[fn]John Dewan, The Fielding Bible, Volume II (Skokie, Ill.: ACTA Sports, 2009), 11-4. DEVERS has 23 errors to Andujars 15 in 200 fewer innings. Chris Gomez, SS, 1997 Padres (minus-33). Teams: Rockford Forest Citys (1871), Philadelphia Athletics (187275), Chicago White Stockings/Colts (187697), Stats: 25,160 chances, 22,572 putouts, 1,612 assists, 976 errors. The official scorer of the game took pity on Jolley, actually only giving him two errors. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. January 25, 2018. Youll recall they were the team that, in spring training, experimented with swapping left and right fielders based on the handedness of the hitter. Sierra did eventually start putting more effort into it, but he never came close to being of Gold Glove caliber. In fact, in the early 1990s, many would argue that the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield of Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke and Bonilla was one of the best in baseball at the time. So all the metrics agreed that he just didn't have much range in this year. Escobar, who signed with the Mets with a reputation as a decent defensive third baseman, finished with a career-worst -11 Defensive Runs Saved at third base in 2022. Top 100 Players All-Time Top 100 Players . The avowed racist (he refused to take the field when Blacks were on the other roster) committed more than 50 or more errors in a single season four times, with a career-high 58 errors in 1884. In my terms, it basically means a whole bunch of guys who couldn't field if their life depended on it. In this day and age, theres no reason not to explore further. However, Howard's defense was anything but power. Good plays and misplays runs saved: runs saved by heads-up-plays. And yet Phillies non-pitchers have a combined wRC+ of just 98, which is two points below average. And even just at FanGraphs, theres also UZR. Hawpe was consistently ranked as one of the poorest outfielders in baseball in his prior eight seasons, according to just about every defensive metric available. His defensive WAR (-17.0) and total zone runs allowed (-67) are among the worst in MLB history. He was good for one error every five games or so, had limited range and his arm waswell, let's just say that accuracy wasn't his strong suit either. When Alfonso Soriano first debuted with the New York Yankees in 1999, he was a second baseman who hit the ball a country mile. Outs above average also had Devers as a . There might not be a good answer to this. Dahlen still holds the record for total chances by a shortstop, and oftentimes led the league in putouts and double plays as well. Here, then, is a list of 40 of the worst defensive players in MLB history. Thanks for setting me straight. Michael Young, SS, 2005 Rangers (minus-32). Teams: Detroit Tigers (197476), Seattle Mariners (197781), Oakland Athletics (198285), Stats: 5,259 chances, 4,562 putouts, 608 assists, 89 errors. First baseman/outfielder Brad Hawpe went down last year in June and required Tommy John surgery. Just like Jason Giambi, the question needs to be asked if Canseco's admitted, consistent steroid use throughout his career contributed to his fielding woes, with the added bulk hurting his range. Dan Meyer's name has been thrown about as being one of the most overrated and worst baseball players of all time. The point is that Devers is not much better than Andujar and therefore the remark about Andujar and the worst DRS is garbage. Thats worth something, too. Hes always been about average. | Glossary", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Defensive_Runs_Saved&oldid=1106620581, Articles needing additional references from June 2022, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 August 2022, at 15:02. For example, if a ball hit to the center fielder is expected to be caught 30 percent of the time, the fielder will lose .3 points if he does not catch it, or will gain .7 points if he does catch it. There's no doubt that third base is a tough position to play, but former MLB player Butch Hobson made it look like the toughest job in all of professional sports. [9] The below figures are sourced from FanGraphs. ", "And Phillies fans never forgave Ozark for failing to make a defensive substitution for Greg Luzinski". One of the more fascinating parts of Michael Lewis' seminal book on baseball, "MoneyBall", is the breakdown of what Terrence Long cost the Oakland Athletics by putting him in center field instead of Johnny Damon and if it was worth the risk of having him out there. Anyone who uses his noggin to aid in a home run definitely deserves a spot on this list. The Cubs moved Soriano to the outfield after he signed an eight-year, $136 million contract, but that did little to curb his defensive struggles. Yes, this era of non-traditional defensive alignment has made things ever more complicated. However, as a third baseman, Bonilla's deficiencies were in plain sight. However, during the opportunities when he did play first base, it became clear why Thomas was a DH. by Retrosheet. Hobson went on to manage the Red Sox from 1992 to 1994. Teams: Philadelphia Phillies (1983-89), New York Mets (1989), Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-92), Kansas City Royals (1992, 1995), Cincinnati Reds (1993), Detroit Tigers (1994-95), Toronto Blue Jays (1996-98), Stats: 7,048 chances, 3,572 putouts, 3,288 assists, 188 errors. But Gleyber, at least, gets to balls for the most part. Kingman wasn't much better at first base, where his slow footwork often left him entangled on the bag in awkward positions and routine grounders were a complete adventure. Only the . Sanchez made 15 errors behind the plate in 2019. Pete Browning had a pretty amazing nickname, "Gladiator," and he was also the inspiration for the Louisville Slugger line of baseball bats. Castellanos' range factor was 2.10 per nine innings compared to the MLB average of 2.56, but of course he played on a staff that racked up a lot of strikeouts. While his fielding improved over the course of his career, you can point directly to his early struggles in the outfield as one of the reasons the Oakland A's traded him after three seasons and an average of approximately -20 total zone runs allowed in that span. They also rank 19th in actual wOBA on contact, with the second-greatest difference between the numbers in the league. Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates (2005-09, 2012), Atlanta Braves (2009-11), Baltimore Orioles (2012-13), Washington Nationals (2014), Stats: 1,820 chances, 1,780 putouts, 23 assists, 17 errors. While Vaughn once uttered "it ain't about the money" during contract negotiations with the Boston Red Sox, for Vaughn, it wasn't about the defense, either. Dunn recently confirmed his retirement and I'll miss a guy who had a unique career in major league history. Look at the defensive wins against replacement. Do you have a sports website? by Handedness, Effectively Wild Episode 1274: Meet the New Manager, Different From the Old Manager, https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=400&type=1&season=2018&month=0&season1=1871&ind=1&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=11,a. Hobson's 1978 season was a legendary blunder. Other accounts suggest that Browning's raging alcoholism also contributed to his faulty fielding as well. Its one of the few advanced defensive metrics that exists. Diamondbacks primed to bury Dodgers, Losing Corey Seager leaves Dodgers' season on the brink. Teams: Oakland Athletics (19972000), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (200103), Milwaukee Brewers (2004), Chicago Cubs (200405), Stats: 1,436 chances, 1,385 putouts, 311 assists, 20 errors. But we don't. With 13 All-Star selections, 555 home runs and a .312 lifetime batting average, it's easy to see why outfielder Manny Ramirez clearly has numbers that should qualify him for Hall of Fame status. The division was already more or less decided, but an unlikely Phillies sweep couldve at least brought it down to the wire. Go back to PFT. He was just 37 years old. The A's managed to figure Long into the equation by moving him to left field, and it ended up being more about the naked eye than sabermetrics. By just about every measurement available, either through STATS Inc., Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs or Baseball Reference, there is no documentation anywhere that supports the fact that first baseman Mo Vaughn was anything close to a good fielder. What's worse about Hill's defensive stats is he was shoved into the designated hitter role whenever teams had an opportunity to use him there to limit his defensive chances. The ability to handle a pitching staff, call a game, throw out baserunners and be a good receiver certainly can never be underscored. Which isn't totally fair because he was a decent hitter most of the time and had a .253 batting average. Outfielder Smead Jolley was easily one of the great minor league players of all time, hitting 336 home runs with a lifetime .367 batting average during his 16-year career at the lower level. It speaks more to the talented teammates he had around him that his total zone runs allowed isn't higher, but his -16.7 defensive wins above replacement seem to tell the real story. His defensive WAR and total zone runs allowed are bad, but not as bad as they probably should be. The Phillies will need to evaluate whether they already have the right personnel. At the time, the Phillies told themselves Santana was too good of a deal to pass up. Just for fun, lets run through the Phillies various positional ranks. Picciolo, who was the Angels' bench coach for four seasons, died in 2018 at 64 years old. McLouth was pretty much below average playing in the outfield his entire career. Wil Myers won American League Rookie of the Year in 2013 with the Tampa Bay Rays, then was traded to the San Diego Padres after the 2014 season. Next years going to come with greater expectations. In his 11-year career, seven with the Cincinnati Reds, Taubensee was literally brutal behind the plate. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. Through the end of the 2021 MLB season, the highest cumulative DRS for a career is 200, by third baseman Adrin Beltr, while the lowest DRS for a career is -165 by shortstop Derek Jeter. Rickie Weeks, 2B, 2012 Brewers (minus-30). With a defense so bad, you need to be able to hit. Martin had a horrendous -52 total zone runs allowed for his career, with a -39 mark in left field, where he started almost 843 games. I didnt say Andujar was better, I was just establishing 1) they are comparable yet seymour singled out Andujar, 2) thats intellectually dishonest. 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. When Gary Sheffield first came up with the Milwaukee Brewers, he was primarily a shortstop. The headline mentions DRS. Hobson committed a whopping 43 errors at the hot corner in 1978, finishing the season with an .899 fielding percentage, one of the lowest at any position for a full-time player in the modern era. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. The above numbers represented Samuel's career primarily at second base, although he played six different positions during his career. Maybe thats worth talking about another day. Well, he hadn't played the position much before that and isn't exactly quick to begin with, so it's easy to assume he combined a lack of range with a lack of experience. In all fairness, Adam Dunn could've made this list at several different positions, we just picked left field because that's where he had the most starts. In any worthwhile article about defense, be it about individuals or teams, one has to mention the caveats. "Range factor" isn't a terribly advanced metric it's basically "plays made per game (or per 9 innings)", not difficult to understand but subject to some systematic errors. Teams: Chicago White Sox (1990-2005), Oakland Athletics (2006, 2008), Toronto Blue Jays (2007-08), Stats: 8,487 chances, 7,910 putouts, 497 assists, 80 errors. Jeff made Lookout Landing a thing, but he does not still write there about the Mariners. Truly one of the more despicable people to ever play the game, Kingman could do one thing well hit for power. Chuck Knoblauch had a pretty amazing career on paper. Simply put, Knoblauch could no longer throw successfully to first base. Knoblauch makes the list for throwing problems that dogged his career starting in 1998, where he inexplicably came down with one of the more famous cases of the "yips" or "Steve Sax Syndrome" in baseball history. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of his defensive prowess. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Meanwhile I NEVER hear ANY ringing endorsements for DRS or UZR. My word, honesty is in short frickin supply around here. Mike Piazza isn't the only Hall of Famer on this list, and his defensive liabilities only make us wonder how he would've stood up among the all-time greatest players (not just catchers) had he been able to throw out more than 23 percent of baserunners. Teams: Milwaukee Brewers (1988-91), San Diego Padres (1992-93), Florida Marlins (1993-98), Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2001), Atlanta Braves (2002-03), New York Yankees (2004-06), Detroit Tigers (2007-08), New York Mets (2009), Stats: 4,686 chances, 3,275 putouts, 1,240 assists, 171 errors. cafe under the spire newcastle; worst defensive runs saved all time. As you can see, the Royals are, quite literally, at the bottom of this list. Known as much for his flamboyant style on the mound and his singing (he was into merengue), Lima also was an awful fielder. He made his lone All-Star appearance in 2016 and parlayed that into a six-year, $83 million extension in 2017. Vaughn's range was so bad that the Anaheim Angels often had Vaughn playing behind the baserunner, so that he could get to a ball quicker. The A's tried to make Picciolo the man at shortstop for his first two seasons, and he coughed up balls at an alarming rate, with 21 errors in 1977, his first season, and 17 errors in 1979, his second season, as a full-time shortstop. Bonilla could've been on this list as a third baseman, but that almost seemed too easy. Its something for them to figure out moving forward, assuming they dont figure Hoskins range will improve. Sorry, the RF variance is not enough to claim 1) Devers is better (certainly not offensively) and 2) Andujar has the worst DRS Evah, as you suggest. Probably not. "Please, God, don't hit it to me," said Guerrero, who also played some outfield in his career in addition to first and third. MLB - 2022. Johnnie LeMaster seemed to sum up Giants fans' feelings toward him and his fielding when he took the field at Candlestick Park during a July game in 1979 with "BOO" on the back of his jersey instead of his name. Kiermaier set the record for most defensive runs saved (DRS) in a season -- which BIS has calculated going back to 2003 -- when he saved the Rays 42 . No-hitter the latest feat in James Paxton's rise, Deal ends Matt Harvey's roller-coaster ride with Mets, Sizing up potential trade fits for Manny Machado, Real or Not? Yet theres a chance that doesnt happen, and, even if it does, there are defensive improvements worth thinking about. This one makes a lot of sense: An old outfielder trying to play in Coors Field. Statistic Description: Defensive Wins Above Replacement for position players A defensive measure of wins above replacement, but given only the defensive stats of the player and his position adjustment. LeMaster never got out of the "twos" with his main-line hitting statistics, with a slash line of .222/.277/.289 in his career. His fielding got worse as his career progressed, and his caught stealing percentage was usually about 10 points below the league average. But here's the thing you need to remember: .312 lifetime batting average, 555 home runs, 2,574 hits and 1,831 RBI. Pedro Guerrero might be one of the most underrated hitters of all time a five-time All-Star and World Series Most Valuable Player with a .300 career batting average. 