Here's how Ramirez measures up: Ramirez has a UZR of 4.0, which slots him ninth among qualifying shortstops, and his dWAR of 1.1 (tied for fourth place) does him one better. Chris Gomez, SS, 1997 Padres (minus-33). by Retrosheet. I cried all the way home." Needs an adequate arm, but it doesnt need to be a cannon, Should be fast and a skilled contact hitter, Typically a spark plug type player who gets on base and makes things happen on the basepaths, Excellent field vision and understanding of where to go and other players movement, Hitting skills are secondary to defensive ability, however at the MLB level there is a growing importance on being threat at the plate its not enough any more to hit .250 as an MLB shortstop, Must be mentally tough and have strong leadership skills, Shortstops are premium athletes and their body types fit this bill, Most are 55 59 at the collegiate level and are fast, explosive, strong and flexible they can run, jump and do it all, There cannot be any defensive tool lacking to play at the highest levels agility, glovework and arm strength must be elite, Again, the body type is typically lean, strong and powerful, VERY strong arm to make long throws across the diamond, Is NOT afraid of the ball because line drives come FAST, Not as much fielding range as the shortstop, Many HS shortstops are recruited as SS, but end up playing 2B or 3B in college, Moves very well and is fast with fast footwork, Should have good speed but doesnt need to be a burner, Typically one of the bigger hitters on the team, Big and strong frame but with good speed and agility, Very similar to shortstops center fielders are one of the best athletes on the team, Must be explosive, lean and strong in a very athletic overall package, Height isnt overly important speed and ability to track down fly balls, In youth softball, the right fielder is one of the lesser players on the team because fewer fly balls are hit that way, Right fielders should have at least modest power and good speed, Is typically a good outfielder but not as fast or skilled as the centerfielder, Collegiate right fielders are athletic and fast with strong throwing arms, Typically taller and have an athletic build. Let's look at his range factors per nine innings: In raw numbers, Kemp played nine fewer innings in 2010, but made 37 fewer putouts. Left-handed catchers are seen occasionally in college softball but its rare. Ramirez's recent onslaught of errors is cause for concern, but the rest of his numbers still put him among the premier shortstops in the game. Over 21 games at shortstop (number one in the AL), his dWAR is 0.5-good for third in the AL. The 30-year-old has the most full innings played of all shortstops in the majors with 763. It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by the number of innings or games played at a given defense position. The Twins walked the fewest batters in the AL and were in the middle of the pack in strikeouts and home runs allowed but were 13th in hits allowed, so the team defense was pretty bad overall, with Puckett apparently playing a big role. Great infielders at the highest level of baseball have a fielding percentage of . In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. When Andruw Jones first came to the big leagues (with the Atlanta Braves), he'd make plays in the outfield, and we'd go: "Oh, man, did you see that?" Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. 40 Worst Fielders in Baseball History | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats - HOF shortstop Dave Bancroft, Single Season Chances Records at Shortstop, Fewest ChancesIn A Season (SS)150+ Games Played at SS, Game Specific Chances Records at Shortstop. Its just like a refresher course for me. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com (Career Leaders & Records for Range Factor/9Inn as SS), Baseball-Reference.com (Fielding Stats Glossary), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Range_factor&oldid=1133069561, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 January 2023, at 04:16. His UZR is just 2.7 which is 11th-best, but his dWAR slots him as third from the top. I never thought of Gomez as a bad fielder, but I guess I never really gave all that much thought to Gomez in the first place. Cabrera's RF of 4.65 is a laudable sixth place in the majors whereas his 0.9 DPR puts him in a tie for fifth. Coaches at the top levels will look for middle infielders that display outstanding defensive ability in all of these categories. Fielding percentage: .977 (five-way tie for 11th). Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. Example If a fielder has completed 317 put outs, 541 assists, and 27 errors, then: 317 + 541 = 858 317 + 541 + 27 = 885 858 885 is 0.969 Therefore, the fielder's fielding percentage is 0.969. 