Braves Yunel Escobar Having A Gold Glove Season
by gondeee on Jun 16, 2010 11:52 AM EDT
Email
PrintFor those Braves fans who watch Yunel Escobar day in and day out, you almost take for granted how good and how smooth he is at shortstop. Balls hit up the middle off Braves pitchers have turned into easy outs thanks to the plus defense of Yuney. Little did we know that he might be the best defensive shortstop in baseball this year. Here is a breakdown of defensive runs saved by stat guru John Dewan (hat tip: Bill Chuck):
Two and a half months into the season, it is a good time to look and see who have been our best defensive players of the year. Let’s take a look at our overall leaders, in terms of Defensive Runs Saved.
2010 Runs Saved Leaders Player Team Pos. Innings Runs Saved Ben Zobrist Rays 2B/RF 547 15 Yunel Escobar Braves SS 448 15 Austin Jackson Tigers CF 498 13 Alexei Ramirez White Sox SS 530 12 Michael Bourn Astros CF 527 11 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals 3B 445 11 Chase Utley Phillies 2B 515 11 Robinson Cano Yankees 2B 550 10 Ben Zobrist is no surprise here, as he finished near the top of the league last year with 31 runs saved. What’s impressive about Zobrist is that he has accumulated his runs saved at numerous positions, having spent time at first base, second base, and all three outfield spots.
Yunel Escobar has always been one of the best defenders at shortstop, with runs saved totals the last two years of 12 and 13. Always strong on plays to his left, Escobar is now making some of those plays to his right. He has already eclipsed his previous career high in Defensive Runs Saved.
Jimmy Rollins is the three-time defending National League Gold Glove winner at shortstop, but he's been on the shelf for all but a dozen games this year, and unless the voters use their lazy button at the end of the year and give him the 2010 Gold Glove despite his missed time, then we should have an open race at shortstop. Troy Tulowitzki will likely give Yunel his biggest challenge, and big names like Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez will always be mentioned among the contenders.
Escobar is earning his spot as one of the top defenders at shortstop in the league. If he can continue to put up numbers like this and make plays in the field, then perhaps he will get recognition for that at the end of the year in the form of a Gold Glove.
39 comments
|
1 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
good to see more official compliments
Feels like Yunel might be the best, raw baseball player (maybe pre-HeyBot days) the bravos have ever brought up. Sure he pisses us off and hasnt “reached his potential” (which he has he just hasnt stayed) but this kid’s got talent. Good to hear it for real.
Recd
He's still relatively young
So the future is bright.
I don't know what your definition of "relatively young" is
but I was somewhat surprised to see that Yunel is 27 this year (turns 28 in Nov). That would suggest he’s pretty close to peaking in terms of abilities. His might be a case to take arbitration year-by-year rather than lock up for too long of a term. Prado is about the same age as well.
GO ESCO!!!
"Tony Gwynn made sacrifices. Cal Ripken made sacrifices. I'm not sure Derek Jeter made sacrifices given the ungodly deep pockets the Yankees have." - Chipper Jones
by MBL1 on Jun 16, 2010 12:02 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Gold Gloves are such a farce
They always seem to go to All Stars or big names.
HUMAN TEAMMATE HEYWARD JASON FOR FRANCHISE MVP AFTER TAKING MATTERS INTO OWN HANDS AND REMOVING MCLOUTH NATE FROM LINEUP
UZR just doesn't like him as much
DRS thinks he’s an elite SS for the third straight year, while UZR thinks he’s slightly above average. Somehow, Yunel seems to encompass the fundamental differences between the metrics, and I have no idea what they are.
I, for one, think that sometimes too much faith is placed in statistics. It is getting to the point where someone can make a statistic to support just about any theory about any player. That’s why we still have scouts.
Stats lend a really very useful eye into aspects of baseball that the human eye alone cannot necessarily gather from watching baseball games. But stats must be viewed alongside individual scouting reports and watched games. Statistics are most useful as long as they co-exist with the scouts.
