Wise Kraken 45.2032: Kraken Defense Rises Near Top

[aaronweiner]

Carolina wasn't making any secret about the fact that they were building a roster built around pitching and defense, and that is starting to become apparent with the way the Carolina Kraken play on the field. The stats are also holding up the argument that Carolina's defense is one of the best groups in the league so far this year, and they're passing the eye test with every solid outfield play.

"We take a lot of pride in our defense and we believe we're very good at what we do," said center fielder Gabriel Delgado, the team leader in Zone Rating. "We've got a lot of really talented gloves out there."

Carolina currently is tied for fourth in the JL in fielder efficiency and is tied fifth overall in the BBA in that category. They're eighth in zone rating, tied for tenth in range factor, and are fourth in the league at turning double plays. Carolina's excellent fielding has helped the pitching staff tremendously, as the Kraken are third in the JL in BABIP and have allowed just .22 unearned runs per game.

"We've got a lot of great fielders on this team and we're proud of our achievements, but the best may be yet to come," said Kraken GM Aaron Weiner. "You should see who we have down on the farm."

Weiner isn't kidding. Carolina has one of the best defensive infield prospects in the game in Oliver Burrell and one of the best centerfield prospects in Yi-ke Zang. Jin-song Xuan plays basically every position beautifully. Santiago Morales' bat hasn't caught up to his glove yet, but he's a slick infielder. And Pedro Barbo might be one of the best-fielding fifth outfielders in the game at some point.

"We're going to be known for our defense a long time," said Delgado. "We've got a ton of talent."