Sox 29th in runs saved

[southsider2k5]

Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 13m13 minutes ago

 

#WhiteSox are minus-43 in Defensive Runs Saved, which is 29th. Philly is last at -45. The Yankees, 28th, are -22. KC is +42. @fangraphs

[Chisoxfn]

This is a pretty consistent trend. We ranked similarly past two years. We are a horrible defensive baseball team and nothing the team did this off-season changed that fact. In fact, they probably only got worse defensively (not better).

[fathom]

This is a pretty consistent trend. We ranked similarly past two years. We are a horrible defensive baseball team and nothing the team did this off-season changed that fact. In fact, they probably only got worse defensively (not better).

 

I'm willing to bet the defense would instantly improve if they flipped Melky to RF and Avi to LF. From there, I expect we'll see a new 3rd baseman here next year that will be better defensively than Conor. A problem that's lurking for Hahn is the team desperately needs to find better offensive players, yet they need defensive upgrades as well. Guys that are good at both are usually very expensive.

Edited June 15, 2015 by fathom

[caulfield12]

Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 13m13 minutes ago

 

#WhiteSox are minus-43 in Defensive Runs Saved, which is 29th. Philly is last at -45. The Yankees, 28th, are -22. KC is +42. @fangraphs

 

 

That's why the Royals are still holding onto first place despite being terrible offensively the last 2-3 weeks and losing 5 games (+14 to +9) record-wise.

 

Their bullpen (Herrera has slumped but Davis/Holland/Madson/Hochevar are compensating)...and, to a lesser extent, their comparative depth in starting pitchers.

 

Joe Blanton has done very well for them, as has Chris Young until his last couple of starts. Guthrie and Vargas have been so-so and Ventura and Duffy have regressed and/or are injured. Kris Medlen is the wild card in terms of them making a midseason pitching move.

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

I'm willing to bet the defense would instantly improve if they flipped Melky to RF and Avi to LF. From there, I expect we'll see a new 3rd baseman here next year that will be better defensively than Conor. A problem that's lurking for Hahn is the team desperately needs to find better offensive players, yet they need defensive upgrades as well. Guys that are good at both are usually very expensive.

 

See Heyward and Alex Gordon.

 

So you're left with Upton, Cespedes and Zobrist. Limited options.

 

As far as changing positions in the middle of the season...I'll believe it when I see it with our organization. They did make that decision with Alex Rios, but if I recall, it was Alex who initiated it after becoming frustrated and sulking (bad body language, etc.).

Edited June 15, 2015 by caulfield12

[harkness99]

when you take into consideration that they can't hit either... not a good combo...

[caulfield12]

Well, the Royals are in the process of almost blowing an 8-2 ninth inning lead against the Brewers, when Holland and Davis had been practically unhittable the entire season. Baseball's such a weird sport. Same thing with the Mets rallying in extra innings with two outs to beat the Blue Jays (who were leading 3-2 and scored in the top of the inning), and who had just won 11 straight games.

 

Holland just gave up 4 hits, a walk....already three earned runs without recording an out and his ERA ballooned all the way to 3.52.

 

Wade Davis and his 0.32 ERA saved the day, but it got dicey.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, whatever they do...the White Sox are basically in a position where they almost have to keep David Robertson if they have any pretension of competing for playoff spots the next 3 seasons.

Edited June 16, 2015 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

Baseball-reference.com ranks the White Sox last in the majors in Defensive Efficiency while Fangraphs.com has them 29th of 30 in Defensive Runs Saved. The White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies are both nearly double the New York Yankees, who rank 28th in the majors with minus-22 Defensive Runs Saved. The White Sox are minus-43 and Phillies are minus-45. The Kansas City Royals are first overall with 42 Defensive Runs Saved.

 

“Defense is always going to be something that you need to be able to win,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “But there are also momentum swings with defense. Defense can help you help the pitchers. Teams that play good defense get momentum because you don’t need to do as much offensively to be able to cover it. When we get better at that, and we get some hits with some guys on, it looks better. When you stub your toe in one area of the game, it can cost you.”

