Let’s talk about fielding!
General topic this week: defense. The D-backs were nominated for five Gold Gloves. Any surprises? How many do you think will be won? Did you think our defense was worse this year? Who improved or declined? Who are the best and worst fielders in team history?
Preston: Regarding this year, I was a bit surprised to see Gurriel nominated. While his outfield defense has shown substantial improvement over last year, he still looked like he was lost sometimes. But the results were good, and he has the athletic ability to make catches even when getting himself into a difficult position. Apart from that, I wasn’t surprised by any of the nominations, although I would be surprised to see wins from anyone other than Christian Walker.
On the whole, the defense was slightly worse this year, I think. Carroll’s defense took a step back that more than offset Gurriel’s improvement, and the innings from Blaze Alexander were enough to offset Suarez being better than Longoria/Rivera. But the biggest reason the defense performed worse was that everyone finally realized that they have nothing to fear from the arms of our outfielders. I know that Alek Thomas spent some of the offseason working to improve his arm, although we didn’t see the results on the field, but I hope that everyone else does, as well. As things currently stand, either Gurriel or Pavin Smith has the best arm as far as the outfielder mix is concerned, and while Gurriel’s arm is just fine for left field, neither of them are better than average.
Regarding team defense throughout history, the 2001 team was mentioned during that postseason as being excellent defensively because they committed just 84 errors over the course of the season, fewest in the NL and only one more than the 116-win Mariners. Furthermore, 12 of those errors were committed by pitchers. 2001 was also the last year before UZR gave us a somewhat better way of measuring defensive efficiency. But that “excellent” defense was more than a bit of a mirage. Tony Womack was the main shortstop that season, and he accounted for more than a quarter of the total team errors, with 22. With no UZR or DRS, his defensive value was calculated by range factor, and he did fairly well in that metric, given that his speed did allow him to get to plenty of balls. But there was a reason why no team, apart from the Diamondbacks, ever used him as their main shortstop. When he missed time due to his father’s death, Matt Williams started at shortstop, a position he hadn’t played in more than a decade. In fact, that team had three good-to-great defenders: Steve Finley, Craig Counsell, and Damian Miller. The rest were either average (Reggie Sanders, Mark Grace, Williams at third) or below average. Jay Bell, Williams, and Grace would have made for three great infield defenders in 1991, but in 2001, not so much.
But in the postseason, the defense almost came back to bite them. In the very first game, Tony Womack’s eighth-inning throwing error caused more stress than was needed in a one-run game. The next day, a Matt Williams error caused RJ to throw extra pitches in the sixth inning, although that likely made no difference in the game. Williams had a dismal series defensively in the NLCS, but it again made no difference. Then, there was the World Series.
The Diamondbacks committed just three errors across the seven games, and were error-free in six of seven games. But that one game nearly wrecked the series.
The Diamondbacks tied things up in the fourth inning of Game 3. Roger Clemens was not fully healthy, and the middle of the Yankees’ bullpen was pretty dismal (as Game 6 would prove.) The Diamondbacks, with a 2-0 series lead, basically just needed to get Roger Clemens out of the game before the seventh inning, ensuring that Mariano Rivera couldn’t pitch the duration. Instead, two fourth inning errors caused Brian Anderson to throw 13 extra pitches. He should have been out of the inning in 13 pitches. One error made him throw five more, before another error on a foul ball made him throw another eight. So he threw 26 pitches in a scoreless fourth inning, when he should have thrown half that. In the sixth inning, a third error didn’t officially lead to the eventual winning run scoring, but it certainly didn’t help, and at any rate, Greg Swindell threw 28 pitches in relief as a result. If Swindell (arguably the second-best reliever on that team) doesn’t have to work so much, BK doesn’t throw 61 pitches the next night. The errors let the Yankees back into the series, and it almost cost the Diamondbacks a win in a series where they outscored their opponent by a considerable margin.
Makakilo: The Diamondbacks have a well-deserved reputation for excellent defense. However, their defense had two problems compared to last season:
- The combination of Pitcher/Catcher fell from positive 19 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) to negative 7 DRS.
- The combination of outfielders/outfield positioning fell from positive 12 DRS to negative 15 DRS.
This AZ Snake Pit article and discussion comments contributed many insights. They helped me see the following:
- Some outfielders need to improve in preventing batters and runners from taking extra bases. (As measured by Baserunning Arm Value Leaderboard).
- Un-Earned Runs (unERs) allowed contributed to 7 games lost, (6 of which would otherwise have gone to extra innings), and sent one game into extra innings which was lost.
James: I was a little bit surprised to see the team garner five nominations. On top of that, I would have expected one of the five to be in the utility position, and none of them were. I’m a bit surprised to see both Gurriel and McCarthy garner nominations. I sort of figured one or the other might, but not both. Gurriel’s left field defense has been highly underrated (including by me) for a while now. He is by no means an exceptional fielder, but he is able to stay mostly healthy so he can get the necessary reps. He has the athleticism to make the plays he should and then a bit more to make the occasional highlight play. He also tends to make very good decisions, not putting himself into those awkward in-between positions that can create a headache and some Zigfield Follies type defending.
