Comments on: On Middle Infield Prospects

By: zuke354

zuke354 — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:10:25 +0000

which makes him a situational second baseman…

But with Descalso hitting under .230 and skip over .300, I still put skip out there over descalso. Especially considering Descalso is not a great defender either. Better than skip, but not great.

Even with an extreme ground ball pitcher, its not worth the sacrifice. Forget WAR, it inaccurately inflates defensive variation.

Start skip, use descalso as a Dreplacement if you have a led.

By: zuke354

zuke354 — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:05:31 +0000

Really the worst? So the measures you mention include ALL part time second baseman as well? And what about Dan Uggla measurables? Why is he not included? Uggla is the worst second baseman in the league…And he is a starter.

And what measures do you use? Fangraphs does not list skip as the worst.

So again, Skip is not the worst second baseman in the league.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:59:06 +0000

Skip’s above average with the bat as a 2B, while Descalso would be below average even for a 2B. Thus, against RHP, I would play a defense/offense platoon, with Descalso out there when gb pitchers Wainwright, Joe Kelly, and Westbrook start & Skippy at 2B when Lohse or Lynn start.

By: Felonius_Monk

Felonius_Monk — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:29:32 +0000

Despite his horrible defense, he’s probably about a league-average hitter vs RHP, which makes him (probably) something like a 1 WAR-ish 2B over a full season. He shouldn’t ever play there because Descalso’s better, mind you.

By: tom s.

tom s. — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:58:28 +0000

you realize that his RF/9 is (PO*A*9)/innings played? he has a better than career RF because he has 35 PO, 45 A, and has played 126 innings. that gives him a 4.93 RF/9, which is technically better than his career RF/9 at 2B, which is 4.90. if he had one fewer putout, let’s say, he would have a 4.86 R F/9, which would make him BELOW his career number.

please consider sample size when citing these statistics. if your analysis of whether he’s improved or not hinges on a single play, it’s probably not significant.

that’s ignoring the fact that RF appears to have very little to do with defense at all.

By: Gruntosaurus

Gruntosaurus — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:49:15 +0000

Did you bother to read what I wrote? There is a difference between his 2012 RF/9 and his career RF/9. The 2012 RDF/9 is better. Does that mean he has figured something out? Maybe, maybe not, but people do learn things as they repeat them.

By: bc

bc — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:45:16 +0000

Interesting. I would have said Brendan Ryan is the perfect example for WAR.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:07:03 +0000

Another Brendan Ryan would provide exceptional defense with acceptable offense at a cheap price.

This year, his offensive numbers are pretty bad, but over the past 3 years, Ryan has sported a .310/.338 line, which is not that far below average for an SS these days.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:01:53 +0000

Big and unwarranted assumption that Jackson could get an OBP within 30 points of Garcia.

At Palm Beach, when 1 year older than Garcia at that level, Jackson had an OBP that was 58 points less than Garcia.

At Springfield, when 2 years older than Garcia at that level, Jackson had an OBP that was 72 points less than Garcia.

By: tom s.

tom s. — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 02:30:32 +0000

why?

i don’t see why what you’re saying is obvious at all. if you believe that brendan ryan is in fact the best defender at shortstop in the major leagues, why wouldn’t you expect that lesser offensive production would be acceptable?

brendan ryan isn’t even the worst-hitting shortstop in the majors right now, with a .254 wOBA. cliff pennington and clint barmes both have worse wOBAs. there are 13 major league shortstops with wOBAs under .280 and at least 150 PAs in the major leagues.