 

So what is the plan for getting better at that, exactly? Obviously, they sent down Micah and are playing Beckham over Conor at 3B, but that's only a half solution at best if those particular moves don't move the needle at all offensively.

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/poor-d...haunt-white-sox

Edited June 16, 2015 by caulfield12

[glangon]

Baseball-reference.com ranks the White Sox last in the majors in Defensive Efficiency while Fangraphs.com has them 29th of 30 in Defensive Runs Saved. The White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies are both nearly double the New York Yankees, who rank 28th in the majors with minus-22 Defensive Runs Saved. The White Sox are minus-43 and Phillies are minus-45. The Kansas City Royals are first overall with 42 Defensive Runs Saved.

 

“Defense is always going to be something that you need to be able to win,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “But there are also momentum swings with defense. Defense can help you help the pitchers. Teams that play good defense get momentum because you don’t need to do as much offensively to be able to cover it. When we get better at that, and we get some hits with some guys on, it looks better. When you stub your toe in one area of the game, it can cost you.”

 

So what is the plan for getting better at that, exactly? Obviously, they sent down Micah and are playing Beckham over Conor at 3B, but that's only a half solution at best if those particular moves don't move the needle at all offensively.

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/poor-d...haunt-white-sox

 

Surely one glaringly obvious move would be to consistantly play La Roche at First Base and have Abreu at DH. La Roche's defense is head and shoulders above Abreu's.

 

We also need a defensive catcher. Teams are running for fun against Flowers and Soto. Its all very nice to say that Flowers calls a game well but he isn't hitting and can't shut down the running game and neither is Soto.

 

Teams against us have stolen bases for fun and we are second in the majors with 79% of runners stealing bases on Soto and Flowers, only the Marlins are higher with 82%, if you compare that to the Blue Jays who have only allowed 56% of runners to steal. We are the worst in the American League at allowing stolen bases and we have 4 lefties in the rotation with Sale and Danks having good pick off moves.

 

 

[caulfield12]

Derek Norris is a really good defensive catcher, but the Pads just acquired him this year.

 

Jason Castro has been mentioned a LOT over the last two or three years around here.

 

Nick Hundley would be another one who grades out very well this year.

 

 

However, it's almost like you're forced to take a AAA/AA high level prospect, because the cost for major league catching talent is usually so high...and our offense right now is so limited that it's hard to make just incremental improvements if you're going with "defense first" personnel.

 

That said, I would love to hear a reporter ask Robin Ventura why he feels the defense played so well for most of the 2012 season, and then fell apart the following year. Why did guys like DeAza, Viciedo and Alexei play so much better?

 

It seems like Abreu was improving a lot in the second half last year and now he's gone backwards. Eaton, backwards. Alexei, fading. Cabrera is just so-so at best and Avi hasn't made much progress in this area, along with Conor and Flowers. It's almost a team-wide malaise, other than Beckham and Sanchez, who obviously have their offensive limitations. Even LaRoche hasn't been up to par compared to what he showed the last couple of seasons in Washington.

[glangon]

Derek Norris is a really good defensive catcher, but the Pads just acquired him this year.

 

Jason Castro has been mentioned a LOT over the last two or three years around here.

 

Nick Hundley would be another one who grades out very well this year.

 

 

However, it's almost like you're forced to take a AAA/AA high level prospect, because the cost for major league catching talent is usually so high...and our offense right now is so limited that it's hard to make just incremental improvements if you're going with "defense first" personnel.

 

That said, I would love to hear a reporter ask Robin Ventura why he feels the defense played so well for most of the 2012 season, and then fell apart the following year. Why did guys like DeAza, Viciedo and Alexei play so much better?

