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  • Matt Olson Is Making All The Plays

    Matt Olson Is Making All The Plays

    In a typical season, one or two first basemen total 10 Defensive Runs Saved. The stat puts a priority on defensive range and though throw-handling is a component within the stat, it’s not one that results in large swings of positive or negative value.

    But what we’ve seen so far from Braves first baseman Matt Olson is unusual, even for him. He’s already at 11 Runs Saved and we still have nearly three-quarters of the season to go.

    Not only that, he’s lapped the field. No other first baseman has more than 4 Runs Saved.

    Player Runs Saved
    Matt Olson 11
    Spencer Steer 4
    Vinnie Pasquantino 3
    Emmanuel Valdez 3

    So what the heck is going on here?

    Let’s make a list:

    1) It’s early. It’s a small sample. Odd things can happen.

    2) Matt Olson is pretty good

    Let’s look at balls hit to his right as an example. The average first baseman converts 36% of plays on balls hit to his right into outs. Look at two other prominent NL East first basemen. Pete Alonso converts 30%. Bryce Harper is at 33%.

    This is where Olson has separated himself from his positional peers. Through Wednesday there had been 59 balls hit to his right. Olson turned 35 of them into an out. His 35-for-59 is a 59% success rate.

    Per our out probabilities, he was expected to turn 28 into an out. Olson was 7 plays better.

    Here are a couple of examples, starting with this one, in which a safe call was overturned on replay review.

     

    3) It’s still early. Hot streaks happen for hitters, for pitchers, and yes, for fielders.

    4) Matt Olson is still pretty good.

     

    This isn’t a one-year thing.

    Olson has led first basemen in Runs Saved three other times: 2018, 2019, and 2024. He could stop playing right now and there’s a good chance his 2025 total would hold up as the MLB lead. (In fact, the MLB leader has saved 11 runs or fewer as often as not over the past 15 years.) But we know he’s not going to suddenly stop playing, given that he played every game in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

    5) If you’re a Braves fan you’re probably running through what you’ve seen of his play log in your head. Maybe you’re not that impressed?

    Olson has made only 3 plays via slide, dive or jump this year. His one diving play was one in which a subsequent bad throw home was more memorable. On his one jumping catch this season, you don’t even really see him jump. But then again, he’s 6-foot-4. He doesn’t need to jump often.

     

    There are 19 first basemen who have made more sliding, diving, and jumping plays this season. It’s not his thing. It doesn’t need to be his thing. This is more his thing.

     

    His ‘thing’ this year has been volume and a high percentage of plays converted to outs. We’ve credited him with 90 plays made. The only other player with more than 55 is Michael Toglia with 67.

    Additionally, Olson has 52 assists this season. That’s about half as many as he had last season. No one else has more than 33 in 2025. Olson’s more than a quarter of the way to the record for most assists by a first baseman in a season, 185, a mark set by Albert Pujols in 2009.

     

    6) So let’s multiply his Runs Saved by 4. He’s going to finish with more than 40 Runs Saved!

    Um, no. Let’s not do that. There really isn’t such a thing as playing at a 40-Runs Saved pace defensively. The numbers are much less predictable than that such that “on pace for” doesn’t really work.

    The record for most Runs Saved by a first baseman is 31 by Pujols for the Cardinals in 2007. That’s going to be a tough record for anyone to break.

    The next-best total is 21 by Mark Teixeria in 2008. The record at any position is 41 by shortstop Andrelton Simmons in 2017.

    Something to remember about the time when Pujols did that: more balls in play means more opportunities for plays.

    In 2007, Cardinals pitchers struck out 6 per 9 innings (15% of batters). Pujols, who was an ultra-aggressive first baseman in his prime (we’ve written about it), had a lot more chances to make plays than Olson should get, the last 44 games notwithstanding.

    Braves pitchers in 2025 are striking out nearly 9 batters per 9 innings (23% of batters), though they do have the 5th-highest ground ball rate in the majors.

    That’s going to be a tough record to break. But it’s fun to imagine that it’s possible, no?

    Move over Aaron Judge, there’s another historic season to keep an eye on. It’s just one that isn’t as obvious.

