61.34 Annual ZR by Position Performance Review: Inaugural 2061 Edition
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:00 pm
This is a new annual feature, inspired by this season's miserable fielding stats. Like I do with WAR, I will explore our defensive performance on a position-by-position basis and create a Performance Improvement Plan for the offseason.
My goal is to avoid negative zone rating at each position.
CATCHER
Unlike the other positions, my goal here is maximize Framing Runs. I consider my catchers to be part of the pitching staff.
Calvin Johnson and Jamie Behnke shared the catching duties. Loren Hall was a September call-up. The team ERA was 4.17.
Johnson has seen his last action with Montreal. He gave us six years and 16 WAR, but at age 40 his framing skills are starting to go.
Behnke and Hall are slated to catch in 2062, barring injury. Defensively, they are near clones.
FIRST BASE
Dan Wilkinson made 138 starts at first base. He'll be spelled by Denes Terovolas and/or Herman de Jonge, both very capable defenders. Wilkinson accrued a ZR of +2.8.
SECOND BASE
Second base was a turnstile in 2061. We used at least nine players here, but none of them laid claim to it. We did, however, finish the season with a +2.0 ZR at the position.
As you can see, defense was not the issue. But not one of these posted positive WAR. Hru and Mallett were near zero WAR; the others were all negative.
Hru is only 26 and is still developing. He actually posted +0.4 WAR vLHP. I continue to hold out hope that he can mature into a short-side platoon role at 2B. He is an elite baserunner, among the BBA's best. It's nice to have him on the bench.
Mallett is not the solution going forward. We are actively shopping for a starting second baseman, but not because of defense.
THIRD BASE
Tom Allen got off to a slow start after his ROTY season, so we experimented with other options before returning to Allen. He managed +1.0 WAR in 128 starts after leading the league in ZR the season before. We plan to stay with Allen.
SHORTSTOP
Oh my. This was beyond awful. We traded for Reynaldo Serrano, who needed to learn the position on the fly, having primarily played second base in the past. He played 18 games at shortstop before succumbing to a torn ACL.
The rest of the season was a trainwreck. We used half a dozen players, but none could manage either positive WAR or positive ZR. I won't bore you with the gory details, but we finished with a ghastly -25.2 ZR at shortstop. Our poor pitchers winced every time that a ball was hit to their right.
We are counting on a full season from Serrano in 2062. Nobody wishes Reynaldo good health more than our beleaguered pitching staff. I'm not confident that he can turn in a positive ZR in his first full season at the position, but it has to be an improvement over this season.
LEFT FIELD
This was a bright spot. We installed Clancy Lee in left field and let him play his natural position. He rewarded our confidence with a solid +5.2 ZR.
CENTER FIELD
We traded for Ed Rooney at the beginning of June and never looked back. Rooney accrued a ZR of +5.3 in 69 starts. Like Serrano, we need him to stay healthy. He'll be visiting the Development Lab for strength and conditioning training.
RIGHT FIELD
Injuries were not the issue here. We tried three players here: LH-hitting Roosevelt Davis (-9.1 ZR), RH-hitting Herman de Jonge (-2.2 ZR), and RH-hitting Ziya Turkes (-2.0 ZR). We finished the season with a -13.8 ZR. The 6'6" de Jonge is better suited to play first base, but that position is spoken for. The plan is to try the prospect Manny Burgus in left field and slide Clancy Lee to right. Burgus is a plus outfielder but lacks the arm to play in right field. This would bump Davis/de Jonge/Turkes to compete for playing time at DH with Denes Terovolas.
SUMMARY
Our team ZR of -32.1 is largely on account of two positions: shortstop (-25.2) and right field (-13.8). Each of the other positions met the goal of a positive ZR.
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN
My goal is to avoid negative zone rating at each position.
