What to do with Workman

[ae37jr]

So Chris Workman lumped again defensively. His ratings are now 4/9/6/10. Last year he had 5 range with 7 experience and I was like... well... I can use a defensive sub and rest him when a ground baller is pitching and kinda live with this. Now, I just don't know if it's a good idea anymore. I want to keep his bat in the lineup, but 1B/DH is not an option. So I starting thinking since I have plenty of guys who can play 2B, what about 3B? I know a 6 arm is not ideal for 3B, but it's probably the lesser evil then a 2B with 4 range. The other giant obstacle is that he currently has zero experience at 3B.

So I am curious what others think. I should have gave him some reps at 3B in spring training but honestly it never dawned on me to move him to 3B until just now(after he lumped in range and exp). I'm thinking this is a bad idea right? Sure, I can hide him at 3rd when a righty flyball pitcher such as Juan Hernandez is pitching, but as far as converting him to a fulltime 3B, it will probably take most of the season and maybe his arm lumps halfway and the whole thing fails.

Would love to get some advice here.

[agrudez]

My end game back in the day was always converting him to 3B (even when he had '6' range), but I traded him before I ever got around to it. He was actually surprisingly serviceable last year at 2B (would've expected double digit -ZR) for you and his bat is still so valuable at 2B that it outweighs the poor defense, imo. Odds are he was just a low '5' range and is now a high '4' range (and might fluctuate later on in the year back to a '5') so I say keep him at 2B and monitor the situation - readjust if he proves to be inept. That readjustment won't be sending him to 3B, though, because he'll be an abject disaster there without any experience... it'll be benching him.

And next year, remember that there are 2 goals in ST: Getting out healthy and cross-training position players.

[Lane]

Yeah, I think you roll with him at 2B, and this season if he doesn't cut it there he should play 1B. Agree that if you want to get him to 3B, he needs reps in ST or meaningless September games (if you have any of those).

[RonCo]

The perennial "what to do with Chris Workman in the field" question is always fun to think about.

[agrudez]

Ron, you advocate putting someone with a 0 rating at 3B out there on opening day? He's going to be a double digit -ZR before the end of April.

[Ted]

[RonCo]

Ron, you advocate putting someone with a 0 rating at 3B out there on opening day? He's going to be a double digit -ZR before the end of April.

It's an interesting question, especially for a GM like Allan who works match-ups better than anyone I've seen. If you have productive players to put at 2B that you have to sit for Workman, is it better to play him at 3B (where he'll get considerably fewer opportunities, but where he'll be horrible for at least a while), or is it better to put him at 3B and play a lesser hitter at 3B?

When you look just at Workman, it's a stronger case to keep him at 2B. But the game calculus is bigger than that. I don't know what the right answer really is, but it's certainly possible that this could be a place where conventional wisdom is questionable.

But, sure, I could be wrong.

It's a baseball forum poll. Shrug.

[RonCo]

Back of the napkin defensive math....

Per the game log files I publish...Brooklyn's 3B had 129 balls in zones 5 and 5L last year (the zones where the 3B is responsible). There were another 366 in zone 56 (where the 3B has what I think is a small partial responsibility)--90 of those were Deep, so likely not to be played by any 3B. So let's say Brooklyn 3B were responsible for about 220 ground balls in zone last year.

Doing a similar study for 2B says Brooklyn's 2B were responsible for roughly 500 BIZ.

If one assumes similar numbers (dangerous, but let's do it), Workman (or anyone else) would be responsible fore the following:

At 3B = 1.35 balls per game
At 2B = 3.09 Balls per game
If one assumes further that he would be replaced by a devensive guy in the 9th inning, you get a commensurate reduction.

If Workman makes 90% of plays at 2B, and only 70% at 3B (which 9% is pretty good and probably won't happen and 70% is very bad)...Workman would mess up:

At 3B = .40 Balls per game (one missed out per 2.5 games)
At 2B = .31 Balls per game (one missed out every 3 games)
So what are the differences in the bats you can put on the field for that difference, and what are the impacts of defensive replacements?

Dunno.

[ae37jr]

Pretty much what Ron said was my thought process, just not as elaborate as he put it. I tend to value 2B defense more then 3B(in case Ricardo Guzman playing 3B in the playoffs wasn't a giveaway).


This is the big picture I'm looking at as my VS RHP 2B/3B combo


2B Workman 6/7/6/9/7 with 4/9/6/10 defense and 6 Exp
3B Wade 6/8/5/7/8 with 7/8/8/8 defense and 8 Exp

VS

2B Campos 6/7/5/6/6 with 9/8/5/8 defense and 7 Exp or Wade 6/8/5/7/8 with 7/8/8/8 defense and 8 Exp
3B Workman 6/7/6/9/7 with 4/9/6/10 defense and 0 EXP

When facing extreme teams that have all LH or RH lineups, I'll probably shift Workman to the weak side. If I start a ground baller, maybe I'll give Workman the night off. I'm just a little stumped bout what to do against the balanced teams.