40.5 Checking the Locks: Shortstop

[crobillard]

This is a series where I will evaluate the options in each position leading into Spring Training. This is the fifth of eleven parts. I will be taking a look into the shortstop position in this post.

Sure fire locks: Joey O'Brien
Trying to get in the door: Tim Ray

O'Brien is the unchallenged starter for this group. Acquired in a deal with Louisville prior to the start of last season, O'Brien proved to be able to hold down the position through strong defense and a solid bat. In Edmonton's pitcher's park he batted .287/.341/.334 with 21 doubles and a 0.2 WAR in 449 at bats. He was limited due to a fractured finger on his right hand towards the end of the year that had him out for about 9 weeks with a setback. He played 98 games at short and committed nine errors with a -2.0 ZR. His other 33 games were at third base and only committed one error there with a +0.9 ZR. Without Fernando Martinez to cover SS though, we shouldn't expect to see more shuffles to the infield defense. In a jam we can use Jharod Thealer at SS and slot Yi-ke Hsaio in at second, but I'd feel a lot better if I was able to keep Thealer at second.

We have a infield defensive backup with Ray. I don't know how I feel about calling him up though. His bat is terrible, but he'll be pretty good defensively. He's 23 years old and rated 4/5/3/5/5. He bats lefty so that should help him, but his ratings don't get any better against RHP. He's useful on the basepaths with a 10 speed, 11 stealing and 7 baserunning. He's rated a 9 at second and 8 at short with infield defense ratings at 8/10/10/7. He can definitely help us compared to some others that are on the bubble, but as a general thing I don't think he's very good and if he's starting at any point in the season I am in a pretty bad spot.