5. . http://www.claydavenport.com/ht/TORRES19961213A.shtml. Let's first give Buddy Groom credit for being really, really determined. But they happened. Rank Team P C 1B 2B 3B SS LF . Torres at SS and Andujar at 3B is the worst left side of an infield (defensively) since Yuniesky Betancourt and Wilson Betemit for the 2010 Royals. Still, that's nearly one fewer play every two games. Since outfields are historically set up with center field as the best defensive player of the three positions, there aren't a lot of "bad" center fielders to pick from. The tradeoff? What's impressive is that he's actually gotten better on defense over his career, and his real struggles in the field were mostly over his first six seasons. And yet, Phillies pitchers have ranked 26th in baseball in actual wOBA allowed, while Braves pitchers have ranked third. michael klaper fasting; rising sign calculator Menu Toggle. To what extent can we confirm some impressions regarding the Phillies defense? But over the years, despite Jeter's success he had widely been deemed as one of the sport's most overrated players ever. Jeter is the worst defensive player of all time by advanced defensive metrics, with a career Defensive Runs Saved total of -155. Now imagine if Stairs would've been able to field? "You are going to see Mark start out at third base in the spring. During the eight-year career of utility-man Curt Blefary, he was given the nickname "Clank" by former teammate Frank Robinson, who claimed that the nickname represented the imaginary sound that the ball made when it banged against Blefarys glove. Errors just are not a complete measure. Manager Buck Showalter told Britt Ghiroli of MLB.com that they had every intention of sticking with Reynolds at third. And JDMs 124 RBI will mean absolutely nothing in an MVP conversation. But for now, just focus on the Phillies. Adrin Beltr recorded the most defensive runs saved in Major League Baseball during the 2003-2021 seasons. Follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic. Let's get "Bobby Bonilla Day" out of the way at the jump. Grieve's -76 total zone runs allowed for his career is truly horrendous. FIELDING BIBLE EXCERPTS Jeter vs. Everett (by Bill James) Molina is to Pudge as . By just about every defensive metric available, Escobar is a much better defensive option. And his career fielding percentage of .964 is atrocious. The Phillies havent done enough hitting, and so theyll go into the offseason looking to make a major splash. In left field, he made 1.80 plays per game while teammate Josh Willingham -- hardly known as a plus fielder himself -- made 2.17. Call it noise if you want. It may be a bit unfair to include long-time shortstop Bill Dahlen on this list. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Third baseman Bill Madlock was certainly a great hitter during his 15-year career, capturing four National League batting titles and ending with a .305 career average. Nimble is one thing; actually being able to field is another matter entirely. All rights reserved. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. Dave Kingman was bad at three different positions, posting double-digit error seasons at third base, first base and left field, and he was average at the other position he played, right field. 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. You know what the Rangers thought of that Gold Glove? I thought it would be about Gleyber Torres. He was pretty decent with his bat for most of his career, but his Total Zone Runs allowed of -65 is horrendous as well. He was an All-American forward at Ohio State selected by the Philadelphia Warriors in the fifth round of the 1958 NBA draft. Worst Defenses, 2003 - 2018 There are three teams in there from this season alone. It would be years before Sax finally figured out his mechanical issues, but the damage had already been done. Still, even then the tools are there. Lets not forget hes 21 years old. But while he looks bad Devers is definitely the better fielder, and it isnt even close. He was just really bad whenever he got a chance to be an everyday player. If you've ever had the pleasure of watching Edwin Encarnacion play, you know the three-time All-Star will make you hold your breath when he's in the field. These are the worst glovemen of all time at every position. Right now he has hands of stone and sometimes looks like he either doesnt know what hes doing or isnt trying. No, the formulas havent remained consistent and identical over the past decade and a half. 7. Offerman's defense was so bad the Dodgers traded him to the Royals after his first All-Star season, in 1995. In one sense, the offseason might be easy. Make a guess now (Note: Baseball-Reference uses fielding runs below average, which can be drawn from two different sources depending on the year. Theres broad consensus that errors are not a reasonable method of measuring a players complete defensive contribution and DRS and UZR (for any of their failings) are superior methods of measuring overall defensive contribution, particularly when reviewed together. DRS, as a metric, exists going back 16 years, to 2003. Spahn's defensive struggles seemed to be mostly early in his career, with a few blips as it went on. Thus, players of earlier eras who were noted for the defensive skillssuch as third baseman Brooks Robinson and shortstop Ozzie Smithwere not evaluated in this manner. The Phillies gambled on a suboptimal alignment. 3. Gary Sheffield very well could be the most underrated hitter of all time. story about something funny we saw him do as he stumbled and bumbled his way through major league outfields. Sheffield couldn't seem to get right wherever teams put him in the field. As part of the trade package in December 2010 that sent Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers, Betancourt was also included in the deal, with the two teams essentially swapping shortstops, the Royals receiving Alcides Escobar. worst defensive runs saved all timedr wellness products reviews. So let me see: Wins will not factor into a Cy for Snell, assuming he gets it. 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.