THT Glossary

Links (32)

Whither the leather?
Published 7/19/2007 by Erik at Fungoes
... After doing a little digging around, come to find out my TV has deserved some butt chewings, at least when it pertains to the frequency of Cardinal errors. Their 71 errors is 3rd in the National League and they rank 14th in the Senior Circuit with a .979 fielding percentage. OK, now we all know that fielding percentage and errors paint far from a perfect picture on how well a team fields. There is (a new and improved) zone rating; which tells us what percentage of plays a fielder makes in his particular zone. There is also a new stat called ...

Michael Young, Picking Machine?
Published 7/20/2007 by Adam J. Morris at Lone Star Ball: Front Page Posts
... To put this into context, he was at 24 runs above average by BP's metrics last year, after being 16 and 14 runs below average the previous two years. BP's defensive stats have been criticized because they aren't play-by-play based, but are extricated from the whole, and I'm not all that confident in their reliability...so while that's a decent starting point, I'd rather look more deeply into some other play-by-play generated numbers. The Hardball Times has a couple of stats that, factored together, give a good snapshot of range... Revised Zone Rating (or RZR) and ...

Iguchi Earning His Phillies Pinstripes
Published 8/9/2007 by billbaer at crashburnalley.com
... He has 19 hits in 49 at-bats. In 58 plate appearances, he’s been on base at a .481 clip, which would be second in the National League if he had enough at-bats to qualify. No one expected any power from him, but he has even surprised in that regard with a .530 slugging percentage.His defense has been flawless as well, as evidenced by his 1.000 fielding percentage. His .842 RZR would ...

Iguchi Earning His Phillies Pinstripes
Published 8/10/2007 by Bill Baer at Nyjer Please
... His defense has been flawless as well, as evidenced by his 1.000 fielding percentage. His .842 RZR would ...

... And He Can Range to His Left!
Published 8/20/2007 by Paul SF at YFSF
... , .839 RZR ...

Upcoming Series: San Diego Padres Pitchers
Published 8/21/2007 by Alex Nelson at Mets Geek
... The Mets took five of six games on the road, and while the series against the Pirates wasn’t especially pretty, it was nice to watch the Mets (70-53) beat up on a mediocrity like the Washington Nationals. Now the Mets return to Shea to host a couple of West Coast teams, beginning with the San Diego Padres (66-57). The Padres are a team built on pitching and defense, featuring arguably the NL’s two best starters, its best bullpen, and a defense that ranks third in Revised Zone Rating. ...

A glance at defense
Published 8/29/2007 by Kurt at Mack Avenue Tigers
... an update of its zone ratings (definition), which is just one of several defensive metrics out there, I thought I’d look to see how some Tigers starters are doing. Just a quick primer, the stat measures how many balls a player gets to inside a defined area by their position. Further, higher number is better. It’s hard to put into perspective how much better the image of their defense looks, but this is just one way to glance and compare. ...

Cub Town: Sometimes, Monotony Is Good
Published 9/3/2007 at Cub Town
... Sounds like a good strategy to me; at that pace the Cubs will finish out the season with 18 wins in 27 games, for an 88-win season. And keeping that pace hardly seems out of the question. The Cubs only have two series remaining against contending teams, the first beginning this afternoon with Los Angeles, the second mid-month against St. Louis. The rest of the season unfolds nicely, with a total of six games against Pittsburgh, six against Cincinnati, three against Houston, and three against Florida. * * * * On the acquisition of Steve Trachsel, and the displacement of Sean Marshall: Trachsel has pitched better in August than Marshall, and in September, Trachsel has historically out-pitched his career numbers for an ERA a shade under four. Trachsel is not an outstanding pitcher, but he is a serviceable arm, and I'd rather see the Cubs with too many capable starters, instead of too few. * * * * Jacque Jones is a far better center fielder than most give him credit for. His .920 ...

The 2007 MLB Awards Bonanza
Published 9/20/2007 by billbaer at crashburnalley.com
... with a .776 RZR. ...

Rangers’ Attendance Drops; Kinsler Chat; End Of The Wilkerson Era?
Published 9/27/2007 by Joey Matschulat at Baseball Time in Arlington
... It’s very, very cool to be able to get Ian’s perspective on this issue. And for all of his early season struggles in the field, Kinsler has quietly raised his RZR to .845 (an improvement of .018 over last year), ranking him 8th out of 22 qualifying second basemen in the league. Not only that, but Baseball Prospectus has him ...

Golden Gloves
Published 11/6/2007 by Rob G. at The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog -
... Sizemore, Ichiro Suzuki National League P - Greg Maddux (Gold Glove #17, you have a sense he’ll still be collecting these after he retires) C - Russ Martin 1B - Derrek Lee 2B - Orlando Hudson SS - Jimmy Rollins 3B - David Wright OF - Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones, Jeff Francouer/Aaron Rowand (the two tied in voting) I don’t have access today to the usual defensive metrics I follow, but for the most part that seems about right other than Ryan Braun should have won for NL third basemen (I kid, I kid). Last time I did check, Troy Tulowitzki was way ahead among NL shortstops but they don’t give Gold Gloves to rookies. Congrats to Derrek Lee!—– Also a quick update that Bruce Levine on ESPN 1000 is reporting that Ryan Dempster will be moved into the starting rotation for next season. I’m going to just hope that he gets traded before it ever actually gets there. UPDATE : What some of the defensive metrics say about the NL gold glove winners after the jump…. The Hardball Times ...

Three Free Agents the Mets’ Shouldn’t Sign
Published 11/14/2007 by John Peterson at Mets Geek
... First, his defensive skills are overstated; defensive metrics consistently rate him about average or below average. For instance, by Revised Zone Rating Castillo would have ranked tenth out of the eleven qualified ...

Gillick Isn’t Slumbering This Time
Published 11/15/2007 by Bill Baer at crashburnalley.com
... not expected to pitch 70 games throughout the season. As for the other fun-packed part of the off-season: awards… How did Jimmy Rollins get the Gold Glove at shortstop over Troy Tulowitski? If there’s one thing both baseball statistical traditionalists and Sabermetricians can agree on, it’s that Tulowitzki was the better defensive shortstop. Rollins is a hell of a defender, but even as a Phillies fan, even I cannot give him the nod on this one. Compare the statistics. Rollins : .808 RZR , 65 ...

Dangerous Free Agent Market for CF
Published 11/26/2007 by Bill Baer at crashburnalley.com
... around his career average, he just didn’t get too many hits, despite a .283 BABIP (a bit less than average). However, Jones is only 31 and the chances of him returning to being a top-tier offensive center fielder are highly likely. Jones’ other poor season, 2001, was followed by some of the best years of his career, though they were in his prime years (ages 25-29). And despite common perception, Jones’ hasn’t lost much, if anything, on defense, as he led the National League in both RZR and ...

Published 11/29/2007 by Aaron at AaronGleeman.com
... Harris 778 .966 .755 .781They have identical fielding percentages, but that just shows Harris as less than sure-handed while displaying the uselessness of evaluating defense from fielding percentages. Zone Rating and ...

Is Brian Schneider a Catching Genius?
Published 1/4/2008 by Jeff Mathews at Mets Geek
... This is extremely surprising. One of the fundamental assumptions of the game is that catcher defense is enormously important. Teams always talk about being “strong up the middle,” having good glove men at catcher, short and second, and in center. Though none of the new defensive stats (RZR, ...

Padres outfield situation could get ugly
Published 3/20/2008 by David Golebiewski at The Transaction Guy
... to cover, the Padres require rangy outfielders to cover the gaps and help make Petco a pitcher’s safe haven. Mike Cameron was that sort of fielder. Cameron was an asset in the field in both of his seasons with the Fathers- while he wasn’t quite the Gold Glove-caliber fielder of his prime, Cameron still rated as an above-average fly catcher: Baseball Prospectus Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA): 2006: 10 2007: 2 The Hardball Times Revised Zone Rating: 2006: 9/ 21 qualified CF 2007: 9/ 17 qualified CF ...

A Head Scratcher
Published 4/20/2008 by ubelmann at The WGOM
... don't see a good one, either. His arm is unimpressive, he looks pretty awkward trying to turn double plays, and I think he has average (at best) range. Admittedly, my bias is that his track record seems to indicate that he's a poor defender, and my bias is also that players don't generally make great strides forward on defense at the age of 27. It would be great if he manages to become an average defender at second base, but I'm still pessimistic about those chances. RZR is defined here. [ ...

Yuni had a good April
Published 5/1/2008 by Brad at Yuniform
... 0.16 0 1 Fielding E FP RZR OOZ 4 .968 ...

Iron Men: Tribe Starters Make History
Published 5/16/2008 by Brian (noreply@blogger.com) at Ontario Street
... The defense also deserves some recognition, particularly AstroCab, Sizemore, and Gutz for making some ridiculous plays in support of their pitchers. As of May 15, Cleveland’s .833 RZR, 99 ...

Yuni wasn’t actually terrible in May
Published 6/1/2008 by Brad at Yuniform
... in each grouping, is based, like most of Yuni’s offense, on his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) which is .326 at home, and .270 on the road.  Safeco is a pitcher’s park where some of the Mariners struggle, but Yuni seems to be spraying and blooping the ball (and tucking a few over the left field fence) there a lot better. Yuni’s fielding numbers, sadly, have really plummeted.  Here are his to-date stats: 7 errors, .970 fielding percentage, .780 RZR, 7 OOZ These numbers are from The Hardball Times, which doesn’t ...

Barton falling out of favor?
Published 6/20/2008 by PHE at Pitchers Hit Eighth :: A St Louis Cardinals blog
... Ultimately, Barton seems to still have upside. He’s still learning to hit Major League pitching, after all, he didn’t have an MLB at-bat to his credit prior to this season. He seems to be a plus defender in left field, posting above-league-average range factor and a .964 RZR (which is pretty ridiculously high, when you consider that Ankiel’s .947 RZR rating leads the National League among all qualified fielders). ...

Mark DeRosa vs. That Orioles Guy
Published 6/24/2008 by Cubnut at The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog -
... (*The Hardball Times' Revised Zone Rating—measures the percentage of balls hit into a player's fielding zone that he successfully converts into outs.) ...

Examining Omar Vizquel
Published 6/30/2008 by Rich at Baseball Analysts
... the rest of the way to become just the second shortstop to reach the triple-digit mark in a single season. *Can* he do it? Sure. *Should* he do it? That's another question. As shown above, Vizquel is a liability at the plate. However, to his credit, he is still fielding well. Omar has only made one error and has a fielding percentage of .993. Moreover, according to The Hardball Times, the 11-time Gold Glover has made 69 plays on 78 balls hit in his zone. His Revised Zone Rating of .885 would rank first among all shortstops if he qualified. Vizquel ...

June was a painful month for Yuni
Published 7/2/2008 by Brad at Yuniform
... dentist didn’t treat him gingerly, either.  Even his soccer-playing friend Maykel Galindo was sidelined by a “sports hernia” surgery.  And, to add a bit more insult, this month also had Michael Lewis’ story in Vanity Fair calling out Yuni for not being very forthcoming about how he came forth to the U.S. It’s been really, really bad.  Here are some defensive numbers (for the whole season): 9 errors, .973 fielding percentage,  .811 RZR,  12 OOZ These stats from The Hardball Times actually show some ...

Joe Crede, All-Star
Published 7/8/2008 by TCaptain at Life In The Cell
... has been good this year. He has been a main contributor to the Sox offense and is one of the best five or six AL third baseman. He is not one of the best three. Crede is 4th among AL third baseman in slugging percentage, the strongest element of his game. All three of the players in front of him—Alex Rodriguez, Evan Longoria and Mike Lowell—have higher OBPs by a large margin. Only one of them is in the All-Star game. Crede ranks seventh in GPA among AL third baseman. According to Revised Zone Ratings (RZR), a defensive measurement I am not sure I understand, it seems he is ...

Jermaine Dye, potential All-Star
Published 7/9/2008 by TCaptain at Life In The Cell
... One of these things is not like the others. Why is Jose Guillen on the ballot? Past that, Giambi and Roberts stand out as the two contenders. Longoria might have joined this group had he started the year with the major league team. I’d pick Roberts because, according to RZR, he plays a more difficult defensive position well (.814) as opposed to Giambi, who plays an easy defensive position poorly (.699). ...

Nate McLouth's fielding
Published 8/8/2008 by Pat (noreply@blogger.com) at Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?
... . It's just harder to make an error in the outfield, unless you're Rick Ankiel. But then, look at RZR for centerfielders. RZR is the revised zone rating compiled by John Dewan, based on balls fielded in an outfielder's zone. ...

The Value of Gomez
Published 8/30/2008 by Andrew Kneeland (noreply@blogger.com) at Twins Fix: Providing Your Daily Twins Fix
... RZR, or revised zone rating, is a statistic that measures the proportion of balls hit into a player's zone that he is able to turn into outs. Gomez gets 94% of batters who hit into his zone out, while Hunter only gets 89%. They both obviously play the same position, so one can look at the numbers without having to adjust anything. Gomez is also extremely faster than Hunter, which plays right into this next statistic: ...

An Indepth Look At The NL Cy Young Award Race
Published 18 days ago by Andrew Kneeland (noreply@blogger.com) at Twins Fix: Providing Your Daily Twins Fix
... , or RZR if you would like to factor in defense. I don't have the room to give you every one of them here, but please feel free to check them out by yourselves. I would greatly recommend doing so before laying out your support for your choice in any award. ...

Cubs vs. Dodgers—Stacking Up the Stats
Published 12 days ago by Cubnut at The Cub Reporter (TCR) | A Chicago Cubs Blog -
... and "RZR" refers to Revised Zone Rating. Throughout, * means stats are through Saturday, 9/27. )  ...

Wednesday Applesauce
Published 3 days ago by Eric Simon at Amazin' Avenue: Front Page Posts
... Interestingly, Ramirez's god awful defense in left improved substantially when he moved from Fenway's bizarro-world dimensions to those of the more traditionally-shaped Dodger Stadium. His RZR as a Red Sox was .817 this season; it was .895 with the Dodgers. That would have ranked him fourth out of nine qualified NL left fielders. Now, left field is usually where you stick your worst fielder who isn't already playing first base, but even adequate fielding coupled with Ramirez's bat is a mighty fine combination. ...