 

It seems like Abreu was improving a lot in the second half last year and now he's gone backwards. Eaton, backwards. Alexei, fading. Cabrera is just so-so at best and Avi hasn't made much progress in this area, along with Conor and Flowers. It's almost a team-wide malaise, other than Beckham and Sanchez, who obviously have their offensive limitations. Even LaRoche hasn't been up to par compared to what he showed the last couple of seasons in Washington.

 

With Wieters returning to the Orioles, a trade for Caleb Joseph would be a good thing, a good defensive catcher who hits better than Flowers and Soto. He's batting .250 with 5 homers and 20 RBI's and allows 66% of runners to steal on him which is better than anything we have in the majors or AAA and with the Orioles in contention we could maybe offload Shark to them for Joesph and a couple of prospects.

 

 

[caulfield12]

With Wieters returning to the Orioles, a trade for Caleb Joseph would be a good thing, a good defensive catcher who hits better than Flowers and Soto. He's batting .250 with 5 homers and 20 RBI's and allows 66% of runners to steal on him which is better than anything we have in the majors or AAA and with the Orioles in contention we could maybe offload Shark to them for Joesph and a couple of prospects.

 

Except all indications point to the fact that the Orioles are generally satisfied with Joseph (especially considering the price) and most likely will let Wieters go the FA route.

 

 

 

 

Who poses a greater threat to Matt Wieters' future in Baltimore: Caleb Joseph or his agent, Scott Boras?

-- Dan S., South Florida

 

Boras, unquestionably. Joseph will be the first to tell you -- and he did tell reporters several times this spring -- that there's no replacing Wieters. And while Joseph has certainly grown into a defensively sound catcher in his second year, he doesn't have the experience or the offensive ability yet that the switch-hitting Wieters does. Keep in mind, Wieters was on pace for a career year offensively in 2014 before an elbow injury eventually required Tommy John surgery.

 

Wieters hasn't played this season and is still on a throwing program in extended spring camp. The more time he misses this season -- his final under team control -- the less leverage Boras may have to work on a megadeal for his client. Could that work in the Orioles' favor? Maybe, but it could be a stretch. When the sides were talking, they were said to be worlds apart. Bridging that gap, at least with where things are now, would be incredibly difficult.

 

source, MLB.com

Edited June 16, 2015 by caulfield12

[Harry Chappas]

Surely one glaringly obvious move would be to consistantly play La Roche at First Base and have Abreu at DH. La Roche's defense is head and shoulders above Abreu's.

 

We also need a defensive catcher. Teams are running for fun against Flowers and Soto. Its all very nice to say that Flowers calls a game well but he isn't hitting and can't shut down the running game and neither is Soto.

 

Teams against us have stolen bases for fun and we are second in the majors with 79% of runners stealing bases on Soto and Flowers, only the Marlins are higher with 82%, if you compare that to the Blue Jays who have only allowed 56% of runners to steal. We are the worst in the American League at allowing stolen bases and we have 4 lefties in the rotation with Sale and Danks having good pick off moves.

 

The LaRoche thing is once again a really bad baseball move. Abreu is terrible at first base and the DH is a gold glove winner.

 

[southsider2k5]

Its funny, in hindsight I keep seeing all of the mentions about the Samardjiza deal being bad, and how much we miss Semien. But seeing Liriano last night reminded of missing Eduardo Escobar. I really didn't think we would miss him from that deal, but at the very least he is the utility infielder on this team, and we don't have to worry about defense off of the bench for sure.

[caulfield12]

Its funny, in hindsight I keep seeing all of the mentions about the Samardjiza deal being bad, and how much we miss Semien. But seeing Liriano last night reminded of missing Eduardo Escobar. I really didn't think we would miss him from that deal, but at the very least he is the utility infielder on this team, and we don't have to worry about defense off of the bench for sure.

 

 

Thus, saving the money wasted on the Bonifacio signing.

[southsider2k5]

Thus, saving the money wasted on the Bonifacio signing.

 

The money part isn't the problem. $4 million isn't a big deal in 2015 in MLB.