  • Stat of the Week: Teams Making Major Defensive Improvements

    Stat of the Week: Teams Making Major Defensive Improvements

    There were a few dozen instances in 2024 of a team’s position group finishing the year with -10 Defensive Runs Saved or worse. For example, Giants center fielders totaled -24 Runs Saved, Padres catchers had -17, and Phillies shortstops tallied -13. There were more than 30 others.
    It’s reasonable to say that the teams in those situations would benefit from specific defensive improvements, like trying out new players at those spots or working with the struggling defenders to find ways to improve.
    Some teams are still having trouble defensively at those positions. Some have improved. And some have improved a lot.
    In fact, as of Thursday, there are three teams that totaled at least -10 Runs Saved at a position in 2024 that have the most Runs Saved at that position in 2025.
    Tigers 3rd base
    -13 Runs Saved in 2024
    7 Runs Saved in 2025 (MLB leader)
     Seven players combined for -13 Runs Saved at the hot corner for the Tigers last season, with Gio Urshela and his -5 being the chief culprit. This year, sans Urshela, four Tigers have combined for a major-league best 7 Runs Saved at third base.
     There’s been a playing time split among the quartet of Jace Jung, Andy Ibáñez, Zach McKinstry and Javier Báez. None of them have started more than 14 games there but each of them has at least 1 Run Saved. Jung, a top prospect whom the Tigers wanted to win the starting spot, was just sent to the minors because he wasn’t hitting.
    Red Sox catcher
    -14 Runs Saved in 2024
    9 Runs Saved in 2025 (MLB leader)
    With Connor Wong missing nearly a month due to injury, Boston turned to Carlos Narváez, who was touted as a strong defensive catcher when he was obtained from the Yankees this past offseason. Narváez has thus far delivered with 6 Runs Saved. Wong has looked better than he did last season. In 2024, he had -14 Runs Saved. In 2025 he has 3.
    Pirates left field
    -13 Runs Saved in 2024
    8 Runs Saved in 2025 (tied for MLB lead)
    The Pirates’ shortcomings this year are pretty much all on their offense. The defense has actually been pretty good in most spots. In left field, Tommy Pham, who had a rough time with the White Sox last season, has 7 Runs Saved, including a home run robbery. It’s been a while since Pham managed a full season of numbers that good. He had 11 Runs Saved as a left fielder in 2017.
    Honorable Mentions
    Twins left field
    -11 Runs Saved in 2024
    7 Runs Saved in 2025 (1 shy of MLB lead)
    The Twins took a good center fielder in Harrison Bader and moved him to left field. That fixed their defensive issues there. Bader has 5 Runs Saved in left field and 3 in center field filling in for Byron Buxton.
    Yankees pitchers
    -9 Runs Saved in 2024 (1 shy of our criteria)
    8 Runs Saved in 2025 (MLB leader)
    Bringing in Max Fried (3 Runs Saved) and Ryan Yarbrough (2) paid dividends. Fried has a strong defensive history. He won a Fielding Bible Award in 2020. Also, props to Carlos Rodon, who allowed 21 stolen bases against 4 caught stealing last season but has yielded only 2 stolen bases with 2 caught stealing in 2025.
  • Guardians Defense Does A Lot Well (Except For Fielding)

    Guardians Defense Does A Lot Well (Except For Fielding)

    Photo: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire

    I like to tell people that Defensive Runs Saved is about more than isolating a batted ball, determining whether you got an out, and assessing how much value that batted ball had.

    When the stat was invented in the mid-2000s, that component (turning batted balls into outs) was the dominant one. But John Dewan and Bill James were careful in adding other considerations both at the time of invention and in the future, such as value for turning double plays, both blocking and framing pitches, and how well an outfielder prevented runners from taking extra bases.

    I bring this up because of the 22-15 Cleveland Guardians, whose defensive performance has been unusual.

    I thought the Guardians would be one of baseball’s best defensive teams. But they haven’t exactly played like one yet. They rank 26th in how often they turn grounders and bunts into outs. They rank 24th in how often they turn balls hit in the air into outs (22nd on balls hit in the air into the outfield).

    They rank 29th in the Range (and Infielder Throwing) component of Runs Saved, which is basically our equivalent of Outs Above Average (converted to a run value)

    And yet, they’re not at the bottom in overall Runs Saved. They’re at the front of the middle of the pack, 11th overall.

    So what the heck is going on here

    The Guardians aren’t necessarily turning batted balls into outs at a high rate, but …

    They’ve converted a few more double play chances into two outs than the average team. They have 2 Double Play Runs Saved. Twenty seven teams have 0, 1, or a negative number That helps a little bit.

