After yesterday's entry for the infielders, here are the outfielders, as promised. Incase you missed the infield portion...
I figured I'd throw the rankings for all defensive players with at least 300 innings in the field, finishing up with the outfield positions today. The stat used to measure defensive value is the same one I use in pNRAA. League average Zone Rating for each position is calculated, as well as chances and plays above average for each player. Using Chris Dial's run values for Zone Rating, we get a Runs Above Average, or ZRate as I've called it a few times in the past. As I said, that is the defensive number that replaced Prospectus' Rate2 for the defensive portion of the pNRAA calculations.
Rank | NAME | INN | ZR | Chances | Plays Above Average | Runs Above Average |
1 | Carl Crawford | 803.2 | .913 | 209 | 11.44 | 9.51 |
2 | Ryan Langerhans | 501.2 | .956 | 116 | 11.34 | 9.42 |
3 | Dave Roberts | 532.1 | .935 | 145 | 11.13 | 9.25 |
4 | Cliff Floyd | 593.0 | .914 | 131 | 7.30 | 6.07 |
5 | Matt Murton | 629.0 | .895 | 178 | 6.54 | 5.43 |
6 | So Taguchi | 306.1 | .925 | 81 | 5.41 | 4.49 |
7 | Emil Brown | 574.2 | .894 | 147 | 5.25 | 4.36 |
8 | Reed Johnson | 344.0 | .902 | 84 | 3.67 | 3.05 |
9 | Marcus Thames | 308.2 | .917 | 60 | 3.52 | 2.93 |
10 | Craig Monroe | 505.1 | .888 | 118 | 3.51 | 2.92 |
11 | Nick Swisher | 573.2 | .879 | 165 | 3.42 | 2.84 |
12 | Andre Ethier | 480.1 | .887 | 112 | 3.22 | 2.67 |
13 | Scott Podsednik | 735.0 | .871 | 191 | 2.43 | 2.02 |
14 | Raul Ibanez | 864.2 | .869 | 220 | 2.36 | 1.96 |
15 | Barry Bonds | 532.1 | .870 | 125 | 1.47 | 1.22 |
16 | Luis Gonzalez | 804.2 | .865 | 178 | 1.20 | 1.00 |
17 | Pat Burrell | 612.1 | .863 | 160 | 0.76 | 0.63 |
18 | Matt Holliday | 824.2 | .862 | 186 | 0.69 | 0.58 |
19 | Garret Anderson | 527.0 | .863 | 141 | 0.67 | 0.55 |
20 | Jason Michaels | 624.1 | .860 | 145 | 0.25 | 0.21 |
21 | Carlos Lee | 826.1 | .845 | 169 | -2.24 | -1.86 |
22 | Jason Bay | 886.0 | .847 | 234 | -2.64 | -2.19 |
23 | Frank Catalanotto | 533.0 | .835 | 129 | -3.00 | -2.49 |
24 | Alfonso Soriano | 857.2 | .841 | 231 | -3.99 | -3.32 |
25 | Melky Cabrera | 510.0 | .814 | 136 | -6.02 | -5.00 |
26 | Brad Wilkerson | 641.1 | .816 | 162 | -6.85 | -5.69 |
27 | Josh Willingham | 617.0 | .771 | 149 | -13.00 | -10.81 |
28 | Adam Dunn | 825.2 | .793 | 219 | -14.29 | -11.88 |
29 | Manny Ramirez | 780.1 | .747 | 182 | -20.25 | -16.83 |
30 | Preston Wilson | 770.0 | .735 | 188 | -23.17 | -19.26 |
Carl Crawford is well known for his defensive skills; thanks to this and his bat, he is worth +22.85 pNRAA; it's a good thing for the Rays that none of those early season trade rumors came to pass, as Crawford is a special player. I'm not sure how I feel about Emil Brown's high defensive ranking; he was awful in right field last season (-9 according to The Fielding Bible) and I haven't heard anything to dispel the notion that his play has improved, outside of this spreadsheet. Ryan Langerhans has actually been the best left fielder this season, as his Zone Rating dwarfs Carl Crawford's; the fact that he has 300 less innings played at the position has to do with his current second place ranking. Thanks to an anemic bat (.238 EqA), Langerhans is still worth only -13.42 pNRAA, and +4.45 pNRAR (yes, thats positionally-adjusted Net Runs Above Replacement player).
