Analyzing the Giants' Defense
by BenDuronio on Oct 7, 2010 3:06 PM EDT
in Series Previews & Recaps
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PrintThis Giants team is built around solid starting pitching and a great bullpen. Great pitching will obviously help your defense, especially when you strike out as many batters as the Giants do. However, as good as their pitching is, it cannot mask their defensive problems.
Of the seven positions ranked by Dewan’s +/-, the Giants have just two players in the top ten at their respective positions. Andres Torres is tied for tenth in right field -- he primarily plays centerfield now –- and Aubrey Huff is tied for ninth at first base.
The Giants have a good amount of Melky-esque bodies around the field. Torres is the only player who would even pass the eye test as an above average fielder. Nearly all of Pat Burrell’s and Jose Guillen’s defensive value being encompassed in their arms. Juan Uribe and Pablo Sandoval make for one of the heaviest left sides of the infield I can ever recall, and the converted third basemen, Freddy Sanchez, has posted just above average career range numbers at second base.
Simply making contact could prove to be extremely beneficial for the Braves this series. The limited range on the left side of the infield and the two corner outfield spots may hurt them in a short five game series.
The Giants actually rank second in the majors in UZR/150, but the quality of UZR compared to Dewan’s +/- is rather vast, in my opinion. Neither stat is perfect, nor near it, but +/- usually portrays a more accurate picture. The Giants are, at best, a bit below an average defensive team.
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interesting...
thanks Ben! To help me understand a bit more, could one of you all break down Dewan’s for me?
A player gets credit (a “plus” number) if he makes a play that at least one other player at his position missed during the season, and he loses credit (a “minus” number) if he misses a play that at least one player made. The size of the credit is directly related to how often players make the play. Each play is looked at individually, and a score is given for each play. Sum up all the plays for each player at his position and you get his total plus/minus for the season.
Twitter: @Ben_Duronio
As a team, according to DRS
The Giants came in 4th. Much smaller discrepancy though between the Giants and Braves by DRS than by UZR.
Juan "Doesn't Cheat The Game" Perez, please keep hitting.
Nearly all of Pat Burrell’s and Jose Guillen’s defensive value being encompassed in their arms.
…and Guillen failed to make the roster. Our friend Cody Ross is on it instead.
"What was more odd than that pitch being low is that Jeff Francoeur didn't swing at it." -- Jim Powell, Aug. 4, 2010.
Yeh, I actually had this written up before that was announced. Surprising to say the least, Ross’ splits against righties are gross, but he’s a better fielder than Guillen.
Twitter: @Ben_Duronio
would you mind explaining why you think +/- is superior to UZR….just wondering.
"No. Lonely people mixing with one another? Breeding? Creating an even lonelier generation? You're not even allowing natural selection do its work. Pssh. You're like the guy who invented the seat belt."
Dwight Schrute
+/- is based much more on a case by case basis rather than simply by putting players into zones. Weird starting positions could put players in different zones, UZR usually takes 3 years of compiling to get an accurate picture.
Twitter: @Ben_Duronio
I don't think you're giving our D enough credit
Freddy Sanchez would certainly pass the eye test of anyone who watched him this year, he’s been fantastic with the glove. His recent arm issues raise some concern, but Fontenot has looked pretty good there as well. Either way the Giants should run out an above average defensive 2B.
Sandoval and Uribe are a very hefty left side of the infield, but their range is much closer to average than their bulk would suggest. Also, they both posses incredibly strong arms which can sometimes compensate from their lack of range.
Guillen didn’t make the playoff roster (thank goodness) so you’ll probably see Cody Ross in RF or Rowand in CF and Torres in RF most of the time. We’re better with Torres in CF but either way you’ll see real good range in 2 of the 3 OF spots.
You probably know this, but its worth mentioning that Buster is a pretty terrific defensive catcher too. The way he’s been able to limit opposing running games despite some guys with pretty slow delivery times on our pitching staff has been impressive.
Basically I think you’ll see close to average defense on the left side of the infield, above average defense on the right side, outstanding defense wherever Torres is playing and above average defense in whichever RF/CF spot he’s not playing. Without Guillen in there Burrell is the only defensive spot that worries me much and he’s often replaced by Schierholtz/Ross in the late innings.
Thing A
"Correlation between inability to use the reply button and general crappiness of analysis: pretty high." -Sleepy Freud
The eye test
holds no merit at all, unless you’re sitting in the stands watching a player on every single play. It is impossible to be able to accurately measure the type of defender someone is by watching the plays on TV from your living room.
I don’t mean to pick at that one small part of your post. I’m sure you know more about the Giants defense than I do.
I feel like if anything its the kettle calling the pot black
we suck on defense too…sweet lord so many stupid errors
while this is true
I do think this article’s point was to analyze the Giants defense .. not compare it to ours.
I like people until I meet them.
Fatty's in a little jam
Dead girl, dead girl
Fatty’s in a little jam
Oh wait….how’s the rest of it go?
Play me off!
"Jason Heyward was a Greek philosopher reincarnated as a baseball player." - Don Sutton
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