UZR Leaders Through April 19th

Franklin Gutierrez, CF, SEA: 3.7
Nelson Cruz, RF, TEX: 3.7
Jay Bruce, RF, CIN: 3.7
Endy Chavez, LF, SEA: 2.9
David DeJesus, LF, KC: 2.7

6 months ago philkid3 10 comments 0 recs |

Comments

Small sample sizes for the win!

I always find it entertaining to find out who leads the league in various numbers when the season has barely begun.

R.J. actually has a write up about this at FanGraphs today. It’s surely no surprise to see Chavez or Gutirrez up there. Nelson Cruz may come as a surprise to non-Rangers fans, but they’ve known he had something to bring in the field all along (though maybe not enough to lead the league in UZR). Really, not much of this list is that surprising.

What may be surprising is this:

Speaking of improved defenses, let’s hear it for the Texas Rangers and Jon Daniels. Nelson Cruz, Chris Davis, Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, Omar Vizquel, and Hank Blalock are all rated as average or slightly above, with Cruz tying Gutierrez for the overall UZR lead. The Rangers worst defender has been Michael Young, who isn’t taking to third base as quickly as the Rangers would’ve hoped.

(And no, I didn’t just post that out of bias.)

R.J. also points out the upcoming series between Tampa Bay and Seattle is a duel between the two best UZR teams in baseball.

Some would say the Mariners are following a similar path to the Rays of 2007 and 2008; going from a poor team defensive to one of the best in the league within one off-season.

Seattle’s surge has been lead by your current UZR king, Franklin Gutierrez, Endy Chavez, and Adrian Beltre. Meanwhile another newcomer, Ronny Cedeno, has taken kindly to an all encompassing utility role, producing positive UZR in left and at second base in about 30 innings of work.

With positional adjustment, Gutierrez so far has been pretty strongly the most valuable defensive player in baseball over this long season.

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Apr 20, 2009 5:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

My first reaction was "wow, even though it's a small sample, those guys are all known as pretty good fielders"

Still think Byrd should be starting in CF with Cruz and Hamilton in the corners. Of course, I can head over to LSB for that discussion.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Apr 20, 2009 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I absolutely believe this, too, as do most of them over there.

And seemingly the team also believes Hamilton belongs in a corner. So it appears to be a love of Murphy and/or lack of confidence in Byrd. I’m not sure I understand either.

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Apr 20, 2009 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Totally agreed.

I think Byrd is one of — if not the — most underrated players on the team.

If we’re going to give a bloated albatross of a contract to a player on our team over 30, it might as well be to the guy whose name at least makes the ordeal a pun.

by jwiscarson on Apr 21, 2009 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs