{"id":9953,"date":"2014-11-11T09:44:40","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T14:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=9953"},"modified":"2014-11-13T09:04:11","modified_gmt":"2014-11-13T14:04:11","slug":"gold-glove-awards-versus-defensive-metrics-review-for-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=9953","title":{"rendered":"Gold Glove Awards versus Defensive Metrics Review for 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alex<\/a>

Alex Gordon was one of the best defensive players in baseball, by any measure in 2014. photo 365rundown.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Last year<\/a>, I created a little spreadsheet upon the announcement of the Gold Glove winners<\/a>, to see how they compared to various defensive metric leaders (2013 xls link here<\/a>).\u00a0 And I threw in the “Fielding Bible” award winners, since that has now taken over as the “accepted” list of the year’s best defensive players, thanks to the Gold Gloves continuing to pick inexplicable players (this\u00a0 year’s repeat “I cannot believe he won” player again being Adam Jones<\/strong>).\u00a0 But, as we’ve seen, the Gold Gloves are getting better, and the days of picking someone like a statue-esque Derek Jeter<\/strong> and\/or a nearly permanent DH in Rafael Palmeiro<\/strong> seem to now be over.<\/p>\n

So, now that we’ve announced the 2014 Gold Glove winners<\/a>, lets also look at the league leaders in various defensive metrics.<\/p>\n

This data is in the following spreadsheet for 2014 on Google Docs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First, your 2014 Gold Glove winners<\/strong><\/span>: bold are also Fielding Bible winners, and red are the most egregiously bad selections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pos<\/td>\nAL GG Winner<\/td>\nNL GG Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\nSalvator Perez, CLE<\/td>\nYadier Molina, STL<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1B<\/td>\nEric Hosmer, KC<\/td>\nAdrian Gonzalez, LAD<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2B<\/td>\nDustin Pedroia, BOS<\/strong><\/td>\nDJ LeMahieu, COL<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SS<\/td>\nJ.J. Hardy, BAL<\/td>\nAndrelton Simmons, ATL<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3B<\/td>\nKyle Seager, SEA<\/span><\/td>\nNolan Arenado, COL<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LF<\/td>\nAlex Gordon, KC<\/strong><\/td>\nChristian Yelich, MIA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CF<\/td>\nAdam Jones, BAL<\/span><\/td>\nJuan Lagares, NYM<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RF<\/td>\nNick Markakis, BAL<\/td>\nJason Heyward, ATL<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/td>\nDallas Keuchel, HOU<\/strong><\/td>\nZack Greinke, LAD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As with last year, the league still remains obsessed with Adam Jones<\/strong> despite his possessing negative defensive rankings across the board.\u00a0 Kyle Seager<\/strong> wasn’t “bad” but wasn’t nearly as deserving as Josh Donaldson<\/strong>. \u00a0The only other real “bad” selection was Molina, not because he’s not a great defensive catcher (he is), but because he missed a ton of time and there were better options in the NL this year (namely, Jonathan Lucroy<\/strong>).\u00a0 Otherwise every Gold Glove winner listed here was deserving.<\/p>\n

Repeat Gold Glove winners from last\u00a0 year: Molina, Hosmer, Pedroia, Hardy, Simmons, Arenado, Gordon, and Jones.\u00a0 So, 8 of 18.<\/p>\n

Here’s the 2014 Fielding Bible Awards<\/strong><\/span>, which (if you’re not aware) is a Bill James<\/strong>-driven website that uses a committee of national writers to select the winners (the site is here<\/a> and you can read about their methodology).\u00a0 Bolded are also GG winners:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pos<\/td>\n2014 Fielding Bible Winner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\nJonathan Lucroy, MIL<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1B<\/td>\nAdrian Gonzalez, LAD<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2B<\/td>\nDustin Pedroia, BOS <\/strong>(repeat)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SS<\/td>\nAndrelton Simmons, ATL <\/strong>(repeat)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3B<\/td>\nJosh Donaldson, OAK<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LF<\/td>\nAlex Gordon, KC<\/strong> (repeat)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CF<\/td>\nJuan Lagares, NYM<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RF<\/td>\nJason Heyward, ATL<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/td>\nDallas Keuchel, HOU<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Util<\/td>\nLorenzo Cain, KC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

They selected Lucroy over Molina, and Donaldson over Seager.\u00a0 They’ve also added a 10th position for “Utility,” to recognize the excellent work of Lorenzo Cain<\/strong> playing multiple outfield positions.<\/p>\n