    They lead the majors with 13 outfield assists and have done well enough at deterring baserunner advancement to rank tied for 2nd with 4 Outfield Arm Runs Saved. That helps a little more.

    They rank tied for 2nd in our pitch framing metric, Strike Zone Runs Saved, thanks to Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges.

    They also rank tied for 2nd in Stolen Base Runs Saved. Hedges has thrown out 4 of 14 would-be basestealers and picked off two others. Gavin Williams, Logan Allen, and Tanner Bibee have all been good at holding baserunners. The Guardians catchers rank 3rd with 5 Runs Saved and that helps considerably.

    Lastly, their defensive positioning has been good, which is something that gets credited to the Guardians as a team. The way Defensive Runs Saved works, you can even get credit for positioning when your players don’t make the play (idea being: you put them in a better position to make one, so you get rewarded). Between the infield and outfield, Cleveland ranks tied for 5th in positioning.

    Most Runs Saved – Other Than From Range and Infielder Throwing

    Team Runs Saved
    Guardians 23
    Mets 22
    Cubs 17
    Dodgers 16
    Tigers 15

    Add all that up and it pushes a negative defensive performance to one that – as we said – is middle of the pack. The Guardians and Phillies, to use one example, are comparable in the Range component of Runs Saved. The Phillies are 4 runs better than the Guardians. But they diverge considerably because Cleveland does a lot of other things well. The Guardians are 33 Runs Saved better than the Phillies in other aspects of defense.

    The Guardians are better than what they’ve shown, at least based on their history. Third baseman José Ramírez and shortstop Brayan Rocchio have Runs Saved numbers so far that are distant from their track record. If they ever get it going, the Guardians defense should be pretty good and they may just hang with the Tigers and Royals in the AL Central.

  • Familiar Names atop Defensive Runs Saved Leaderboards

    Familiar Names atop Defensive Runs Saved Leaderboards

    5 past Fielding Bible Award Winners Currently Lead Their Position in Defensive Runs Saved.

    If you’re someone who looks at the Defensive Runs Saved player leaderboards this early in the season, you should know that the numbers have not reached any sort of predictive level yet.

    But if you look at the names of the early-season positional leaders, you might notice that the best defensive players of recent vintage are already the best defensive players in 2025, particularly in the infield and outfield.

    There are five past Fielding Bible Award winners currently leading their positions in Defensive Runs Saved. And those that aren’t past winners seem worthy of their top spot early-on in 2025.

    Here are the current positional leaders.

    MLB Defensive Runs Saved Leaders

    Position Name Runs Saved
    1st Base Matt Olson 5
    2nd Base Andrés Giménez 5
    3rd Base Matt Chapman 5
    Shortstop Taylor Walls 7
    Left Field Steven Kwan 7
    Center Field Ceddanne Rafaela 6
    Center Field Pete Crow-Armstrong 6
    Center Field Victor Scott II 6
    Right Field Fernando Tatis Jr. 6
    Catcher Carlos Narváez 6
    Pitcher Sean Burke 4

    Click the name to see an example of some good defense this season.

    Matt Olson is a four-time Fielding Bible Award winner at first base. Winning another would give him five, matching Albert Pujols for most at the position.

    Andrés Giménez has won the last two Fielding Bible Awards. The only second baseman to win three in a row is Kolten Wong (2018-2020).

    Matt Chapman has won three Fielding Bible Awards. Have you seen some of the throws he’s made this year???

    Taylor Walls doesn’t have any hardware, but he has the most Defensive Runs Saved of any shortstop since the start of the 2024 season, though he ranks 24th in innings played in that time.

    Steven Kwan has won two Fielding Bible Awards. He currently leads all outfielders with 6 assists.

    Ceddanne Rafaela, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Victor Scott II are the new kids on the block, so to speak. Crow-Armstrong and Scott each won minor league Gold Gloves. Rafaela twice won the Red Sox minor league defensive player of the year.

    Fernando Tatis Jr. won a Fielding Bible Award two years ago when he was the runaway leader in Runs Saved among right fielders.

    Carlos Narváez earned rave reviews from the Yankees for his defense prior to their trading him to the Red Sox this past offseason (Yes, the Yankees and Red Sox made a trade). We’ll see if he gets the playing time needed to stay atop the leaderboard with Connor Wong back from injury.

    Sean Burke went from unknown to Opening Day White Sox starter pretty quickly. He hasn’t allowed a stolen base in 39 1/3 innings and leads the AL with 11 assists.  

