The fog of glove: how to measure defense?

no one is comparing him to Clemente yet

have we all seen this?

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/catch_probability_leaderboard

IsBrittonInYet:
When evaluating outfield defense, how much stock do you put in Statcast’s numbers (ex. outs above average, number of 5 star catches) compared to DRS/UZR? Kevin Pillar had a DRS/UZR of 15/6 in 2017 but was -2 outs above average with no 5 star catches in 34 chances.

Dave Cameron:
It’s not about “stock”; it’s about what the information is telling you. So, for instance, Pillar’s value could come from positioning, which would mean that he doesn’t make as many plays where he has to run a long way in a short amount of time, but he’s still catching balls other worse-positioned CFs wouldn’t get to.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that Statcast is just measuring range right now, so you don’t want to compare that measure to total DRS/UZR, which include errors and throwing arm.

If you just look at the range portion of UZR, Pillar is at +1; his +6 came from throwing and not making many errors.

Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado and Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton won the 2017 Rawlings Platinum Glove Award, presented by SABR. The winners were unveiled on Friday, November 10 during the 2017 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Ceremony, where the game's defensive stars accepted their hardware from some of baseball's greatest legends.

This is the first Rawlings Platinum Glove Award for both Arenado and Buxton. Arenado is the first infielder to start his career with five straight Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. Buxton is the first Twins center fielder to win a Rawlings Gold Glove Award since Torii Hunter in 2007.

The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners are determined by combining votes based on an adjusted SABR Defensive Index™ for each of the nine Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners in each League and the votes from baseball fans worldwide.

Based on the final SABR Defensive Index, Buxton was second in the American League with a 20.0 SDI, and Arenado was second in the National League with an 11.0 SDI.

I just skimmed this. The mere fact he's writing about baseball is encouraging enough--he mostly writes about the Cleveland Browns these days.

http://joeposnanski.com/dwar-to-end-all-wars/

(Love seeing Devon White's name on the CF list.)

1) I totally buy the idea that players can bring significant value via defense.

2) I have not seen every Cubs game this year, so maybe I'm missing something.

3) I stand by my years-old contention that publicly available defensive metrics are crap when this is what they tell me. pic.twitter.com/6yo6AuoWyV

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 5, 2018

Pio:

DRS thinks Machado is a historically bad shortstop and UZR thinks he’s just regular bad. Which one do you think is closer to the truth?

Jay Jaffe:

In general, I tend to prefer DRS to UZR because of the additional observational input beyond just batted ball type (both of which do have their biases, admittedly). But I think a good strategy when viewing defensive metrics is to be wary of the outliers, and DRS tends to have more than UZR does — the spread from top to bottom is generally wider. So I’ll go with garden-variety bad instead of historically bad.

the response to passan about schwarber's defense is that he has average-ish range and a good arm; passan's response was that that's reasonable in a vacuum, but is he really a better defender than almora or heyward? because that's what the stats are saying

is Schwarber particularly good at positioning or something? also i guess this might make sense if he's being strictly compared to other LFers, who are a pretty slow-footed and weak-armed lot to an extent.

https://www.fangraphs.com/library/defense/def/

sounds like they're being compared to others in the same position AND others in other positions?

he's got a high UZR so i think that means he does well compared to other LFers ... i am not great at reading stats though

is Schwarber particularly good at positioning or something

that might be a factor. dexter fowler's outfield defense was poor before and after he played for the cubs (esp after). whoever is shifting the OF in chicago around seems to be doing a good job of making the most out of mediocre defenders.

fewer BIPs, less significance for defense

Unfortunately, data before 2003 is unavailable, but the stark drop in balls in play over time should make it clear that defense has become relatively less important—perhaps ground balls and hits on the infield were less prominent and this is just a shift back in the aggregate, but the increased rate of extra-base hits would lead us to believe the contrary, that infield defense was even more important in the last millennium.

In addition to fewer balls in play, though, teams have also moved to shift far more often. As Jeff Zimmerman outlined in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2014, shifting is in vogue. It makes sense, after all, since between 57 and 60 percent of pulled balls result in ground balls compared to 40 to 43 percent on balls hit to center and 22 to 27 percent on balls taken the opposite way. With advanced scouting and more data available, teams can better identify hitter tendencies and adjust with less risk. The fact that 24 hitters pulled at least 200 balls in play this year makes it even easier to do for the high-pull hitters (as Zimmerman notes, the top-20 players hitting into a shift accounted for over 2,500 plays in 2013, dropping their collective BABIP by 37 points in those situations).

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/infield-defense-changes-with-three-true-outcomes/

Best fielders in baseball per DRS:
1. Matt Chapman
2. Harrison Bader
3. JaCoby Jones
t4. Nick Ahmed/Lorenzo Cain/Miguel Rojas/Andrelton Simmons

Worst:
1. Charlie Blackmon
2. Adam Jones
3. Asdrubal Cabrera
4. Amed Rosario/Eduardo Núñez/Nick Castellanos/Miguel Andújar

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) August 16, 2018

Amed Rosario may be a terrible fielder but at least he has a 636 OPS. -1.1 bWAR this year

directional outs above average: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/directional_outs_above_average

kinda wonder if bader's numbers toward LF are skewed by marcell ozuna's shoulder injury -- recently saw bader come wayyy into left to take a sac fly attempt

Athletics vs Yankees at 3rd Base

Matt Chapman: 29 Defensive Runs Saved (most at 3B in MLB)

Miguel Andjuar: -25 Defensive Runs Saved (fewest in MLB)

This image shows difference in how often Athletics/Yankees get outs on grounders near 3B pic.twitter.com/5xGiQwdSti

— Sports Info Solutions (@SportsInfo_SIS) October 3, 2018

this seems like a more relatable, easier to understand way to communicate defensive stats

The Mets right fielder just launched himself full speed into the netting at Guaranteed Rate Field, which extends all the way down to the foul pole, to make a great catch. Extended netting is going to change some outfielders' approaches.

https://atmlb.com/318BlNz

Not full speed, but a dangerous play if the net hadn't been there.

guy is hitting .331 and he's just the "Mets right fielder"? c'mon

I leave all the little details to you, Morbs.

Defense has improved significantly since 2016, to the tune of thousands of extra hits taken away this year--I believe because of improved positioning that puts fielders further away from home plate. https://t.co/D9I0NbBrYY

— Rob Arthur (@No_Little_Plans) June 4, 2021

Just saw the N.L. GG nominees--Arenado's not up this year?

What happened to the good old days, when GGs were based on reputation and how well you hit?

can't really speak to the other two, but ke'bryan hayes is an absolute defensive wizard

which is just as well because he hits like an old-school shortstop

Evidently they look at this pretty carefully now. (Scroll down to "Why isn’t Arenado a finalist?")

https://theathletic.com/4974733/2023/10/18/mlb-gold-glove-finalists-list/

Hey, I think there might be a game on...