2023 MLB Complete Stats - Fielding - CBSSports.com Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. The typical answer for this is the right fielder, because they will have the longest throw to third base of all outfielders. Sign up for my email list youll get my free throwing ebook and updates on new videos and articles like this one. Ortiz brings what is now considered Major League average pop (a 50 on that scouting scale) to the Orioles' lineup. While Drew is middling in terms of most of his stats, the superb fielding percentage is hard to ignore. While having a fast 60 time is important, college coaches will also look for an agile middle infielder that can cover a lot of ground laterally, this is often referred to as range. Current Greats: Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Jacob deGrom, Miguel Cabrera, Zack Greinke, Jose Altuve, . Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Component metrics are significantly more specific, and so are less telling of a shortstop's overall ability, but they did factor into my decisions somewhat. And check out my [Shes Got a Cannon] Softball Overhand Throwing Courses. Check out 2023 Regular Season MLB Baseball ss Fielding Statistics on ESPN.com. It's a combination of control, cat-like reflexes and pure athleticism. If his fielding percentage was middle as opposed to dismal, he'd likely move up several spots, but you can't have your shortstop botching every other play, which is why he sits at No. His dWAR is just a hair below the Escobars' while his UZR bests the two by a greater margin, but it's his fielding percentage and RF that definitively solidify his higher ranking. Softball has the same positional numbers as baseball and so they inherited the same system. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. The left fielder does not need to have an amazing arm because throws arent terribly long. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. His dWAR is only 0.2, bad enough for 21st, and his DRS is -2 (18th). Of course, theres more to college fielding stats than a talked-up third baseman. You know what the Rangers thought of that Gold Glove? To get started, check out my video on the softball positions as they break down into different bins of player types. All rights reserved. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. What is considered a good fielding percentage often varies based on the position, but a good fielding percentage in high school baseball is about .940 and above. He's above Tulo due to a talent-infused blend of composite and component metrics, but there's still no contest between himor the rest of those who rankand the No. W. Clayton Kershaw (3-1) L. Tylor Megill (3-1) We've added a page to show the statistical impact of MLB's rule changes for the 2023 season. Oakland promoted him to Kane County thanks to a solid offensive performance last season, but in 79 games this year, hes played 61 at third base and zero at shortstop. Castellanos' range factor was 2.10 per nine innings compared to the MLB average of 2.56, but of course he played on a staff that racked up a lot of strikeouts. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Sports averred that "he manages the defensive wizardry of a player three inches and 20 pounds smaller." His DRS of four puts him in a four-way tie for seventh-best. Research is complete through completion of the previous season and includes all the fielding average variations. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 12:21AM. DRS | Sabermetrics Library document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Must be a solid hitter at the plate and a great base runner because of their speed, Corner outfielders do need to have some pop in their bat. 1. Most players want to play the exciting positions like pitcher, shortstop, first base and centerfield. This was Braun's rookie season when he came up as a third baseman and he was such a disaster there the Brewers moved him to left field in 2008. Now that hes a Ranger, well soon have an idea of how his defensive numbers hold up among pro competition. On June 27, 1939, Eddie Miller of Boston played twenty-three innings at shortstop and handled twenty-one chances setting the major league record for most chances by a shortstop in an extra inning game. 970 Numerically, what does it mean to be consistent? Later, the shortstop was moved permanently to the infield but his number stuck at #6. Ryan's fielding percentage is also of notewhile it won't make or break a player in my rankings, it's clear that Ryan isn't in the top couple of tiers when it comes to reliability. Michael Young, SS, 2005 Rangers (minus-32). Your email address will not be published. From the minute I saw him, he's been making plays like that. He was last year's Gold Glove winner as well as Wilson's Orioles' Defensive Player of the Year. Twenty-eight of those 29 runs below average came as a center fielder, where he made 2.50 plays per nine innings compared to the MLB average of 2.76. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. *This article may contain product links which pay me a small commission if you make a purchase. 