Rank | NAME | INN | ZR | Chances | Plays Above Average | Runs Above Average |
1 | Corey Patterson | 719.0 | .921 | 262 | 12.72 | 10.71 |
2 | Juan Pierre | 863.2 | .915 | 251 | 10.68 | 8.99 |
3 | Torii Hunter | 751.2 | .909 | 245 | 8.95 | 7.54 |
4 | Carlos Beltran | 747.1 | .903 | 262 | 8.00 | 6.74 |
5 | Reggie Abercrombie | 529.0 | .920 | 167 | 7.94 | 6.68 |
6 | Vernon Wells | 786.0 | .909 | 216 | 7.89 | 6.64 |
7 | Eric Byrnes | 647.1 | .911 | 182 | 7.01 | 5.90 |
8 | Brian Anderson | 563.0 | .903 | 216 | 6.59 | 5.55 |
9 | Mike Cameron | 739.0 | .895 | 267 | 6.02 | 5.07 |
10 | Chone Figgins | 420.0 | .914 | 143 | 5.94 | 5.00 |
11 | Johnny Damon | 677.2 | .899 | 211 | 5.60 | 4.71 |
12 | Grady Sizemore | 853.2 | .886 | 308 | 4.17 | 3.51 |
13 | Curtis Granderson | 839.0 | .883 | 288 | 3.03 | 2.55 |
14 | Jim Edmonds | 634.0 | .881 | 204 | 1.74 | 1.47 |
15 | Steve Finley | 661.1 | .880 | 227 | 1.71 | 1.44 |
16 | Willy Taveras | 660.2 | .878 | 224 | 1.24 | 1.04 |
17 | Joey Gathright | 632.0 | .877 | 243 | 1.10 | 0.93 |
18 | David DeJesus | 298.0 | .882 | 103 | 0.98 | 0.83 |
19 | Brady Clark | 638.0 | .870 | 211 | -0.52 | -0.44 |
20 | Rocco Baldelli | 334.0 | .863 | 119 | -1.13 | -0.95 |
21 | Jeremy Reed | 507.1 | .863 | 149 | -1.41 | -1.19 |
22 | Cory Sullivan | 580.0 | .864 | 182 | -1.54 | -1.30 |
23 | Aaron Rowand | 675.2 | .865 | 221 | -1.65 | -1.39 |
24 | Nate McLouth | 329.0 | .844 | 97 | -2.76 | -2.33 |
25 | Marlon Byrd | 393.1 | .853 | 147 | -2.86 | -2.41 |
26 | Mark Kotsay | 763.1 | .860 | 240 | -2.99 | -2.52 |
27 | Coco Crisp | 507.2 | .846 | 154 | -4.08 | -3.43 |
28 | Rob Mackowiak | 329.0 | .827 | 106 | -4.82 | -4.06 |
29 | Andruw Jones | 808.0 | .853 | 281 | -5.47 | -4.61 |
30 | Kenny Lofton | 560.1 | .838 | 172 | -5.93 | -4.99 |
31 | Gary Matthews Jr. | 722.2 | .838 | 228 | -7.86 | -6.62 |
32 | Jose Bautista | 370.1 | .808 | 127 | -8.19 | -6.89 |
33 | Ken Griffey Jr. | 555.1 | .820 | 191 | -10.02 | -8.44 |
Yes, that is Corey Patterson and Juan Pierre ranked first and second for defense. The Cubs sure know how to pick their defensive centerfielders, although they should attempt to acquire one that can hit on occasion sometime. Carlos Beltran is having the best season of his career, but no one seems to be talking about it: .274/.379/.597, with some of the better defense out there and a pNRAA of +49.26.
Yes, that's Andruw Jones ranked 29 out of 33 players with 300 innings or more in center. David Gassko just put together an enjoyable piece in this week's Heater magazine on Andruw Jones career; his defense seems to have stalled to the point where he's basically average, due to his weight gain and loss of speed. He's still quite the slugger though, and is worth almost 20 runs above average per 150 games even with the defensive slip. One last note, Jones is still highly touted by John Dewan's +/- system from The Fielding Bible, with a +7 in 2005, although they admit that his range has slipped due to his gain in bulk. By the way, I'm also contributing to Heater weekly with a short feature entitled "Under the Microscope". Be sure to check out the digital magazine if you haven't already done so; there's a free copy available for download at the website!
