The flaws of defensive record keeping are well known and, so far, inevitable. In fact, the safest way to measure defensive metrics is with a sample size no smaller than three seasons.
Unfortunately, fans like to reward greatness one year at a time. It would be great if we gave out fielding awards for the bulk of the past three seasons each year, like the 2010-2012 winners this year, the 2011-2013 award after next, and so on.
Fewest Errors
An antiquated stat that is still one of the Big Three kept in all box scores, with tiebreakers as games played.
C: Brian McCann 2
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| Brian McCann throws accurately |
2b: Darwin Barney 2 (GG)
3b: Aramis Ramirez 7
SS: J.J. Hardy 6 (GG)
LF: Desmond Jennings 0
CF: Curtis Granderson 0
RF: Ichiro Suzuki 1
P: Zack Greinke 0
Fielding Percentage
Switching our focus from "fewest errors" to "highest fielding percentage", only the 3rd baseman changes.
C: Brian McCann .998
1b: Mark Teixeira .999 (GG)
2b: Darwin Barney .997 (GG)
3b: Chase Headley .977 (GG)
SS: J.J. Hardy .992 (GG)
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| J.J. Hardy lead the upstart Orioles |
CF: Curtis Granderson 1.000
RF: Ichiro Suzuki .996
P: Zack Greinke 1.000
A pleasant and thoughtful man, named Mitchel Lichtman, invented Ultimate Zone Rating about 10 years ago. As The Hardball Times' glossary notes:
Essentially, UZR looks at the trajectory and speed of every batted ball and, based on overall major league averages, assigns a probability that a certain position will field it. If a player at that position fields it, he gets credit above the overall major league average. If he doesn't, he gets negative credit.
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| Alex Gordon has a great arm |
1b: Adrian Gonzalez 17.7
2b: Darwin Barney 13.1 (GG)
3b: Mike Moustakas 16.8
SS: Brendan Ryan 14.7
LF: Alex Gordon 14.1 (GG)
CF: Michael Bourn 22.4
RF: Jason Heyward 22.9 (GG)
We finally see a big difference in names from Henry Chadwick's traditional "Errors" and "Fielding %" Darwin Barney is the only player to appear on all three lists above.
UZR is a household name across the sabr community, but it often takes a backseat to its rate stat cousin...
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| Adrian Gonzalez is a favorite to win the 2013 NL Gold Glove at 1st base |
1b: Adrian Gonzalez 16.6
2b: Mark Ellis 16.1
3b: David Wright 16.8
SS: Brendan Ryan 17.1
LF: Alex Gordon 11.7 (GG)
CF: Michael Bourn 22.5
RF: Jason Heyward 22.1 (GG)
The UZR team remains the same, except that Mark Ellis and David Wright joined the party.
Defensive Runs Saved
DRS is a personal favorite.
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| Yadier Molina's defense > All |
1b: Mark Teixeira 17 (GG)
2b: Darwin Barney 28 (GG)
3b: Brett Lawrie 20
SS: Brendan Ryan 27
LF: Alex Gordon 24 (GG)
CF: Michael Bourn 24
RF: Josh Reddick 22 (GG)
P: Mark Buehrle (GG)
Greetings to Molina, Lawrie, Reddick, and Buehrle. Darwin Barney regains his spot at the keystone from Mark Ellis.
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| Let's see Lawrie's numbers in 2 years |
David Wright was the second highest rated third baseman by DRS.
We converted Defensive Runs Saved to a per 9 inning rate...
DRS/9
Only Pitcher differs from raw Defensive Runs Saved, as Jake Westbrook scored a bit higher than Mark Buerhle.
C: Yadier Molina .12 (GG)
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| Brendan Ryan's DRS/9 was the best for every position |
2b: Darwin Barney .20 (GG)
3b: Brett Lawrie .17
SS: Brendan Ryan .21
LF: Alex Gordon .15 (GG)
CF: Michael Bourn .17
RF: Josh Reddick .17 (GG)
P: Jake Westbrook .57
Baseball-Reference dWAR
The defensive composite score that accounts for a players defensive contribution to their Wins Above Replacement score on Baseball-Reference is actually based on Baseball Info Solutions' Defensive Runs Saved, so the carbon copy below makes sense.
C: Yadier Molina 2.6 (GG)
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| Jason Heyward is still improving. |
2b: Darwin Barney 3.6 (GG)
3b: Brett Lawrie 2.4
SS: Brendan Ryan 3.6
LF: Alex Gordon 1.9 (GG)
CF: Michael Bourn 3.0
RF: Jason Heyward 1.5 (GG)
P: 20 tied with 0.1
Fangraphs dWAR (Fld)
C: Yadier Molina 10.3 (GG)
1b: Adrian Gonzalez 13.8
2b: Danny Espinosa 13
3b: Mike Moustakas 16.8
SS: J.J. Hardy 11.4 (GG)
LF: Martin Prado 17.8
CF: Michael Bourn 22.4
RF:Jason Heyward 21.5 (GG)
Espinosa and Prado make it on the squad for the first time. J.J. Hardy surprisingly reappears for the first time since Fielding %.
Some of the finest sabr crowd sourcing around is readily available at Tom Tango's blog.
Results from the 2012 edition of his annual fans' scouting report bring up a few interesting new names...
Tango's Fans Scouting Report 2012
The Eye Test Lineup
C: Yadier Molina 77 (GG)
1b: Albert Pujols/Brandon Belt 65
2b: Brandon Phillips 81
3b: Adrian Beltre 82 (GG)
SS: Brendan Ryan 87
LF: Alex Gordon (GG)/Starling Marte 75
CF: Franklin Gutierrez/Peter Bourjos 78
RF: Jason Heyward (GG)/Ichiro Suzuki 77
Some of these players get votes due to their reputations, but personally, I like when young players are recognized. I've seen Starling Marte play on TV a little bit, but not yet in person.
Defense really needs to be seen in person.
If Starling Marte's game is as exciting as it sounds, Pirates fans are in for a treat the next half decade. In this article, Marte, through his interpreter, tells Tom Singer: "The player I've always looked up to was Vladimir Guerrero. I followed him, and he's the type of player I wanted to grow up to be."
Our next and final group, John Dewan's Fielding Bible Awards, are compiled from the thoughtful votes of a hand-picked panel of writers, fans, and statistical gurus like the aforementioned Joe Posnanski, Tango, John Dewan, Bill James, Peter Gammons, Rob Neyer, Doug Glanville, and more.
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| Posnanski calls Buehrle "a defense savant" |
C: Yadier Molina (GG)
1b: Mark Teixeira (GG)
2b: Darwin Barney (GG)
3b: Adrian Beltre (GG)
SS: Brendan Ryan
LF: Alex Gordon (GG)
CF: Mike Trout
RF: Jason Heyward (GG)
P: Mark Buehrle (GG)
It took this long to get to Mike Trout, partially due to an April on the farm.
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| Mike Trout will be collecting a lot of hardware in the future |
All stats from Fangraphs or Baseball-Reference, unless otherwise noted. Rate stats only include "Qualified" fielders.
What is your All Defensive team? Tell us in a comment below!
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