It is important to consider the position when calculating a good fielding percentage. Pitchers are #1 in the softball scorebook, and theyre in control of the pace of the game. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Rankings of Negro League players should consider that Negro League data is not complete. [1] The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. How long did Omar Vizquel play baseball? As seen in the accompanying video, he's got great instincts and can think well on his feet. The longest games in Major League history (both leagues) with no chances offered to a . Copyright 1999- document.write(update); To be an elite shortstop, you need sure hands, a rocket for an arm, consistency, double-play adroitness and athleticism, and the guys who made the cut all embody this cocktail of skills to a certain degree. Being versatile is a great thing and having utility in more than one position can help a player. anything but a shortstop!) Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. First baseman can often hide at first because they dont often have to make long throws or move around too much. He's clearly a level up from the Escobars and narrowly tops Kozma in terms of his composite metrics, which is why he falls above them, but his UZR, RF and fielding percentage are underwhelming when compared to the remaining three on this list. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. Major League . While only about 1.6% of high school softball players go on to play at the Division 1 level, the other division levels, NAIA schools, and junior colleges offer many opportunities for promising prospects. He thus had 28.02 expected errors. A player's Fielding Runs number is used to estimate his Fielding Wins, an estimate of the number of games a team won above or below what it would have won with an average fielder (with zero Fielding Runs) at the player's position. But as seen above, he can lay out with the best of 'em. While he isn't seen in the best light due to the eye-black debacle last year, one can't deny that the Tampa Bay Rays are getting their money's worth and more from the Cuban defector. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Ryan's RF is 4.35, good enough for eighth among qualifying shortstops. His reward? This one may be a bit surprising as Young was regarded as a solid shortstop and even won a Gold Glove in 2008. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Red Sox bullpen's tightrope act will wear thin, Real or not? This was because originally, the shortstop was the fourth outfielder. Contributor Network wrote about the "stability Kozma has injected into the Cardinals' infield," so jumping to extreme conclusions about Kozma's talent may not be warranted. Sometimes its simply because the coach is more familiar with the player abilities and skills etc but sometimes unfortunately its seems to be pure favoritism. His DRS of four is just above-average, as it puts him in a four-way tie for seventh in the majors. Statistics That Require the Tracking of Batted Balls Metrics Diamondbacks primed to bury Dodgers, Losing Corey Seager leaves Dodgers' season on the brink, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Am I good enough to play softball in college? Ultimately, though, the skills play. Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following. You want them to play as much as they can especially if they are at least as good as the others. Sports averred that "he manages the defensive wizardry of a player three inches and 20 pounds smaller." Kozma cracks the top five namely because of his UZR, RF and fielding percentage. But even if common sense knocks down Shields +26, its still clear that he turned an awful lot of ground balls into outs. The basic infield positions are shown below in diagram above, which illustrates where each player will stand in the most fundamental situations. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Its either the shortstop, center fielder, catcher or pitcher all are critical positions that require lots of skill, athleticism and mental toughness. Fast legs are strong legs. With that in mind, lets turn our attention to shortstop defense. Gomez's range factor was actually higher than the MLB average, 4.63 to 4.58, and his fielding percentage was fine, so I'm not quite sure why he rates so poorly. Drew's numbers aren't outstanding, but they do speak to his point, as does the video above. Ryan doesn't make the cut for several reasons, the first being that his UZR is unforgivable. And we'd talk about it for days. Fielding percentage: .989 (tied for second). Every time I take ground balls when working out, Im always in a game mode. What can help a young softball star reach the next level? Left fielders typically have good speed and fielding skills and are expected to be good contributors at the plate. His DPR of -0.2 is below-average at 17th in the league. Much like Derek Jeter, there has been a lot of divisiveness over the years about Kemp's defense. Before we get going, check out this video about throwing speed by age for fastpitch players. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content. Undoubtedly, voters remembered the spectacular plays, but there was nothing in the numbers that suggested Kemp had above-average range and he was making a large number of miscues at the same time. The league's lowest fielding percentages typically come from shortstops and third basemen, who must deal with a wide array of tricky ground balls and tough throws across the diamond. I'd say the Hardy play shown above falls under "things that other people can't do." It can certainly contribute to the discussion, but until a few more years go by and we can combine the data with professional records for these college players, we dont know just how worthwhile it is. In the article, I didnt try to resolve the sort-of-contradiction between Beckhams excellent stats and the conventional wisdom that he cant stick at shortstop. Just wait, he's salvageable. Farmer ranks. So all the metrics agreed that he just didn't have much range in this year. He may be 31, but judging from the video above, he hasn't lost his instincts (or his ups). We present them here for purely educational purposes. Key NCAA Rule Change for Recruiting Communications. Back in May, I looked at some notable defensive performances among college third basemen, especially that of Fresno States Tom Mendonca. I never thought of Gomez as a bad fielder, but I guess I never really gave all that much thought to Gomez in the first place. Hardy makes it into the top four due to the current number of weighty third-place standings he holds. a third baseman? Fielding percentage: .987 (tied for fifth). Cabrera's RF of 4.65 is a laudable sixth place in the majors whereas his 0.9 DPR puts him in a tie for fifth. Whichever way you look at it, Escobar's defense is solid in terms of this category. Statistics: . In fact, only sixteen (14.3%) played 50 or more games at shortstop as 28-year-olds-a combination of injury attrition, moving to other positions, or manning a backup/utility role that didn't. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Catchers need a strong arm, so if you need to work on your throwing (for any position, really) check out my free throwing webinar below. Escobar's UZR of 6.0 slots him in fourth place among all qualifying shortstops, while his dWAR of 0.9 has him in a three-way tie for sixth. The typical answer for this is the right fielder, because they will have the longest throw to third base of all outfielders. He debuted when he was just 20 years old, so he likely still has room for improvement. He's a bit better in his role as half of a double-play combo, as his DPR of 0.2 has him in a three-way tie for 10th. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. The most consistent part has been making the routine play. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. He's certainly not a guy that you have to worry about, "All right, what's going to happen." In other words, when aluminum is involved, hard hit balls turn every infielder into a third baseman. Tulowitzki's RF of 4.89 is third-best among qualifying shortstops. Twenty-eight of those 29 runs below average came as a center fielder, where he made 2.50 plays per nine innings compared to the MLB average of 2.76. I kept looking and I didn't find one for me, so I knew I didn't make the team. Do you have a sports website? While he trails one player in both RF and DPR, these margins are miniscule in comparison. Full Site Menu. The longest games in Major League history (both leagues) with no chances offered to a shortstop? Top middle infielders will also be able to hit at a high level. J.J. Hardy is quintessential durability. The hope for the Tigers is that Castellanos is young enough to improve, but he needs a lot of improvement just to become league average. That led to a career-best 13.8% walk rate and a career-low 17.5% strikeout rate. Cabrera just narrowly missed the cut here. With all of the hype around the St. Louis Cardinals and their sizable crop of potential All-Stars, Pete Kozma either goes unnoticed or else is pegged as one of the weakest players on the team. 8. All-Time Greats: Stan Musial, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Derek Jeter, Oscar Charleston, Ken Griffey Jr, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, . The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Heading into the top five, we start to encounter those that encompass the best of the flashy, durable and reliable. * Imminent Big Leaguers article. Fielding percentage, essentially, measures a player's ability to make a proper catch or throw, taking into consideration the number of opportunities a defender has to make a play. Defensive metrics aren't as foolproof as some other numbers, so let's dig deeper into what may have caused these poor ratings. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. First, it is somewhat subjective. His UZR and DRS are both higher than Ramirez's, and his dWAR and DRS are higher than Drew's, while more of his secondary stats are mediocre to average, which is why he's slotted at eight. Right field, because young players dont hit the ball very far in the air, and because 80% of athletes are right handed, fewer hard-hit fly balls will go to the opposite field (right field for a right-handed hitter). Height and Weight for MIFs are really not as important as the key measurables and obviously the technical offensive and defensive ability. I would love to be on a softball team someday. Tulo's UZR, range and fielding percentage could have him vying for runner-up on this list, but unlike Hardy, his durability is a blaring issue. Some players have the mindset of I only play third base! St. Louis' first-round draft pick from 2007 wasn't expected to play much this year as the Cardinals initially had both Rafael Furcal and Ronny Cedeno on their roster, but Furcal's decision to have Tommy John surgery and St. Louis' eventual release of Cedeno provided an opening for Kozma at short. All rights reserved. I'm not sure if he played through an injury or if they used quicksand for infield dirt that year at Miller Park, but in the past five years, the second-lowest range factor for a regular-season second baseman was 4.31 plays per nine innings -- by Weeks in 2011. The top two are both flashier, statistically range from a little bit to overwhelmingly better, and when it comes down to it, healthy. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a record book of baseball milestones for chances by shorstops - including career chances marks at short, single season chances plateaus for shortstops, and game related chances records at shortstop. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. As seen in the accompanying video, Florimon has quick hands and is generally speedy. His dWAR is just a hair below the Escobars' while his UZR bests the two by a greater margin, but it's his fielding percentage and RF that definitively solidify his higher ranking. College, HS Varsity, JV, Frosh, 14U etc. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. But yes, they're essentially the same player. Its both important to be well-rounded AND strong at 1-2 positions, but here are some common mistakes made by softball families. In an interview with Eduardo Encina of the The Baltimore Sun in 2012, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter had this to say about Hardy: Hes making two or three plays every night and it was so impactful. Well start with the basics, answer a lot of questions and get to some more advanced topics on infield defense and recruiting at the end. Grant Green was the only college shortstop selected in the top 100 picks of this years draft. Twelve innings: Irv Ray of Boston on August 15, 1888, John Gochnaur of Cleveland on July 14, 1903, Billy Rogell of Detroit on June 16, 1937, Andre Rogers of San Francisco on July 9, 1960, Ernie Riles of Milwaukee on August 3, 1986 and Khalil Greene of San Diego on August 1, 2004. It is also important to note that the . At the end of May, Kevin Reynolds of the Yahoo! Same goes for pinch hitters, who replace a hitter already in the game to bat for them. near the top. 6. On June 27, 1939, Eddie Miller of Boston played twenty-three innings at shortstop and handled twenty-one chances setting the major league record for most chances by a shortstop in an extra inning game. If you need to improve your speed, be sure to get in the weight room! Pinch Runners enter the game to run the bases in place of another player, but this is not really a position more just a role. 1. . update=copyright.getFullYear(); Many such players end up being solid 3Bs or 2Bs because of lack of speed or range or arm (in the case of switchers to 2B). 970 Numerically, what does it mean to be consistent? Below are some of the skills a pitcher needs: Pitchers need great workouts to stay healthy with as much pitching as they do if you need a great workout, try my online program below, called Early Work. Needs an adequate arm, but it doesnt need to be a cannon, Should be fast and a skilled contact hitter, Typically a spark plug type player who gets on base and makes things happen on the basepaths, Excellent field vision and understanding of where to go and other players movement, Hitting skills are secondary to defensive ability, however at the MLB level there is a growing importance on being threat at the plate its not enough any more to hit .250 as an MLB shortstop, Must be mentally tough and have strong leadership skills, Shortstops are premium athletes and their body types fit this bill, Most are 55 59 at the collegiate level and are fast, explosive, strong and flexible they can run, jump and do it all, There cannot be any defensive tool lacking to play at the highest levels agility, glovework and arm strength must be elite, Again, the body type is typically lean, strong and powerful, VERY strong arm to make long throws across the diamond, Is NOT afraid of the ball because line drives come FAST, Not as much fielding range as the shortstop, Many HS shortstops are recruited as SS, but end up playing 2B or 3B in college, Moves very well and is fast with fast footwork, Should have good speed but doesnt need to be a burner, Typically one of the bigger hitters on the team, Big and strong frame but with good speed and agility, Very similar to shortstops center fielders are one of the best athletes on the team, Must be explosive, lean and strong in a very athletic overall package, Height isnt overly important speed and ability to track down fly balls, In youth softball, the right fielder is one of the lesser players on the team because fewer fly balls are hit that way, Right fielders should have at least modest power and good speed, Is typically a good outfielder but not as fast or skilled as the centerfielder, Collegiate right fielders are athletic and fast with strong throwing arms, Typically taller and have an athletic build. Yet, playing lots of positions with average skill isnt better than playing a few really well. Teammate and fellow infielder Jose