CATCHER
Unlike the other positions, my goal here is maximize Framing Runs. I consider my catchers to be part of the pitching staff.
| Player | Games | Zone Rating | Framing Runs | Catcher's ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behnke | 84 | -1.8 | 14.6 | 4.27 |
| Hall | 4 | -0.2 | 0.8 | 2.98 |
| Johnson | 74 | 0.1 | 7.2 | 4.14 |
Johnson has seen his last action with Montreal. He gave us six years and 16 WAR, but at age 40 his framing skills are starting to go.
Behnke and Hall are slated to catch in 2062, barring injury. Defensively, they are near clones.
FIRST BASE
Dan Wilkinson made 138 starts at first base. He'll be spelled by Denes Terovolas and/or Herman de Jonge, both very capable defenders. Wilkinson accrued a ZR of +2.8.
SECOND BASE
Second base was a turnstile in 2061. We used at least nine players here, but none of them laid claim to it. We did, however, finish the season with a +2.0 ZR at the position.
| Player | Games | Zone Rating | Position Rating | Infield Range | Infield Error | Infield Arm | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Atkinson | 40 | -0.7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Eduardo Galvan | 8 | 0.8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 10 |
| Tsu-bahr Hru | 33 | -1.9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 10 |
| John Jowers | 17 | 2.3 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 10 |
| Paul Mallett | 33 | 1.9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 10 |
| Candrakesa Surati | 18 | 1.6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
Hru is only 26 and is still developing. He actually posted +0.4 WAR vLHP. I continue to hold out hope that he can mature into a short-side platoon role at 2B. He is an elite baserunner, among the BBA's best. It's nice to have him on the bench.
Mallett is not the solution going forward. We are actively shopping for a starting second baseman, but not because of defense.
THIRD BASE
Tom Allen got off to a slow start after his ROTY season, so we experimented with other options before returning to Allen. He managed +1.0 WAR in 128 starts after leading the league in ZR the season before. We plan to stay with Allen.
SHORTSTOP
Oh my. This was beyond awful. We traded for Reynaldo Serrano, who needed to learn the position on the fly, having primarily played second base in the past. He played 18 games at shortstop before succumbing to a torn ACL.
The rest of the season was a trainwreck. We used half a dozen players, but none could manage either positive WAR or positive ZR. I won't bore you with the gory details, but we finished with a ghastly -25.2 ZR at shortstop. Our poor pitchers winced every time that a ball was hit to their right.
We are counting on a full season from Serrano in 2062. Nobody wishes Reynaldo good health more than our beleaguered pitching staff. I'm not confident that he can turn in a positive ZR in his first full season at the position, but it has to be an improvement over this season.
LEFT FIELD
This was a bright spot. We installed Clancy Lee in left field and let him play his natural position. He rewarded our confidence with a solid +5.2 ZR.
CENTER FIELD
We traded for Ed Rooney at the beginning of June and never looked back. Rooney accrued a ZR of +5.3 in 69 starts. Like Serrano, we need him to stay healthy. He'll be visiting the Development Lab for strength and conditioning training.
RIGHT FIELD
Injuries were not the issue here. We tried three players here: LH-hitting Roosevelt Davis (-9.1 ZR), RH-hitting Herman de Jonge (-2.2 ZR), and RH-hitting Ziya Turkes (-2.0 ZR). We finished the season with a -13.8 ZR. The 6'6" de Jonge is better suited to play first base, but that position is spoken for. The plan is to try the prospect Manny Burgus in left field and slide Clancy Lee to right. Burgus is a plus outfielder but lacks the arm to play in right field. This would bump Davis/de Jonge/Turkes to compete for playing time at DH with Denes Terovolas.
SUMMARY
Our team ZR of -32.1 is largely on account of two positions: shortstop (-25.2) and right field (-13.8). Each of the other positions met the goal of a positive ZR.
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PLAN
- Concern: Shortstop accrued negative ZR (boy, howdy, did it ever!)
Plan: Hope that Serrano returns without damage from his ACL repair and remains healthy.
- Concern: Right field accrued negative ZR
Plan: Move Clancy Lee to right field and play prospect Manny Burgus in left field.