Had it not been for significant time lost to injuries, I would put Walker and Moreno as locks for their awards with Ketel Marte a strong contender to give the team a third. I think, based on Moreno missing time last season and still winning the award, that he has a very good chance of repeating. I would have zero concerns if the injury had occurred earlier in the season. Olson getting injured likely helps Walker, who also missed his time at the end of the season. I would like to think that Walker has shown himself capable enough that the time missed does not terribly impact his chances. Overall, I do think Moreno and Walker retain their awards. I give Marte a 50/50 chance of stealing this award from its rightful recipient. Usually, I would feel a bit dirty but still happy about that. However, since the rightful recipient didn’t even get nominated, I have no issues with whole-heartedly rooting for (and also somewhat expecting) Marte to win the award.
Overall, I think Arizona could collect three Gold Gloves this season. Even though I would like to see Gurriel claim an award after all the times he has missed out, Ian Happ has started to get a strong hold on the award (deservedly so). As for McCarthy, he simply doesn’t have enough time in right field to be a real contender. It was nice to get a nomination and he can now put that in his locker. But, the time spent covering center field seriously ate into his overall stats. Also, there’s a guy named Sal Frelick who should hands-down be winning the award. About the only category Frelick doesn’t lead all of baseball in in terms of right fielders is arm strength, where his is still not bad.
As for comparing defensive seasons, I think the defense between last year and this one is mostly a wash. Marte is much improved. Perdomo has also improved. Third base, despite Blaze’s time there is improved overall by the presence of Suarez outside of Alexander time. Gurriel was good last season, but was better this year. Center field took a step back with fewer innings covered by Thomas. Right field was probably a wash. Carroll was not quite as sharp in right field this year, possibly due to lack of reps. But, McCarthy was better, so there is that. Of all the places on the field where I think the defense looked shakier, it is on the mound. Some of that comes from age and experience I think. Montgomery is not exactly a spry fielder. Nor is Rodriguez (though he only had a handful of starts). Then, the team had a revolving door of other pitchers take the mound, trying to cobble together something resembling a rotation. The in and out of all the players and the need for many of those players to focus on developing their pitches at the MLB level a few months earlier than expected, likely hurt the fielding there.
On a related note, if Walker turns down his qualifying offer and elects free agency, it will be interesting to see if there is a knock-on effect on the defensive metrics for the rest of the infielders.
Best fielders in team history? Nick Ahmed comes in at #1 and it isn’t terribly close. For all the hate the man got while he was here because of his bat, Ahmed was a generational defensive talent. The only person in the last 20 years who has been as consistently defensively is some schmuck named Andrelton Simmons. Those two might be the best defensive shortstops I have seen since Ozzie Smith. After Ahmed, I go with Craig Counsell. Counsell was lowkey one of the best defensive infielders of his day, a plus glove at second, third, and short. As good as Damian MIller was, Gabriel Moreno has already established himself as the best defensive backstop this team has ever had. The impending second Gold Glove will help cement that.
My all defensive team:
- P: Greinke
- C: Moreno
- 1B: Goldschmidt (though the team has been blessed with a fair number of capable defenders there, with Walker, Overbay, and Clark all being decidedly above average there).
- 2B: Orlando Hudson (Craig Counsell could go here and it wouldn’t bother me much.)
- 3B: Eugenio Suarez (Craig Counsell was the next-best. Arizona picked up Williams and Longoria at the end of their careers and have only had one season of Troy Glaus as a real third baseman outside of them)
- SS: Nick Ahmed
- LF: Gurriel* (At Chase Field, it is Gonzo. Away from Chase Field and overall, he wasn’t so hot. Parra could go here and probably does right now still. But I think Gurriel would continue as he has and so I am slotting him in now.)
- CF: Chris Young (Honorable mention to A.J. Pollock. Like first base, center field has almost always been a strong defensive position for this team. Even now, with the second and third strings starting there, they are quite good.)
- RF: Raoul Mondesi* (Probably not the fairest call since he was only here for a partial season and at the tail end of his excellence. In that case, Parra is the no-brainer, though I think McCarthy and Carroll both give him a run and one likely takes this slot in the next season or two)
Jim: I just want to chip in on the topic of the worst fielders in team history. I’d probably go with Yasmany Tomas, but the team has certainly had its share of bat-first individuals, especially in the outfield. Mark Trumbo, Adam Dunn and Wily Mo Pena come to mind!
Justin: Adam Dunn. Ah, that makes me remember the cries, “Two hands Upton!” Dunn had the stone pillar defense… he didn’t make many errors because he couldn’t get to anything…
How are you preparing for the looming prospect of a Dodgers/Yankees World Series?
Preston: Since I blame the fact that the world has gone insane since 2016 on the fact that the Cubs and Indians faced off in that series, perhaps a Dodgers-Yankees series could heal the world? Either way, between the teams and the political ads, I will probably watch less of this series than I have any since 2012, a year where I don’t think I watched any of the series. I will likely watch some, but since the three teams left in it are the three teams I’d like to see succeed the least, probably not very much.
Makakilo: Constantly remain optimistic that the Yankees will win!
Justin: I have accepted it. Since my biodad’s side of the family and my best friend are Yankees fans I hope they win. How am I preparing? I’m already into hockey and other things. I lost interest after the DS’.
James: I’m sure there will be drinking and a great deal of heckling involved (never mind that they cannot hear me through the screen). Beyond that, I would not be shocked if I miss some of the World Series. The games in Los Angeles will start later and may run late enough that, unless there is something amazing happening, I am unlikely to stay up late to watch. Once my meds kick in and the clock gets to a certain point, crawling into bed and putting on a cozy mystery sounds far more appealing. Also, it won’t keep me from nodding off.