wouldn’t have wondered. Now, Stewart May be a competent fielder, we haven’t seen enough to judge yet. But the burden of proof is on him.

The fundamentals on this team are bad. I don’t know whether it’s because of coaching, monitoring, or just bad players. But we need to find out.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Philip said:

This is the real problem with the Orioles, there’s too much sloppy play that isn’t called an error.
There’s also a lot of plays that a good player would make that a mediocre player doesn’t, even when he’s trying his best. Short or weak throws, an extra step getting to the ball, and so on. Every time Trumbo, “… Back off and play it on a hop,” I wondered if a mediocre outfielder would have gotten to the ball.

Yesterday, the flyball that Stewart caught for a sacrifice fly, he just managed to snowcone it in his glove, and it almost went for an extra base hit. Was that because he is slow, he misread the ball, he was out of position, or he just had to run a long way? I don’t know, but with a solid fielder, I wouldn’t have wondered. Now, Stewart May be a competent fielder, we haven’t seen enough to judge yet. But the burden of proof is on him.

The fundamentals on this team are bad. I don’t know whether it’s because of coaching, monitoring, or just bad players. But we need to find out.

Actually, the advanced metrics say we have improved considerably on defense this year.   17th of 30 teams per Fangraphs, up from 29th last year.   

[Pat Kelly]

Problem is the infield defense - 1B and 2B are not first division starters on defense,  Nunez is a really subpar 1B.   Davis is fine but he hits like 1960's SS.  3B is up and down and Ruiz is effectively the only legit 3Bm on the team with limited options in the org.   

[Philip]

46 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Actually, the advanced metrics say we have improved considerably on defense this year.   17th of 30 teams per Fangraphs, up from 29th last year.   

Oh I don’t doubt that we have improved, but we’re still bad. I would actually like to know how we would rank if Iglesias had not missed any time with injury.

[Philip]

47 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Actually, the advanced metrics say we have improved considerably on defense this year.   17th of 30 teams per Fangraphs, up from 29th last year.   

I’m not sure how detailed that breakdown is, but I’d be interested in knowing how our outfield defense compares to last year. It probably wouldn’t reveal much because we’ve had so many different players in the outfield

[Philip]

59 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Actually, the advanced metrics say we have improved considerably on defense this year.   17th of 30 teams per Fangraphs, up from 29th last year.   

And let me stress that even though we have improved, the fundamentals are still bad. The base running is bad, the defense is bad. Fundamentals are bad.. Yes we are improved and I’m happy, but even 17th is bottom half.

[webbrick2010]

12 hours ago, Pat Kelly said:

Problem is the infield defense - 1B and 2B are not first division starters on defense,  Nunez is a really subpar 1B.   Davis is fine but he hits like 1960's SS.  3B is up and down and Ruiz is effectively the only legit 3Bm on the team with limited options in the org.   

LOL, that is a major insult to all 1960's SS. Davis hits like no other player that has ever been on a ML roster. He is and has been for the past 2+ years the worst hitter in ML history, and actually his defense sucks as well

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, webbrick2010 said:

LOL, that is a major insult to all 1960's SS. Davis hits like no other player that has ever been on a ML roster. He is and has been for the past 2+ years the worst hitter in ML history, and actually his defense sucks as well

I think there have been a few worse hitters in major league history, depending on what your criteria are and what time period you are talking about.    For example, in 1968 Horace Clark had a .512 OPS, which is worse than Davis in either 2018 or 2019.    But judging by OPS+, Clark was better than Davis.   Mark Belanger was worse than Davis in OPS and OPS+ in several seasons.   Of course, he was the best defensive player at a premium defensive position.   But that’s not the issue.   

[Philip]

There is a new article at baseball savant about “outs above average“ and it tracks everybody who has a certain number of opportunities. Our infield defense is bad, although Nunez is surprisingly only -1. In the outfield Mullins and Hays are both +2, I think, and Santandar is +1. Mountcastle is at zero right now, I’m surprised he has enough chances to qualify. I didn’t see Stewart on the list though. Really interesting list.

[Philip]

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/outs_above_average?type=Fielder&year=2019&team=&range=year&min=q&pos=of&roles=&viz=show