The Jordan Schafer Fan Club.
As an employee for Baseball Info Solutions, who puts out this data, I know how much time and effort is put into coming up with these statistics. Countless hours are put in by “stringers” (guys who watch and chart the games), and each game is done by two people to ensure accuracy. Are they perfect? Absolutely not. But I certainly believe them.
I agree that stats are useful, but we are getting saturated with too many, IMHO. After all, my human eyes are watch the games, not my computer.
I’m sure you’ve heard that if you watched every single game of a season, without any statistics, you would not be able to tell the difference between a .275 hitter and a .315 hitter. I think that stats need to be used as an aid, and although there are a lot of them, they can only continue to get better as they advance.
And I’m not saying that when you go to a game with the old man or some friends that you should be thinking about or using stats. You’re at the game to enjoy it. Stats are really only important for front offices and fantasy baseball.
The Jordan Schafer Fan Club.
I call bulldung...
Stats lend a really very useful eye into aspects of baseball that the human eye alone cannot necessarily gather from watching baseball games
The stats can only be compiled after being viewed by the human eye, and counted by human minds. So unless you’ve got robots and computers watching these games, there isn’t a stat around that wasn’t first created by the input of the human eye.
well technically...
pitch f/x is completely computer recorded data.
but that wasn’t his point. His point was just by watching a bunch of games and not tracking anything (using statistics), you can’t make very precise judgements about players.
One could say the same thing about...
never watching and relying solely on the mathematics. But then, there’d be no math if no one watched and recorded.
So the computers watch each pitch?...
did they program themselves as well? Point remains that none of it is possible without the “human eye alone”.
the software does calibrate itself according to markers on the baselines and at home plate.
but again, not the point. Your last comment said it exactly. The same thing can be said about just looking at stats and not watching. The point is that they’re both important and neither one can just be thrown out the window.
Sure no problem.
We usually put one out every week. If there’s something Braves-related, I’ll give you a heads up
Glad to read this here
I’ve always thought he was a major plus at SS.
You certainly couldn’t prove any of this in reading the comments here where he’s regularly a whipping boy for any number of people.
HUMANS AT WEBADDRESS FANGRAPHS & BASEBALLPROSPECTS PERHAPS WILL SPEAK ILL OF PERFORMANCE TONIGHT DUE TO MAGICAL MEANINGLESS "WHIP"
See
now this is the love side of my “Love/Hate” relationship with Esco.
Now just because of this post he is going do do something to piss me off tonight.
Fucknuts isn't hitting well enough to win a gold glove
it’s sad, but probably true.
"Sharks have a week dedicated to Jason Heyward."
He hits better than Casey Kotchman...
and if he hits like he’s capable of the next few months, he hits more than enough for a GG. As said, it’s Casey Kotchman that sadly doesn’t hit well enough for a gold glove.
Seems like he’s had a decent amount of errors
by 5InningsofChuckJames on Jun 16, 2010 5:14 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
errors FTW!
"Sharks have a week dedicated to Jason Heyward."
by Scott Coleman on Jun 16, 2010 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions
errors are very very overated on defense. especially for a SS
by Braves Biceps on Jun 16, 2010 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions
If he played for the Yankees or Thillies...
he would probably already have one.
"It looks like The Hound of the Baskervilles out there." - Steve Stone
"...I'm reminded of Wuthering Heights." - Harry Caray
~
"i’m going to keep stats on you for as long as it humors me….target is unclear" - BMacAttack (Hohn's queef)
by Chief Noc-A-Homa on Jun 16, 2010 5:32 PM EDT reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Talking Chop
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- James Loney: Umpires should call pitches from behind mound — and be robots with replay
- Magglio Ordonez set to retire after 15 seasons
- Barry Bonds thinks it will be ‘very sad’ if he doesn’t get into the Hall on his first try
- Chris Johnson’s glove webbing had a Spidey sense at Coors Field — for one play, at least
- Jonathan Lucroy breaks hand after suitcase falls during search for sock