Now, here’s the league leaders by various defensive stats.\u00a0 The links to get any of these leaderboards are in the Google xls.\u00a0 First: UZR\/150<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pos<\/td>\nAL UZR\/150<\/td>\nNL UZR\/150<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1B<\/td>\nAlbert Pujols, LAA (9.3)<\/td>\nAnthony Rizzo, CHC (8.2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2B<\/td>\nDustin Pedroia, BOS (20.4)<\/td>\nDJ LeMahieu, COL (11.0)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SS<\/td>\nJ.J. Hardy, BAL (15.4)<\/td>\nAndrelton Simmons, ATL (18.4)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3B<\/td>\nJosh Donaldson, OAK (13.3)<\/td>\nTodd Frazier, CIN (8.9)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LF<\/td>\nAlex Gordon, KC (22.6)<\/td>\nChristian Yelich, MIA (14.1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CF<\/td>\nJackie Bradley JR, BOS (22.6)<\/td>\nJuan Lagares, NYM (25.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RF<\/td>\nNori Aoki, KC (7.7)<\/td>\nJason Heyward, ATL (20.5)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I like UZR as a measure and use it often. UZR\/150 somewhat standardizes the scores across a 150-game average to represent the figure for a full-season for apples-to-apples comparisons.\u00a0 A good number of these leaders also earned Gold Gloves and\/or Fielding Bible awards.\u00a0 Josh Donaldson<\/strong> was the clear AL 3B leader.\u00a0 Otherwise there’s a lot of similarities to the lists we’ve already seen.\u00a0 I was surprised as heck to see Albert Pujols<\/strong> on this leader board.<\/p>\n

For a quick point of reference to the above scores, the BEST UZR\/150<\/a> of any Nationals player this year was Anthony Rendon<\/strong>‘s uZR\/150 of 4.6 while playing 3B.\u00a0 Span and LaRoche (our two GG finalists) both scored *negative* UZR\/150 scores … perhaps an indictment of their nominations in general as being based on reputation and not actual on-field performance this year.<\/p>\n

Next: DRS; Defensive Runs Saved.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 Some like this stat a lot; I struggle with it because single plays (like an outfielder reaching over the wall to take away a homer) result in huge swings in the numbers on plays that aren’t necessarily the hardest to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pos<\/td>\nAL DRS<\/td>\nNL DRS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1B<\/td>\nChris Davis, BAL (8)<\/td>\nAdrian Gonzalez, LAD (12)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2B<\/td>\nIan Kinsler, DET (20)<\/td>\nDJ LeMahieu, COL (16)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SS<\/td>\nJ.J. Hardy, BAL (10)<\/td>\nAndrelton Simmons, ATL (28)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3B<\/td>\nJosh Donaldson, OAK (20)<\/td>\nNolan Arenado, COL (16)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LF<\/td>\nAlex Gordon, KC (27)<\/td>\nChristian Yelich, MIA (13)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CF<\/td>\nLeonys Martin, TEX (15)<\/td>\nJuan Lagares, NYM (28)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RF<\/td>\nKole Calhoun, LAA (2)<\/td>\nJason Heyward, ATL (32)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Dustin Pedroia<\/strong> had one of the highest UZR\/150 ratings in the league … but he was not the top-rated 2nd baseman in the AL.\u00a0\u00a0 We have our third different AL center fielder in three lists.\u00a0 Otherwise this is a pretty good list.<\/p>\n

Next: FRAA: Fielding Runs Above Average<\/strong>, a Baseball Prospectus measure that attempts to remove the bias present in zone-based data and also tries to factor in the tendencies of the pitcher on the mound (ground-ball guy, fly-ball guy, <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pos<\/td>\nAL FRAA<\/td>\nNL FRAA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1B<\/td>\nSteve Pearce, BAL (7.7)<\/td>\nAdrian Gonzalez, LAD (11.4)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2B<\/td>\nJason Kipnis, CLE (9.5)<\/td>\nChase Utley, PHI (6.9)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SS<\/td>\nAlexei Ramierez, CWS (8.1)<\/td>\nJean Segura, MIL (23.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3B<\/td>\nKyle Seager, SEA (20.5)<\/td>\nNolan Arenado, COL (14.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LF<\/td>\nAlex Gordon, KC (12.2)<\/td>\nKhris Davis, MIL (6.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CF<\/td>\nJacoby Ellsbury, NYY (12.0)<\/td>\nEnder Inciarte, ARI (11.0)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RF<\/td>\nKevin Kiermaier, TB (8.3)<\/td>\nJason Heyward, ATL (26.4)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/td>\nDallas Keuchel, HOU (6.7)<\/td>\nTyson Ross, SD (3.7)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Interestingly, Jean Segura<\/strong> shines highly here (the supposed “best defensive player in the league” Andrelton Simmons<\/strong> only scored a 10.0 in FRAA).\u00a0\u00a0 And this stat really favors the play of some random players: I had no idea who Kevin Kiermaier<\/strong> or Ender Inciarte<\/strong> were before doing this post, nor did I know what position they played.<\/p>\n

Adam Jones scored a -8.1 FRAA; ranking him 1187th out of 1212 players for 2014.\u00a0 I’m not kidding.\u00a0 That’s how bad a selection for the Gold Glove Jones was.<\/p>\n

Last stat: Baseball Reference’s Total Zone Fielding<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pos<\/td>\nAL Total Zone Total Fielding<\/td>\nNL Total Zone Total Fielding<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\nSalvator Perez, CLE (12)<\/td>\nWilson Ramos, WAS (8)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1B<\/td>\nSteve Pearce, BAL (13)<\/td>\nJustin Morneau, COL (11)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2B<\/td>\nJonathan Schoop, BAL (16)<\/td>\nAnthony Rendon, WAS (12)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SS<\/td>\nJ.J. Hardy, BAL (14)<\/td>\nJordy Mercer, PIT (21)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3B<\/td>\nKyle Seager, SEA (23)<\/td>\nChase Headley, SD\/NYY (18)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
LF<\/td>\nAlex Gordon, KC (25)<\/td>\nKhris Davis, MIL (13)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CF<\/td>\nLorenzo Cain, KC (18)<\/td>\nBilly Hamilton, CIN (14)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RF<\/td>\nKevin Kiermaier, TB (12)<\/td>\nJason Heyward, ATL (30)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Check it out: our own Wilson Ramos<\/strong> is on this list as the “leader” for the NL.\u00a0 Which, no offense to Ramos, makes you question at least the catcher rankings for this stat.\u00a0 Rendon<\/strong> also factors in for his partial season at 2B.\u00a0 But overall, this seems like the least reliable defensive stat.<\/p>\n

As mentioned above, both our GG finalists (LaRoche<\/strong> and Span<\/strong>) seem to have been nominated on reputation only; neither of them appeared near the top on any of these statistical measures (unlike last year, when Span at least was a leader in Total Zone)<\/p>\n

Did I miss any good defensive metrics?\u00a0 Do you have one you like more or less than these?\u00a0 I know there’s other stats out there; I can update this analysis with more of them.<\/p>\n

\n

So, how did the Gold Gloves do this year in selecting the most deserving winners?\u00a0 Pretty good.\u00a0 Alex Gordon<\/strong> was the AL leader for left fielders in every stat.\u00a0 I think they picked the two correct short stops.\u00a0 Catchers are difficult to measure.\u00a0 They absolutely screwed up the AL Center fielder (though to be fair; there were four statistical measures presented and four different AL center field leaders.\u00a0 Excellent defensive players who jump around (Lorenzo Cain<\/strong>, Ben Zobrist<\/strong>) make the awards somewhat challenging in some cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year, I created a little spreadsheet upon the announcement of the Gold Glove winners, to see how they compared to various defensive metric leaders (2013 xls link here).\u00a0 And I threw in the “Fielding Bible” award winners, since that has now taken over as the “accepted” list of the year’s best defensive players, thanks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2667,6],"tags":[485,184,403,123,804,1921,185,1209,635,2374,2593,482,354,2662,356,2666,415,803,1854,1210,2652,2046,2664,2665,2663,277,1781,1947,646,2661,147,1923,254],"class_list":["post-9953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awards","category-nonnatsbaseball","tag-adam-jones","tag-adam-laroche","tag-adrian-gonzalez","tag-albert-pujols","tag-alex-gordon","tag-andrelton-simmons","tag-anthony-rendon","tag-ben-zobrist","tag-bill-james","tag-christian-yelich","tag-dallas-keuchel","tag-denard-span","tag-derek-jeter","tag-dj-lemahieu","tag-dustin-pedroia","tag-ender-inciarte","tag-eric-hosmer","tag-jason-heyward","tag-jean-segura","tag-jj-hardy","tag-jonathan-lucroy","tag-josh-donaldson","tag-juan-lagares","tag-kevin-kiermaier","tag-kyle-seager","tag-lorenzo-cain","tag-nick-markakis","tag-nolan-arenado","tag-rafael-palmeiro","tag-salvator-perez","tag-wilson-ramos","tag-yadier-molina","tag-zack-greinke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9953"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9966,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9953\/revisions\/9966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}