The Interior D Better?

“Paul from Boston” recently asked:

With Rodriguez at third, and Cano at 2nd, the infield seems much better than in previous years. Any data to support this?

So, I decided to look at the data:

But, sometimes you need to look past the numbers.

The numbers for A-Rod are based on the whole season - and, earlier this year, he was not doing a good job at third base. However, in the past month or so, Alex has turned his game at the hot corner around - a full 180, in fact.

Therefore, if you factor this in, I would offer that the Yankees present infield defense is just as good as it was last year - but, not better.

The key to me is Cano. Until Robinson cuts down on the “easy” errors (meaning throws) then Cairo (from last year) has the edge on him.

This is not bad news. Think of it this way: If Cano can improve next year, and if Giambi becomes more of a DH in 2006, and the Yankees get someone at 1B who can field well, then next year the infield, defensively, looks to be a solid unit.

August 29, 2005 | Filed Under Math Class

Comments

9 Responses to “The Interior D Better?”

rbj on August 29th, 2005 2:25 pm

Except that Jason has much better hitting numbers when playing 1b as opposed to DHing.
Shaun P. on August 29th, 2005 2:36 pm

I don’t know much about fielding win shares, but when Soriano has a better number than Cairo, that makes me really curious.

Of course, I’m just going off what my eyes tell me - that Cairo was a better fielder than Sori - but I know enough not to trust my eyes.
Straylightrise on August 29th, 2005 2:56 pm

Would pitcher’s factor into this? Did we have more groundballs in one year,etc. ?
Steve Lombardi on August 29th, 2005 3:06 pm

Shaun P - FWIW, in 2003, Soriano set career highs for assists & F% and lows for errors: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=3993&context=fielding

It as his best year with the glove.
Steve Lombardi on August 29th, 2005 3:13 pm

Straylightrise - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win_shares

Hope this helps.
Paul in Boston on August 30th, 2005 7:49 am

Thanks, Steve. The slow infield ground balls that just happen to end up in the outfield just seem to be happening less often this year. Perhaps I’m just used to them by now.

(Your site is great, I read it every day.)
Steve Lombardi on August 30th, 2005 10:26 am

Awesome - that’s great to hear.
Shaun P on August 30th, 2005 12:33 pm

Thanks for the info, Steve - that Soriano for A-Rod deal looks better and better as time goes by. We seem to have gotten Sori’s peak years, with the bat AND glove, and now we’ve got A-Rod.
JJay on August 30th, 2005 1:05 pm

“Except that Jason has much better hitting numbers when playing 1b as opposed to DHing.”

MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better numbers. The difference is staggering.