Rank | NAME | INN | ZR | Chances | Plays Above Average | Runs Above Average |
1 | Alex Rios | 547.2 | .922 | 134 | 6.36 | 5.36 |
2 | Brian Giles | 869.2 | .901 | 216 | 5.72 | 4.82 |
3 | Austin Kearns | 798.2 | .894 | 256 | 4.99 | 4.21 |
4 | Juan Encarnacion | 761.1 | .899 | 190 | 4.65 | 3.92 |
5 | Ichiro Suzuki | 883.2 | .895 | 226 | 4.63 | 3.90 |
6 | Randy Winn | 498.0 | .903 | 155 | 4.42 | 3.72 |
7 | Casey Blake | 604.1 | .897 | 168 | 3.78 | 3.18 |
8 | Milton Bradley | 318.0 | .917 | 87 | 3.70 | 3.12 |
9 | Reggie Sanders | 495.2 | .897 | 151 | 3.40 | 2.86 |
10 | Jacque Jones | 732.1 | .891 | 183 | 3.02 | 2.54 |
11 | Mark DeRosa | 309.0 | .906 | 86 | 2.71 | 2.28 |
12 | J.D. Drew | 668.2 | .888 | 199 | 2.68 | 2.26 |
13 | Jose Guillen | 538.2 | .889 | 183 | 2.65 | 2.23 |
14 | Damon Hollins | 378.2 | .887 | 126 | 1.57 | 1.33 |
15 | Brad Hawpe | 775.0 | .877 | 212 | 0.53 | 0.44 |
16 | Jay Payton | 350.0 | .876 | 94 | 0.14 | 0.12 |
17 | Jeremy Hermida | 439.2 | .875 | 111 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
18 | Jeff Francoeur | 875.1 | .874 | 220 | -0.11 | -0.10 |
19 | Nick Markakis | 409.1 | .872 | 118 | -0.30 | -0.25 |
20 | Bobby Abreu | 819.0 | .873 | 197 | -0.30 | -0.25 |
21 | Vladimir Guerrero | 757.2 | .873 | 220 | -0.33 | -0.28 |
22 | Michael Cuddyer | 677.2 | .860 | 153 | -2.22 | -1.87 |
23 | Trot Nixon | 686.2 | .862 | 187 | -2.34 | -1.97 |
24 | Xavier Nady | 593.2 | .857 | 151 | -2.64 | -2.23 |
25 | Moises Alou | 306.1 | .843 | 85 | -2.68 | -2.26 |
26 | Geoff Jenkins | 810.2 | .859 | 214 | -3.32 | -2.80 |
27 | Magglio Ordonez | 793.0 | .855 | 184 | -3.59 | -3.03 |
28 | Jay Gibbons | 349.2 | .838 | 116 | -4.24 | -3.57 |
29 | Jermaine Dye | 747.0 | .850 | 233 | -5.71 | -4.81 |
30 | Shawn Green | 747.1 | .842 | 178 | -5.79 | -4.88 |
31 | Kevin Mench | 489.2 | .817 | 137 | -7.88 | -6.64 |
32 | Jeromy Burnitz | 537.2 | .815 | 134 | -7.97 | -6.72 |
33 | Jason Lane | 551.1 | .809 | 147 | -9.63 | -8.12 |
34 | Bernie Williams | 378.1 | .784 | 116 | -10.50 | -8.85 |
The Jays must really miss Alexis Rios, considering he was one of their offensive leaders, as well as the top defensive right fielder in the league. Even with Brian Giles power outage (.274/.384/.380 on the season), his pNRAA is still +14.65, and his problems are mostly Petco related (.264/.380/.347 at home).
Jeffrey Francoeur is not having the same defensive success he saw in 2005 this year by his league average ranking. Frenchy is currently -20.60 pNRAA, and -5.84 pNRAR. He's walked 7 times this month: twice unintentionally, twice intentionally, and thrice hit-by-pitch. His bat has heated up in July though, with a .312/.353/.537 line. Random note: Francoeur has struggled much more on the road than at home, .231/.259/.384 versus .302/.321/.538. He is now a .277/.306/.490 career hitter in 668 at-bats, with a walk in 2.8% of all plate appearances, and strikeouts in 19.7 of all PAs. His power is something else, as evidenced by any homerun he comes into contact with, but the walk rate needs to spike up to at least 5 or 6 percent, at minimum. That or he just needs to learn to wait on his pitch so he can crush everything. He's a special player, and by all accounts one hell of a guy, but it hasn't all come together in Atlanta yet. I think we forget he's still only 22 years old; with the right coach in place, he could blossom like Jose Reyes has this season for the Mets. Are Rickey Henderson's services available again?