9 . Dunn recently confirmed his retirement and I'll miss a guy who had a unique career in major league history. Just wait, he's salvageable. Major League . Mookie Betts is playing like an MVP again, Real or Not? My son will be playing in Left Fielder for the first time, but to play I want him to be able to understand all the other positions. The primary reason for Kozma sitting below the top four is the gap in composite metrics. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Measuring Defense: Entering the Zones of Fielding Statistics 5. On a broader scope, however, he's just average. Few fans will be surprised to see Reese Havens in the bottom half of this list, but I cant imagine many of you expected to see Gordon Beckham (a second baseman? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. He may be 31, but judging from the video above, he hasn't lost his instincts (or his ups). Do you have a blog? Your email address will not be published. I used three general criteria to rank shortstops, each with its own subset(s): 1. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Career Leaders & Records for Fielding % as 3B A college shortstop playing high-level competition is probably more like a wood-bat-league third baseman. Below are some of the skills a pitcher needs: Pitchers need great workouts to stay healthy with as much pitching as they do if you need a great workout, try my online program below, called Early Work. I appreciate your content. Shortstop is, perhaps, the most complex fielding position in baseball, both in terms of execution and defensive statistics. Full Site Menu. His DPR of 0.8 (seventh place) is also of note. That led to a career-best 13.8% walk rate and a career-low 17.5% strikeout rate. He debuted when he was just 20 years old, so he likely still has room for improvement. 7. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. His fielding percent (a metric looking at putouts, assists, and errors) at shortstop is top of the league at 1.000. Get as Excel Workbook. Below is a standard softball position chart with numbers for each position. The Tragedy of Derek Jeter's Defense - Grantland There is some good news, however. Second baseman have to be very quick and agile defenders and have value on the bases. And Alcides is just a smidgen better. a third baseman? 4. Beyond that, he needs to pick bad throws, be a great, large target and read throws well to get outs on every throw he can from other infielders. Probably because shortstops field more balls, the shortstop ratings youre about to see are somewhat more valid than those I presented for third basemen in May. Plus, don't you want to read about the worst defender ever? All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. It's true; his composite stats are currently laughable, so he's obviously not in the top 10. Jedlovec included Ryan's best and worst plays from 2011-12, too. First, lets recap a bit of what I wrote in the Mendonca article. When weve got multiple full years of data for a shortstop, it would appear that we have something worth looking at. Volpe has proven himself to be a big-league defender and a legitimate threat on the base paths. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc.Hosted by Hosting 4 Less. Being versatile is a great thing and having utility in more than one position can help a player. Athleticism, knowledge of the game, and leadership skills are necessary for shortstops at this level. In left field, he made 1.80 plays per game while teammate Josh Willingham -- hardly known as a plus fielder himself -- made 2.17. Share & Export. Pinch Runners enter the game to run the bases in place of another player, but this is not really a position more just a role. Sure, there are some opportunities to range either way and make throws from deep in the hole, but when guys make contact, one of two things happens: It gets by you (and it would get by anybody, because its going that fast), or its a hot shot you can reach. In fact, only sixteen (14.3%) played 50 or more games at shortstop as 28-year-olds-a combination of injury attrition, moving to other positions, or manning a backup/utility role that didn't. He exceeded his expected errors by 10.98, resulting in a Universal Fielding Percentage Score of .304 for the seasonwell below average: (56.04 - 39) / 56.04 = .304 It's no surprise that he rated poorly in the outfield -- minus-20 runs -- but he also rated minus-23 runs at first base in just 540 innings. Ryan doesn't make the cut for several reasons, the first being that his UZR is unforgivable. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. Twelve innings: Irv Ray of Boston on August 15, 1888, John Gochnaur of Cleveland on July 14, 1903, Billy Rogell of Detroit on June 16, 1937, Andre Rogers of San Francisco on July 9, 1960, Ernie Riles of Milwaukee on August 3, 1986 and Khalil Greene of San Diego on August 1, 2004. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Still, that's nearly one fewer play every two games. The hope for the Tigers is that Castellanos is young enough to improve, but he needs a lot of improvement just to become league average. The footwork required to make throws to first base is very awkward for a left-handed 2nd baseman, shortstop or third baseman it takes a lot of extra time and makes the throw significantly more difficult. Ideal Body Type and Attributes for Pitchers, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for Catchers, Demands, Skills & Role of a First Baseman, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for First Basemen, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for 2nd Basemen, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for Shortstops, Demands, Skills & Role of a Third Baseman, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for Third Basemen, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for Left Fielders, Demands, Skills & Role of a Center Fielder, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for Center Fielders, Demands, Skills & Role of a Right Fielder, Ideal Body Type and Attributes for Right Fielders, Mistake #1: Sticking too long with a position that just isn't a good fit, Mistake #2: Not being open minded about other positions, Read My Article on Beginner Throwing Footwork, My Article on Building Great Softball Workouts, [Shes Got a Cannon] Softball Overhand Throwing Courses, Softball Batting Power: 5 Ways to Increase It, Two Pitch-Calling Mistakes that Cause High Pitch Counts - Elite Baseball Performance, How to Create High-Velocity Softball Throwing Mechanics, 5 Easy Ways Softball Players Can Throw Harder - Coach Dan Blewett, How Do You Size A Fastpitch Softball Glove: Beginner's Guide, The modern catcher is getting taller and more athletic than in the past, Catchers need to have strong legs and be able to withstand some punishment, Hitting skills are a plus and less of a requirement, Slightly slimmer, more athletic and agile catchers are becoming more common, Overall, scouts want to see catchers who are very athletic, strong and agile, A strong arm is a bonus but not overly important, Good fielding skills needs to be able to pick balls and read bad throws, Quick reflexes batted balls come to first base HOT. Teammate and fellow infielder Jose Iglesias can make some superstar plays up the middle, but his move to the hot corner is a testament to Drew's reliability. You have to be honest with yourself about the demands of the position and whether or not its a good fit. His UZR of 5.7 is sixth among all qualifying shortstops as is his dWAR of 0.9. Make a guess now (Note: Baseball-Reference uses fielding runs below average, which can be drawn from two different sources depending on the year. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content. F inal. Well break each position down, but its important to understand throwing speed as it pertains to which positions a softball player can play. Fielding percentage: .985 (tied for eighth). Cabrera just narrowly missed the cut here. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. 6. Right fielders are most commonly known for their very strong arms. Data. In May, Mike Bauman of MLB.com predicted that Escobar would eventually win a Gold Glove. And because I'm a traditionalist, good old fielding percentage has its time of day here and was considered as much as the component metrics. However, his dWAR of 1.1 and DRS of six (both fourth place) put him in the company of the top-tier guys. It measures the number of successfully fielded balls (putouts and assists) divided by the number of opportunities (putouts, assists, and errors). Again, only players above the BIP threshold are included; the numbers include two seasons worth of data, and are regressed based on playing time. His latest injury is a broken rib that he suffered in the second week of June, and while he may return soon, staying on the field has never been his strong suit. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Is it true that the coachs daughter is normally a pitcher? Fielding percentage is a very simple measurement. The numbers are regressed based on the playing time of each shortstop. The league's lowest fielding percentages typically come from shortstops and third basemen, who must deal with a wide array of tricky ground balls and tough throws across the diamond. A player's Fielding Runs number is used to estimate his Fielding Wins, an estimate of the number of games a team won above or below what it would have won with an average fielder (with zero Fielding Runs) at the player's position. Whichever way you look at it, Escobar's defense is solid in terms of this category. From his simpler stats alone, it appears that he's deserving of his own slide. First baseman can often hide at first because they dont often have to make long throws or move around too much. Do you have a sports website? Data Provided By Its the most demanding out field position with lots of ground to cover. Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. The first baseman is paid to HIT, and hit for powerthats job #1. update=copyright.getFullYear(); Thanks for coaching the coaches! Anyway, Young had come up as a second baseman and moved to shortstop in 2004 and in 2005 he made 4.41 plays per nine innings versus the MLB average of 4.60 (his fielding percentage was about league average). Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Oddly enough, though, his dWAR is .9, which puts him in a three-way tie for sixth place. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Drew's numbers aren't outstanding, but they do speak to his point, as does the video above. The throw from right field to third base is very long, hence the need for good arm strength. *Many detailed statistics are based on play-by-play accounts accumulated by Retrosheet. Tulo's UZR of 6.5 is good enough for second-best of shortstops in the majors, while his 0.8 dWAR has him in a three-way tie for ninth place and his DRS of five in a tie for fifth. Many thanks to him. The basic infield positions are shown below in diagram above, which illustrates where each player will stand in the most fundamental situations. College Baseball Recruiting Guidelines | What Coaches Look For Catchers need a strong arm, so if you need to work on your throwing (for any position, really) check out my free throwing webinar below. He has a reputation as a defensive wizard, and his 09 season would seem to support that. 8. In that same Abraham article, Boston Red Sox manager John Farell praised Drew for what he's brought to the team: Hes in many ways a very dependable defender. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. How do I pick which schools to send my Go Big profile to? But I probably won't miss his defense. Am I good enough to play softball in college? For pitcher fielding the minimums are reduced . Composite advanced metrics: Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), defensive Wins Above Replacement (dWAR) and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), 2. His ball exchange and quickness of his arm are the true separators. In 2010, his ratio of good fielding plays to misplays fell to 26-28, which combined with poor range gave him minus-37 defensive runs saved. Join our linker program. And I happen to think J.J.s substance is his style. In 2009, he did make a high number of good fielding plays (48), according to Baseball Info Solutions, although that was countered by 33 misplays. Ultimately, though, the skills play. Weeks has never had a good defensive reputation and in 2012 he started 152 games at second base and made just 4.08 plays per nine innings compared to the league-average range factor of 4.77. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 12:21AM. In fastpitch and slowpitch, they are used in the scorebook to tell positions apart. Do you have a sports website? The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Ranking MLB's 10 Best Defensive Shortstops The formula is simple: the total number of putouts and assists by a defender, divided by the total number of chances (putouts, assists and errors). In 2011, he won his second Gold Glove of his career. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. What can help a young softball star reach the next level? Ryan Jacksons +9 is solid, and is more impressive when you know that his 08 total was slightly negative. Become a Stathead today and run queries with our, Most Unique Players by Age by Similarity Scores, Most Games without a World Series Appearance, Most Games without a Postseason Appearance, Highest Career and Single-Season Salaries, Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. The meaning of FIELDING PERCENTAGE is the average (as of a baseball fielder) determined by dividing the number of putouts and assists by the number of chances called also fielding average. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Just how great is Simmons? All-Time Greats: Stan Musial, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Derek Jeter, Oscar Charleston, Ken Griffey Jr, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, . Playing the part of Everett is Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan, Everett's spiritual successor as a weak hitter with a phenomenal glove. . Return to Top; Major League Players. 24-year The big surprise to me in this group is Robbie Shields up at the top. You want them to play as much as they can especially if they are at least as good as the others. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, What follows is a list of the top 10 shortstops in the MLB. While none of Escobar's statistics put him among the top tier in any category, his composite metrics speak for themselves. While he isn't seen in the best light due to the eye-black debacle last year, one can't deny that the Tampa Bay Rays are getting their money's worth and more from the Cuban defector.