Iglesias can make some superstar plays up the middle, but his move to the hot corner is a testament to Drew's reliability. Which is the hardest position? While Florimon's UZR of 5.9 slots him in fifth place among qualifying shortstops, his dWAR of 1.4 and his noteworthy DRS of nine are second-best in the league. He's clearly a gifted athlete and is a treat to watch, so I'd say the future is brighthe just needs to polish up the dull spots. Fielding Percentage (FPCT) = (put outs + assists) (put outs + assists + errors). On a broader scope, however, he's just average. It's a combination of control, cat-like reflexes and pure athleticism. Or write about sports? Pro/Con of going online for senior yr and not playing hs ball. Rules question do runners have to be on base? It's hard to top this list's No. Jedlovec included Ryan's best and worst plays from 2011-12, too. At the college and professional levels, it is about .970 and above. We present them here for purely educational purposes. I checked Baseball-Reference.com for their list of worst individual fielding seasons and thought it would be fun to look at the bottom 10. Coaches look for these key measurables first at these levels. Many thanks to him. Sign up for my email list youll get my free throwing ebook and updates on new videos and articles like this one. Most players want to play the exciting positions like pitcher, shortstop, first base and centerfield. Here are some of the top 2009 picks who were above the 800 BIP threshold in each of the last two college seasons: The +/- column gives plays above or below average for the combination of the last two seasons per 2400 balls in play (approximately 100 games). Between that limitation and small sample sizes, we cant expect too much out of any such college fielding stat. How hard do most fastpitch players need to throw? Of course, theres more to college fielding stats than a talked-up third baseman. It's no surprise that he rated poorly in the outfield -- minus-20 runs -- but he also rated minus-23 runs at first base in just 540 innings. While a handful are big-name stars with well-rounded games, the majority are glove wizards who fly under the radar. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, He always has been. In fastpitch and slowpitch, they are used in the scorebook to tell positions apart. Component metrics are significantly more specific, and so are less telling of a shortstop's overall ability, but they did factor into my decisions somewhat. Fielding Percentage M. Olson 1B ATL Matt Olson 1B ATL 24 : 24 : 195 . When weve got multiple full years of data for a shortstop, it would appear that we have something worth looking at. While Drew is middling in terms of most of his stats, the superb fielding percentage is hard to ignore. It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by the number of innings or games played at a given defense position. Range Factor (commonly abbreviated RF) is a baseball statistic developed by Bill James.It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by the number of innings or games played at a given defense position. What is considered a good fielding percentage often varies based on the position, but a good fielding percentage in high school baseball is about .940 and above. I never change that. *This article may contain product links which pay me a small commission if you make a purchase. Where what happened yesterday is being preserved today. Second baseman have to be very quick and agile defenders and have value on the bases. Alcides Escobar edges out Yunel due to his higher UZR and slightly elevated RF. The throw from right field to third base is very long, hence the need for good arm strength. Simmons was just named the Defensive Player of the Month for June by ESPN. Even if you cut all of Simmons' composite stats in half, you'd still probably have a player who ranks in the top 10. Matt Kemp, CF, 2010 Dodgers (minus-37). If he wasn't on fans' radars before 2012, he is now. Shortstop is, perhaps, the most complex fielding position in baseball, both in terms of execution and defensive statistics. A +5 DRS at third means the player is five runs better than the average third. Sis Bates from the University of Washington, shown below, is an outstanding shortstop and epitomizes what they have to be able to do. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. No, they're not related. Sabermetric types don't like this measurement, for several reasons. The consensus is that the Minnesota Twins have finally found an everyday shortstop. If a team already has an amazing third basemanbeing flexible will help get playing time elsewhere. Be willing to learn and play other positions it may keep you off the bench. Real or Not? Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? For batting rate stats, generally a minimum of 3.1 Plate Appearances/G, 1.0 IP/G, 0.67 Gm and Chances/Team Game (fielding), 0.2 SB att/Team Game (catchers), and 0.1 SB att/Team Game (baserunners only since 1951), and 0.1 decision/G for single-season leaderboards generally needed for rate statistics. While Hardy's RF is just 4.02 (seventeenth), his DPR on 1.0 (third-best) is quite impressive, considering the fact that, throughout the years, it has constantly been up in the air as to who his double playmate will be (this happens when you have the oft-injured Brian Roberts as your projected starting second baseman). Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Below is a standard softball position chart with numbers for each position. Coaches at the top levels will look for middle infielders that display outstanding defensive ability in all of these categories. In that same Abraham article, Boston Red Sox manager John Farell praised Drew for what he's brought to the team: Hes in many ways a very dependable defender. It has much of the information that play-by-play defensive metrics use to measure professional fielding skill, except for the type of batted ball (grounder, line drive, etc.) We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Division 1 Pitch velocity: 84 MPH consistently; up to 95+ MPH Command of at least 3 pitches ERA: below 2.00 At least 1 K per inning pitched Walk less than 1 batter per 2 innings pitched Division 2 Pitch velocity: 82 MPH - 90+ MPH Mookie Betts is playing like an MVP again, Real or Not? Composite advanced metrics: Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), defensive Wins Above Replacement (dWAR) and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), 2. This should be the best athlete on the field, but these shortstops aren't playing at higher levels because of a lack of speed and lateral quickness. Find out more. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, divided by the number of total chances (putouts + assists + errors ). Chances Records for Shortstops by Baseball Almanac. Versions for all ages with a 14-Day Free Trial. The numbers are regressed based on the playing time of each shortstop. However, its not really the case any more that they have the strongest arm on the entire teamthey mightbut the shortstop and third baseman also have tremendously strong arms. I used three general criteria to rank shortstops, each with its own subset(s): 1. Sometimes that doesnt show as flashy where it might catch the average fans eye. Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. 1 on this list. But if a players skillset and body type just doesnt project well at that positionmeaning if a softball player isnt going to be big and strong and hit for power like a typical first basemanthen they need to come to terms with the position just not going to work in the long term. In terms of DRS, he is in a four-way tie for seventh with a value of four. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Why should I tweet when a college checks me out on Go Big? Just how great is Simmons? Thank you for writing this article. On the flip side, Jason Christian apparently didnt impress in his first pro season. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 12:21AM. Puckett's defensive metrics don't match up to his reputation -- he won six Gold Gloves -- as Baseball-Reference grades him out as 14 runs below average for his career. The big surprise to me in this group is Robbie Shields up at the top. Or write about sports? 10. This time needs to be verified by a 3rd party for college coaches to truly believe it. Florimon out of the bunch is seemingly worthless on offense (he has a lifetime .220 average), but he makes up for it by covering ground in the middle infield like no one else can. His latest injury is a broken rib that he suffered in the second week of June, and while he may return soon, staying on the field has never been his strong suit. He's a phenomenal defensive player. Troy Tulowitzki is not your typical shortstop. Please post more of this stuff because now I know that for example 3rd is not a fit at all unlike left field. UZR had Kemp at minus-26 runs that year, the worst total it has ever given a center fielder going back to 2002, so by all accounts Kemp was awful. Its important to understand the positional numbers so that a proper scorebook can be kept and players understand the lineup and dugout card. Adam Dunn, 1B/LF/RF, 2009 Nationals (minus-43). 5. Aside from the pitcher, the strongest arm probably belongs to either the third baseman or right fielder, though it is never a firm rule and varies by team. Baseball-Reference.com (Career Leaders & Records for Range Factor/9Inn as SS), Baseball-Reference.com (Fielding Stats Glossary), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Range_factor&oldid=1133069561, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 January 2023, at 04:16. Thanks for coaching the coaches! The 30-year-old has the most full innings played of all shortstops in the majors with 763. He was a huge dude and while his outfield defense wasn't terrible in his first few years, he soon became huge and slow. Baseball Almanac invites you to examine fielding average records for shortstops. Many of the best amateur glovemen are shortstops, and almost as soon as they appear on scouts radars, the debate begins as to whether they can stick at the position. Let's look at his range factors per nine innings: In raw numbers, Kemp played nine fewer innings in 2010, but made 37 fewer putouts. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Sandwiched around this all-time bad season are two Gold Glove honors in 2009 and 2011. The Designated Hitter is a player who only hits, and hits in place of the pitcher. Even though Bichette hit 34 home runs and knocked in 133 runs, the Rockies traded him after the season.
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what is a good fielding percentage for shortstop