2023 Defense Thread

[ChuckS]

1 hour ago, baltfan said:

Santander cannot play anything but right. He is not a natural athlete so he cannot adjust to left so he should DH at Fenway. 

Santander was lost today but I gotta blame at least part of it to being on an unnatural side of the field in poor conditions.

I disagree that he’s not a natural athlete. He’s a Major League Baseball player and all of his tools were 50+ as recently as two years ago. I think he’s dropped to 45 on speed and fielding. 

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Santander was lost today but I gotta blame at least part of it to being on an unnatural side of the field in poor conditions.

I disagree that he’s not a natural athlete. He’s a Major League Baseball player and all of his tools were 50+ as recently as two years ago. I think he’s dropped to 45 on speed and fielding. 

In 2021 his sprint speed was 26.1 ft/sc.  That is well below league average.

As far back as 2020 he was below average.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Can_of_corn

[baltfan]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

He should be the DH in any park..maybe occasional first baseman.

He isn’t awful in Right at Camden Yards because he knows it. 

[ChuckS]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

In 2021 his sprint speed was 26.1 ft/sc.  That is well below league average.

As far back as 2020 he was below average.

I remember him having average sprint speed at some point, but I guess it was 2019. Time flies.

He had some good seasons defensively and was a gold glove finalist, so to think that he’s completely incapable of playing the corners now is a bit of a reach. I think he had a bad day.  Stowers could end up being a better option……or about the same. 

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

I remember him having average sprint speed at some point, but I guess it was 2019. Time flies.

He had some good seasons defensively and was a gold glove finalist, so to think that he’s completely incapable of playing the corners now is a bit of a reach. I think he had a bad day.  Stowers could end up being a better option……or about the same. 

Last year, his defensive metrics in LF were far worse than when he played RF. I know Hyde likes to move him to LF when there’s less ground to cover on that side, I’m starting to think he’d be better off playing Santander only in RF when he’s in the OF at all.  

[spleen1015]

Today, the amount of ground to cover didn't make a difference. You look at your analytics and see which side of the field is going to get hit to more often and put your better fielder on that side.

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

 

- In the fifth, runner on 1st and nobody out, Mateo fielded a ground ball a bit to his backhand side.  Mateo appeared to have a delay getting the ball out of his glove and then whipped a throw to Frazier that was a bit low.  Frazier caught it and thought about throwing but put the ball in his pocket.  To my eye, it was on Mateo that the DP was not completed.  

 

Didn't get a great replay, but the announcers said something about Frazier being late to the bag which may have caused Mateo to double clutch. 

Santander was brutal. Needs to be mostly DH and occasional RF. McKenna should come in the game when we have the lead, don't wait for the 9th. 

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Aristotelian said:

Didn't get a great replay, but the announcers said something about Frazier being late to the bag which may have caused Mateo to double clutch.

They speculated that, but I don’t think so.  

[sportsfan8703]

Mountcastle had the Yoshida line drive hit right off his glove. Granted it was smoked. 101 mph EV, but it was hit right at him and hit his glove. 

A team isn’t going to make every play, but the OF defense almost cost us the game. 
 

This could’ve been a real choke job by the defense and bullpen today. 

[interloper]

I'm not a big fan of the Santander/Hays LF/RF swap in Fenway thing. Stop that. Santander is a RFer and if a ball drops in RF in Fenway because of his lack of range, so be it. The Monster is not easy. 

Mostly I think yesterday was about the time of game and the weather. It's a weird time to play a game, and Boston can't get enough of that kind of crap. 2pm yesterday, 4pm tomorrow, they have an 11am game every year. It's obnoxious. 

That said, one or two tough plays I get. 4 or 5 or 6? What's going on out there? 

Edited March 31, 2023 by interloper

[SteveA]

18 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Poor plays in the opener:

Santander misplayed at least three balls costing several runs.
Mateo short hopped an easy, game ending DP throw
On same play, Mountcastle was unable to pick the Mateo throw
Mullins mistimed a jump in center costing a triple and a run eventually

Here are the Santander and Mullins follies: https://www.mlb.com/video/00u7jzgkdtP9kH55c356/reels/of-follies?partnerId=web_multimedia-search_video-share

 

There was a ball that got over Hays' head that I thought MAYBE he should have had, but I wasn't sure.   Happened so fast, maybe it was pretty much uncatchable.  I wanted to see a replay but they were too busy interviewing Cedric's wife to show a replay so I never saw it.  

[jamalshw]

I know that they played the same positions last year at Fenway, but I almost wonder if it would make more sense to just leave Hays in LF and Santander in RF (when he's in the OF) regardless of stadium. I get the logic of Hays covering more ground, but there is an adjustment to how the ball comes off the bat and I wonder if the overall defense throughout the course of the season would be improved if they consistently get the same looks, playing the same positions. Ultimately, it probably doesn't matter, but just me wondering. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

There was a ball that got over Hays' head that I thought MAYBE he should have had, but I wasn't sure.   Happened so fast, maybe it was pretty much uncatchable.  I wanted to see a replay but they were too busy interviewing Cedric's wife to show a replay so I never saw it.  

We discussed that in the game thread. That ball was smoked like 106 MPH and had a .580 XBA so I think that was just a rocket that got over his head vs a misplay in my book. 

[Tony-OH]

41 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

I know that they played the same positions last year at Fenway, but I almost wonder if it would make more sense to just leave Hays in LF and Santander in RF (when he's in the OF) regardless of stadium. I get the logic of Hays covering more ground, but there is an adjustment to how the ball comes off the bat and I wonder if the overall defense throughout the course of the season would be improved if they consistently get the same looks, playing the same positions. Ultimately, it probably doesn't matter, but just me wondering. 

There is a difference between the two and some outfielders are not comfortable going back and forth. Both Santander and Stowers look much more comfortable in RF vs LF.

[LTO's]

I'm wondering if the WBC effected Mullins and Santander. You definitely don't get the normal amount of reps out there when you aren't in a conventional ST environment. Especially for Mullins who only started in a couple games and played corner OF when he did play. I do think all the OFs just weren't seeing the ball well off the bat at all. Shadows, sunlight, wind are most likely to blame but these games matter now and can't be excuses. 

Hyde was really asleep at the wheel though. There is no reason to have Santander in the OF with a 6 run lead in the 8th inning. Hopefully he learned his lesson and thankfully it ended in a W.