This snip is from Brandon Nimmo‘s Statcast page. The nice thing about the Statcast numbers is that we know they are updated daily. All of these numbers are presented so that the higher the number, the better the player is in the category, whether it’s a traditional “good” or “bad” outcome. For instance, Nimmo strikes out a lot and has a high K%. But in this chart, he has a low number – 39, or below 50 – indicating he is not good in this category.
Take a look, if you will, at the last two numbers. These are Statcast defensive numbers. Nimmo is in the 78th percentile in Outfield Jumps and the 91st percentile in Outs Above Average. Not too shabby. It’s very early and there haven’t been a ton of chances and the last thing anyone should do is declare that Nimmo is some defensive whiz out there.
But, if Nimmo had defensive numbers like his K% – if those two numbers were 39s instead of 78 and 91 – boy, would we be hearing about it.
You can check out all of Nimmo’s Statcast numbers at this link:
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/brandon-nimmo-607043?stats=statcast-r-fielding-mlb
Given the importance that many have placed on the Mets’ allegedly rancid defense, I would much appreciate someone explaining what role defense plays in enabling the participation in the post season and especially winning the WS. Most especially, I’d like to see specific examples which cite modern defensive metrics
My understanding is that the Yankees from the late 1990s to early 2000s weren’t strong defensively, but did everything else so well that their defensive weaknesses did not interfere with them winning several championships
I’d like to know how many opportunities McCann had to drive in a runner in scoring position and how often he succeeded. I suspect that number would be way below expectations. (If there is a website that would tell me, would someone please give me its address?)
Can anyone explain to me what the concern is about Smith playing too many innings in the outfield? I’ve seen it stated several times, but don’t remember seeing an explanation. Thanks.
I remember those Yankee teams preforming at a high level defensively… and that started with Jorge Posada. All he did was make every play, execute every throw and every tag. Then you had Bernie Williams in CF and Jeter at SS. Cano at 2B?
So while they were not stunning defensively, they performed well and made the basic plays needed and did not make glaring mistakes.
I’d say that teams cannot really expect to win 7-game series against really good teams with porous defense. Hitting comes and goes, pitching comes and goes, but solid defense should be a constant. Currently the Mets have a below-average defense. That means they have to pitch and hit off the charts to compensate… a lot of pressure and clearly decreases their chances for success.
I find myself wondering if Bauer played the Mets, using him to get a better offer from the Dodgers. It strikes me, his apology notwithstanding, that the merchandising ‘error’ was a deliberate play to force the Dodgers’ hand. He is supposed to have said “I can’t do that to a team’s fan base,” but ten minutes later, he does exactly that to the Mets. Not much integrity there, in my opinion. (I should have written this a while back, but I kept missing the Wednesday catch-all.)
Lastly (maybe), why is Lindor struggling so? He started Spring Training slowly, but then was a house-a-fire at the end of it, only to revert to mediocrity or worse once the season started. Is he a historically streaky hitter? I am wondering if any of you who study these things more than me, can offer insight. Thanks.
There was some discussion on this site a few months back about some of the minor league rule changes that will be piloted and what the impact will be (like the larger bases, which shortens the distance runners need to run). Another is the automated strike zone. I’m generally in favor of an automated strike zone once the technology is deemed to be good enough to be more effective than a live umpire. I’ve been thinking a bit lately about the impact that it may have on the game. It would seem to me that this would favor the hitters over pitchers. Right now strike zones vary from umpire to umpire, and while hitters may know the nuances of different umpires, there is still some uncertainty when it comes to close pitches. With an automated strike zone that would be eliminated. Hitters should be able to get used to “their own” strike zone, and may end up being more selective on pitches just off the plate, rather than maybe chasing a pitch so that they don’t leave it in the hands of the umpire. If that’s the case, what does this mean? More walks, and pitchers having to come into the strike zone more, creating better pitches to hit and more offense? I’m not saying that is good or bad, just thinking about what the impact could be. Any thoughts?
I’ve yet to see a study that says that the ball/strike calls that umpires are missing favor either the batter or pitcher. It seems to be fairly random overall. Now, there may be “hitter umps” or “pitcher umps” and that bias will go away. But my take is that those don’t exist to the extent that they did back in the 70s and 80s.
I’m sure you’re all wondering why JD Davis can’t stop double clutching and taking so many steps towards 1B before he throws.
Getting a better grip on the ball and the cold seem to be his reasons.
Still, it’s hard to believe the problems he’s having with these habits over time.
Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs are your friends – use them.
At B-R, if you go to a player’s splits page, you’ll be amazed at the amount of information you can find
At FG, if you go to the leaderboards, you can select time frames and sort on every column that they have.
Metricly Nimmo has improved defensively (small sample) and offensively he is and elite lead-off hitter. He is playing out of position and it doesn’t faze a bit. I like to compare a player to his contemporaries and Statscast seems like a good source. He is a good extension candidate.
I’m afraid that JDDavis, whom I consider a better outfielder than infielder, will be odd man out anywhere but in the American League. No doubt he’s a legit bat, and many teams might be willing to exchange defense for a good slash line. But I can’t imagine a team bent on the post-season can manage that exchange.
Since defensive holes are impossible to hide against good teams in big series, most teams with high aspirations simply have no choice but to plug the holes. For the Mets, it’s not such a huge sacrifice. Give up the extra power that JD supplies for allowing the other team only the 27 outs they are granted. He’s very valuable to many AL teams… be smart and cash in… solidify the team.
Davis is a good bat but boy he is an awful fielder. Carreer-wise Rdrs he is a -21 at 3B and -12 LF. He has by 0 Rdrs at 1B but the Mets have two firstbasemen already. LF would displace Smith who is a better fielding leftfielder (-6 Rdrs). The first chance to “cash in” I would do it also.
So far, the offense has been lousy, and to some extent with legitimate reasons. In spite of that, they are in first place. I’ll give them a few more weeks, let the weather warm up and the schedule start to flow a bit.
Nimmo will never be a top defender given his throwing limitations, but it is reasonable to project improvement and I think we are seeing that in the small sample. I’ll say the same for Dom in LF, he is athletic enough and determined enough to be serviceable. Both bats are key to the team. There have been many World Series champs with so so team defense.
Davis’s throwing issues are fixable, this is mostly in his head and frankly a lack of focus, as Darling pointed out. This guy has pitched in the bigs and can run it up into the low 90s.
Problem is Davis is a good bat but he is good enough to be a DH? Second problem, hitters without a position no longer have much value. Do you trade him for a set-up guy or a second tier prospect?
I give JD Davis more time to get going offensively, knowing I will be taking the bad with the good, hopefully until he gets very hot and even carries the team a bit this season. Some AL team will be buyers at the trading deadline, figuring they just have to have his very decent RH bat.
Or a seller might be dumping a salary and have someone the Mets need.
As long as the Mets make a shrewd trade, get sometime of equal or better value, I’m good. It’s nothing personal… JD’s a good kid and a good player. The business of baseball makes players good and bad fits.