The defense thread 2021

[Moose Milligan]

F'ING pathetic.  Cedric's gotta do better.  He knows better.

[Il BuonO]

27 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

F'ING pathetic.  Cedric's gotta do better.  He knows better.

I tell you what, there have been a few balls, very few, near the wall that have almost given me the impetus for a thread. He’s good, but I don’t know if he’s GG caliber. 

He doesn’t look good on balls near the wall and it’s more than once this year. The play tonight is inexcusable. He called it, it’s his.

[Oriole1940]

Yes, the outfield defense was its usual pathetic tonight.  

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Oriole1940 said:

Yes, the outfield defense was its usual pathetic tonight.  

I say we blame DJ even though he is the DH.

He's unathletic and awkward.

[LA2]

Richie Martin's wide-ranging backhand grab and incredible throw to first to grab Judge:

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/orioles-vs-yankees/2021/08/04/633018#game_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=633018

It unfortunately could not stem the tide of ineptitude by other Orioles when it came to flyballs and pop-ups. But a great reminder of what it's like to have a real shortstop out on the field.... I just hope he can learn to hit enough to hold the position down for us.

[Frobby]

 

[Just Regular]

55 minutes ago, Frobby said:

 

Jeter-esque!   I was going to say Give That Man his Out Above Average, but Savant's lowest minimum toggle is 10 attempts he's still short of.   I guess his Bowie swing decisions of July 29-31 were sound enough to merit an MLB promotion!

The YTD Orioles trio is -10 in about two-thirds of the games, heading for -15; only the Freddy Galvis-buying Phillies significantly worse.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/outs_above_average?type=Fielder&startYear=2021&endYear=2021&split=no&team=BAL&range=year&min=10&pos=6&roles=&viz=show

All 30 teams - today was my first time noticing Runs Prevented to the left of OAA on their leaderboards, though it seems to track very much the same so not sure what the value add really is.  But it says Astros shortstops have been 10 runs better than Orioles shortstops with the glove alone this year so far.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/outs_above_average?type=Fielding_Team&startYear=2021&endYear=2021&split=no&team=&range=year&min=10&pos=6&roles=&viz=show

 

[Aristotelian]

By the way, the game was broken open on Stanton's double off Tate. It was actually a good pitch that he popped up down the line and it fell in. Mountcastle got a good jump but couldn't get there. DJ appeared shaded to pull and had a lot of ground to cover. Pretty sure a speedier OF gets to that one even positioned off the line. If that ball is caught the inning is over at 4-3. 

[Il BuonO]

Well, looks like people have given up here. There has been a myriad of bad defense during the losing streak.

I don’t usually agree with the people who bash Stewart ( yes, I know he’s below average, but the takes are mostly extreme and sometimes just wrong), but yesterday he played there ball hit by Freeman into a double.

I know it hit the wall, but he got there fairly quick and then shied away from the wall, not knowing exactly where he was-a cardinal sin for a guy playing the OF.  

[Frobby]

24 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Well, looks like people have given up here. There has been a myriad of bad defense during the losing streak.

I don’t usually agree with the people who bash Stewart ( yes, I know he’s below average, but the takes are mostly extreme and sometimes just wrong), but yesterday he played there ball hit by Freeman into a double.

I know it hit the wall, but he got there fairly quick and then shied away from the wall, not knowing exactly where he was-a cardinal sin for a guy playing the OF.  

Hays or McKenna catches that ball for sure.  

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, Il BuonO said:

Well, looks like people have given up here. There has been a myriad of bad defense during the losing streak.

I don’t usually agree with the people who bash Stewart ( yes, I know he’s below average, but the takes are mostly extreme and sometimes just wrong), but yesterday he played there ball hit by Freeman into a double.

I know it hit the wall, but he got there fairly quick and then shied away from the wall, not knowing exactly where he was-a cardinal sin for a guy playing the OF.  

I don’t think our defense has been sloppy during this bad stretch it’s just the skill level of the talent. 

[Just Regular]

Hopefully next year pairing C with CF will help a lot here.   Apart from the banter about Elias knowing Correa more than half his life, I feel his SS defense for 2022 compared to Iglesias, etc, or for 2022-2028 compared to all our part-time shortstops in the minors, is probably better than what we are likely to field.

I believe positioning has made most of anything outside C/SS/CF way less important than in Manny/Schoop times.

Snippet from BP this morning with this year's outcomes https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/70039/veteran-presence-the-first-two-letters-of-fip/

Pitchers playing for poor-fielding teams, in general, are more likely to have ERAs above their FIPs. The Rangers lead the majors in FRAA and their pitching staff, while bad (4.78 ERA) has outperformed its FIP (4.83). The Orioles have the lowest FRAA and their pitching staff, also while bad (5.12 FIP), has been penalized by the poor defense (5.80 ERA).

[interloper]

Send Kelvin to the offseason hitting place that Cedric went to. This guy HAS to have some offense in that baseball frame. He's been fun to watch at 3B - he's got to unlock something in his bat though. 

[bobmc]

19 hours ago, interloper said:

Send Kelvin to the offseason hitting place that Cedric went to. This guy HAS to have some offense in that baseball frame. He's been fun to watch at 3B - he's got to unlock something in his bat though. 

LOL - but thought for sure you'd mention Ced's drop in CF last night.  The Kelvinator is exciting!  Unlock the potential!