SSS! Best and Worst Defensive players in 2013.

[Goober]

Below is a list of the best and worst players at each position, ranked by their defense (UZR/150). You can't read much into samples this small, but I still think it is interesting to look at. Discuss.

Best defensive 1B:
1. Brandon Belt (19.5)
2. Mike Napoli (16.5)
3. Greg Dobbs (14.4)

Worst defensive 1B:
1. Freddie Freeman (-14.4)
2. Prince Fielder (-14.0)
3. Edwin Encarnacion (-13.1)

Best defensive 2B:
1. Chase Utley (15.5)
2. Daniel Murphy (13.2)
3. Matt Carpenter (11.8)

Worst defensive 2B:
1. Dan Uggla (-12.7)
2. Rickie Weeks (-12.3)
3. Marco Scutaro (-2.9)

Best defensive SS:
1. Stephen Drew (24.2)
2. Andrelton Simmons (19.2)
3. Troy Tulowitzki (17.1)

Worst defensive SS:
1. Asdrubal Cabrera (-16.6)
2. Adeiny Hechavarria (-14.2)
3. Starlin Castro (-12.8)

Best defensive 3B:
1. Manny Machado (28.2)
2. Chase Headley (20.2)
3. Todd Frazier (18.6)

Worst defensive 3B:
1. Alberto Callaspo (-25.3)
2. Ryan Zimmerman (-23.8)
3. Miguel Cabrera (-21.3)

Best defensive RF:
1. Jose Bautista (17.7)
2. Ichiro Suzuki (14.8)
3. Alex Rios (13.6)

Worst defensive RF:
1. Carlos Beltran (-23.2)
2. Nelson Crus (-10.1)
3. Chris Parmelee (-7.6)

Best defensive CF:
1. AJ Pollock (40.9)
2. Carlos Gomez (35.0)
3. Lorenzo Cain (20.7)

Worst defensive CF:
1. Matt Kemp (-39.4)
2. Shin-Soo Choo (-24.3)
3. Jon Jay (-19.1)

Best defensive LF:
1. Andy Dirks (32.3)
2. Starling Marte (26.7)
3. Alfonso Soriano (12.2)

Worst defensive LF:
1. Lucas Duda (-31.9)
2. Domonic Brown (-13.9)
3. Josh Willingham (13.2)

[Primetime]

1. Matt Kemp (-39.4)

[NAHSTE]

Interesting. Can we get the same lists for DRS too?

:maynard:

[EmpireWF]

Best defensive 2B:
1. Chase Utley (15.5)
2. Daniel Murphy (13.2)
3. Matt Carpenter (11.8)

The improvements Murphy has made at 2B has been tremendous. He literally got hurt fielding the position last year, ended his season. He had no real position, but busted his ass to make 2B his.

He's no GG by any stretch, but just the leap he made from shitcan to solid = :puft:

[Slateman]

Yea, Ryan can't seem to get this throwing thing down. I'm thinking they'll trade Laroche at the deadline and move Zim over to first

[SuperKevin]

Yea, Ryan can't seem to get this throwing thing down. I'm thinking they'll trade Laroche at the deadline and move Zim over to first

[Goober]

Interesting. Can we get the same lists for DRS too?

:maynard:

Best defensive 1B:
1. Paul Goldschmidt (9)
2. Greg Dobbs (6)
3. Brandon Belt (5)

Worst defensive 1B:
1. Allen Craig (-8)
2. Chris Davis (-5)
3. Prince Fielder (-4)

Best defensive 2B:
1. Dustin Pedroia (8)
2. Brian Dozier (5)
3. Matt Carpenter (5)

Worst defensive 2B:
1. Dan Uggla (-11)
2. Rickie Weeks (-7)
3. Marco Scutaro (-4)

Best defensive SS:
1. Andrelton Simmons (15)
2. JJ Hardy (7)
3. Stephen Drew (6)

Worst defensive SS:
1. Ruben Tejada (-7)
2. Adeiny Hechavarria (-6)
3. Erick Aybar (-5)

Best defensive 3B:
1. Manny Machado (15)
2. Chase Headley (8)
3. Connor Gillaspie (5)

Worst defensive 3B:
1. Alberto Callaspo (-7)
2. Miguel Cabrera (-5)
3. Michael Young (-5)

Best defensive RF:
1. Norichika Aoki (12)
2. Ichiro Suzuki (5)
3. Jay Bruce (5)

Worst defensive RF:
1. Torii Hunter (-5)
2. Nelson Cruz (-4)
3. Josh Hamilton (-4)

Best defensive CF:
1. Carlos Gomez (15)
2. AJ Pollock (10)
3. Jacoby Ellsbury (7)

Worst defensive CF:
1. Angel Pagan (-9)
2. Mike Trout (-9)
3. Shin-Soo Choo (-8)

Best defensive LF:
1. Starling Marte (9)
2. Carlos Gonzalez (7)
3. Andy Dirks (6)

Worst defensive LF:
1. Lucas Duda (-8)
2. Matt Holliday (-7)
3. Josh Willingham (-6)

Note that player in italics appear in the top or bottom three on both lists.

[MVPete]

The improvements Murphy has made at 2B has been tremendous. He literally got hurt fielding the position last year, ended his season. He had no real position, but busted his ass to make 2B his.

He's no GG by any stretch, but just the leap he made from shitcan to solid = :puft:

Too bad the Mets are fucking terrible and Murphy has to play 1st base.

Edit-Ike Davis is terrible*

[Slateman]

Honestly, I don't see how they have a choice. If they hadn't signed him to that long term deal, then it would be different. But Zimmerman is on pace to set a record number of throwing errors this season.

[Villain]

1. Matt Kemp (-39.4)

If Ethier stays in CF much longer, expect him to overtake Kemp.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I dislike UZR as a rule, but I when you look at these lists, despite the SSS both lists are matching the old eye test at this point.

For example, we all knew Choo would be shaky. Aside from the Cards disaster in April with the two drops, he's actually been better than Reds fans thought he would be, so those numbers could be a to worse moving forward, believe it or not.

Some eye tests confirmations that jump at me. Todd Frazier has shocked me with his defense. Stats back it up.

I ripped Mike Trout for his shit defense earlier this year, and not only do the metrics support that, but ESPN just had an article about it. Something hasn't been right with him this year, in left & center, but especially in left early on.

[FirstTimer]

Castro is a -4 in DRS. Just pitiful.

[CaptainAmerica]

The improvements Murphy has made at 2B has been tremendous. He literally got hurt fielding the position last year, ended his season. He had no real position, but busted his ass to make 2B his.

He's no GG by any stretch, but just the leap he made from shitcan to solid = :puft:

+1. Great defense and an All Star level bat from Murphy this year. Looking forward to watching him at the all star game.

[Guest]

I didn't think the metrics measured Machado that well. He's definitely impressed me in person, and living up to the hype.

[Goober]

Please note that Aramis Ramirez is hands down the worst defensive 3B in 2013 so far (-49.2 UZR/150 (this is worse then Braun's year at 3B)). He did not make the list because he missed over a month due to injury and did not qualify with the minimum number of PA.