Kelvin Gutierrez’s defense

[Frobby]

Too bad Kelvin Gutierrez can’t hit, because I’ve been very impressed with his defense.  Statcast has him at +5 OAA in very limited playing time, second on the team.  The other advanced metrics aren’t on that order of magnitude, but point in the plus direction.   To my eye, good reflexes, good hands, good range, excellent arm. Maybe the best glove we’ve had at 3B since Manny (though obviously not at that level).    I don’t see him as a long term piece of the team, but I do enjoy watching him play D.

[InsideCoroner]

Exactly what I was thinking. It’s refreshing to see a plus glove out there again, but it’s a shame he isn’t more of a utility guy. Third base is not a position where you can hide a sub-.600 OPS. 

[Ruzious]

The one negative I've seen is that he tends to double-clutch sometimes before throwing - 

[LA2]

3 hours ago, InsideCoroner said:

Exactly what I was thinking. It’s refreshing to see a plus glove out there again, but it’s a shame he isn’t more of a utility guy. Third base is not a position where you can hide a sub-.600 OPS. 

Acceptable rate of walking, but K's a lot. Has had some good minor-league seasons and has just turned 27. I'm not oprimistic, but haven't lost all hope for his bat. Like you said, it would help if he were a good utility player, but not in the cards.

[LA2]

10 hours ago, Frobby said:

Too bad Kelvin Gutierrez can’t hit, because I’ve been very impressed with his defense.  Statcast has him at +5 OAA in very limited playing time, second on the team.  The other advanced metrics aren’t on that order of magnitude, but point in the plus direction.   To my eye, good reflexes, good hands, good range, excellent arm. Maybe the best glove we’ve had at 3B since Manny (though obviously not at that level).    I don’t see him as a long term piece of the team, but I do enjoy watching him play D.

I've enjoyed his play at third for the O's too, but the nine errors in 99 chances for the Royals earlier this season advise me to wait out a larger sample size. Not skeptical about his glove, just need more data before I make a conclusion.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, LA2 said:

I've enjoyed his play at third for the O's too, but the nine errors in 99 chances for the Royals earlier this season advise me to wait out a larger sample size. Not skeptical about his glove, just need more data before I make a conclusion.

Very fair.   I hadn’t realized he played that poorly for them.  

[sportsfan8703]

Looking at his milb stats he never really put up a big offensive season in the minors. He’s already 27. I heard someone mention he has good exit velocities on his batted balls, but the offense has been atrocious. He’s a fine stop gap type for the rest of this season with injuries and the expanded rosters, but I just don’t even see why we carry him this offseason.  We need that 40 man roster spot. 

[jabba72]

His ML numbers in AAA look pretty poor to me, so its obvious he's in the majors because of his defense. He's been pretty awesome at 3B though. No question Gutierrez is good in the field, just cant hit. 

[Aristotelian]

I don't think anyone we've had since Manny makes the second play in this video. Shame he can't hit.

https://www.mlb.com/video/gutierrez-s-strong-defense-x6618

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I don't think anyone we've had since Manny makes the second play in this video. Shame he can't hit.

https://www.mlb.com/video/gutierrez-s-strong-defense-x6618

Good thing Perez was the baserunner there.   

[vab]

With that arm they need to try to talk him into giving pitching a try. 

[Frobby]

A couple more nice plays by Gutierrez tonight.   This guy makes the sidearm throw coming in with the best of them.  

[sportsfan8703]

9 hours ago, Frobby said:

A couple more nice plays by Gutierrez tonight.   This guy makes the sidearm throw coming in with the best of them.  

His defense has been refreshing and it’s something to factor into his role on the team next year.  Given our 40 man crunch I think we have to DFA him. 
 

There is a need for a stop gap 3B next year. I just think that player will be claimed off waivers during the offseason, or sign a milb contract with us. 
 

Guiterrez just doesn’t have any track record of hitting. Even in the PCL. 

[CharmCityHokie]

If there was ever a guy who could benefit from the Launch Angle Revolution it's Gutierrez. For his big league career, he has a 5.40 GB/FB ratio. He's basically the Zack Britton of hitting. And it's not like he really has the wheels to put alot of pressure on defense on those groundballs. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gutieke01.shtml. If he could just start lofting some balls he might have some more success in his at bats. It's not like he's built like Brandon Fahey, you have to believe there is some natural power in there, it's just he's hammering everything into the dirt. 

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, CharmCityHokie said:

If there was ever a guy who could benefit from the Launch Angle Revolution it's Gutierrez. For his big league career, he has a 5.40 GB/FB ratio. He's basically the Zack Britton of hitting. And it's not like he really has the wheels to put alot of pressure on defense on those groundballs. 

His speed is not elite, but he’s pretty quick.   Statcast has him at 28.1 ft/sec, 77th percentile sprint speed.   

I don’t think he will hit enough to justify carrying his glove, as his -0.8 rWAR suggests.   But I do appreciate his defense for its own sake, while we have him.