63.47 Annual ZR by Position Performance Review: 2063 Edition

[Bob Breum]

Like I do with WAR, I review 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.

Here is last season's Performance Improvement Plan:

• Concern: Need backup shortstop who can post positive ZR.
  Plan: Our current roster has several good reserve infielders, but none can play shortstop well. I'll keep an eye out for a free agent or waiver claim, but good defensive shortstops are not easy to find.

Outcome: We were forced to confront this reality immediately, as Reynaldo Serrano was injured in Spring Training. We brought up Maximo Gousto, who was once the heir apparent but failed to develop as we had hoped. His defense meets the goal, however; he is rated 9 at second, short, and third. He produced a +2.2 zone rating in 73 starts at shortstop.

POSITIONAL REVIEW

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
Kahil	101	1.5	8.4	3.59
Trevino	49	1.8	3.1	3.82
Behnke	12	-0.1	0.7	2.93

We began the season with a Kahil / Behnke platoon but dropped Behnke in favor of Trevino after the first month. The framing runs production dropped off considerably from last season's duo of Behnke and Hall, from 27.9 to 12.2. We traded off framing for offense.

FIRST BASE

Team captain Dan Wilkinson should win his second consecutive Yogi Zimmer Diamond Glove with a zone rating of 6.5.

SECOND BASE

Jaime Serna posted a solid 5.5 zone rating.

THIRD BASE

Denes Terovolas is never going to be famous for his glovework but his bat has to be in our lineup. Perhaps someday we'll employ him as our full time DH, but for now we just hope that Wilkinson can corral his throws. His zone rating at third was an ugly -7.2.

SHORTSTOP

As noted above, Serrano got hurt and only played 20 games. Gousto was solid but the others all posted negative zone ratings.

LEFT FIELD

Manny Burgus started the season here with a 0.4 zone rating in 95 games, down dramatically from his 10.5 in 105 games last season. A platoon of Clancy Lee and Kaoray Kapkin took over mid-season and put up 3.2/1.9 zone rating.

CENTER FIELD

Rooney had a disappointing season, accruing only 8.5 zone rating. Clancy Lee spelled him regularly, posting an additional 0.9.

RIGHT FIELD

The Lee/Kapkin platoon began the season here, putting up 4.3/2.4. Jedidiah Marzuq took over and posted 3.5.

SUMMARY

We finished third in the Johnson League with a zone rating of 27.3, down from last season's 37.1. Most of the difference can be attributed to Burgus and Rooney's decline and Serrano's absence. We're hoping for bounce back seasons from the latter two. The new outfield alignment of Lee/Kapkin in LF, Rooney in CF, and Marzuq in RF should help.

[BaseClogger]

Terovolas was better defensively in 2062 and I think this should be the low end for his ratings.

[Trebro]

Do you know if you changed the style of your pitchers at all from 2062 to 2063? If they were having more grounders hit towards third, his defense might have been exposed more, perhaps? Still, if anywhere is going to be negative, I think third and first (and maybe left) are the three top places to consider doing that. Call it the Bobby Bonilla Rule, if you like.

[Bob Breum]

Do you know if you changed the style of your pitchers at all from 2062 to 2063? If they were having more grounders hit towards third, his defense might have been exposed more, perhaps? Still, if anywhere is going to be negative, I think third and first (and maybe left) are the three top places to consider doing that. Call it the Bobby Bonilla Rule, if you like.

No change. We are all about that groundball (or extreme groundball) life. Our long reliever is neutral and we have one low leverage middle reliever who's a flyball guy, but we make every effort to stock our staff with groundballers. Our top four starters are all extreme groundball artists.

[BaseClogger]

Montreal’s GB% decreased from 49.2% to 48.9%. Not significant.