    A reminder that you can find all the defensive leaderboards at FieldingBible.com and past leaders at our archive site.

  • Harrison Bader, Pete Crow-Armstrong Named Defensive Players of the Month

    Harrison Bader, Pete Crow-Armstrong Named Defensive Players of the Month

    Twins outfielder Harrison Bader and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong are the SIS Defensive Players of the Month for March/April.

    In his first month-plus with the Twins, Bader led all players with 7 Defensive Runs Saved and led all outfielders with 9 Good Fielding Plays.

    The Twins signed Bader this past offseason knowing that they could use him in a couple of ways. They could play him in left field, giving themselves a pair of highly-skilled outfielders if Byron Buxton stayed healthy in center field. And they knew that they could slide Bader over to center if Buxton had any issues.

    Thus far, though the team is struggling, Bader’s defense has given it a boost. He has 4 Runs Saved in 22 games in left field and 3 in six games in center field. His specialty has been coming in to make a diving catch, as he earned a Good Fielding Play for doing that 6 times (like this run-saving one).

    He has 5 Runs Saved for his range and 2 Outfield Arm Runs Saved, for plays like this one against the Mets.

    Crow-Armstrong finished April with 6 Runs Saved, the most by any center fielder. He’s tied with Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela with 17 Runs Saved for the most by anyone at the position since the start of last season.

    Crow-Armstrong has made a couple of nifty grabs on deep fly balls (like this one).

    He has 5 Runs Saved from his range and 1 Run Saved via a couple of assists (here’s one that wowed the announcers and was overturned to an out on replay review).

     

    Crow-Armstrong’s strong start on defense has helped the Cubs rank second in Runs Saved, trailing only the Rays. His strong start at the plate, with an OPS 170 points higher than his 2024, has buoyed the team as well.

    Other strong contenders for Defensive Player of the Month were Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez, who leads the position with 6 Runs Saved, shortstop leaders Anthony Volpe, Corey Seager, and Taylor Walls, left field leader Tommy Pham, and Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.

    Sports Info Solutions has been naming Defensive Players of the Month since 2012 (with ESPN from 2012 to 2017 and then on its own since then), using a combination of statistical analysis and the eye test. Defensive Runs Saved has tracked MLB player defensive value since the 2003 season and is considered one of the industry-leading defensive stats.

  • Stat of the Week: The All-Scrapes Team

    Stat of the Week: The All-Scrapes Team

     Photo: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire

     

    Did you happen to see this catch by Blue Jays right fielder George Springer against the Red Sox last week? We did and we weren’t particularly surprised by it.

    From 2022 to 2024, no right fielder dove for a ball more than the 30 times that Springer did. In fact, only one other right fielder had even half as many diving attempts in that span as Springer did, his teammate, Anthony Santander (25).

    In those 30 times that Springer dove, he caught the ball 22 times, a success rate of 73%, pretty good given that the average right fielder was successful at making a catch on 54% of his dives (center field and left field have similar rates of effectiveness).

    If you were listening to our most recent episode of The SIS Baseball Podcast, you heard our guest, Hannah Keyser, and I run through “The All-Scrapes Team.” That’s the list of players who dove the most at each infield and outfield position over those three seasons.

    We’re still largely working in small sample sizes for 2025, so we thought it would be fun to review that All-Scrapes squad with some comments related to each of the leaders and positions.

    First Base – Pete Alonso dove for balls 139 times from 2022 to 2024. The next-closest first baseman was Carlos Santana (81). Alonso was a little better than average at getting outs on his dives (41% of the time, MLB average was 37%).

    The most effective divers by percentage were Ryan Mountcastle and a relative newcomer to the position, Bryce Harper, both with 60% success rates. Harper ranked second to Alonso in dives by a first baseman last season with 39.

    Second Base – Three second basemen dove more than 100 times in the last three seasons – Andrés Giménez (140), Bryson Stott (113), and Nico Hoerner (112). Of those, Giménez is the most successful, recording an out on 25% of his dives (MLB average is 24%).

    Brendan Rodgers had the best track record at getting outs on dives (45%). At the other end is Jeff McNeil, who got an out just five times on 60 diving attempts (8%).

    Shortstop – The leaders in dives are Geraldo Perdomo and C.J. Abrams with 111. The average shortstop is successful on only 21% of his dives, so Perdomo’s 32% looks pretty good.

    Perdomo and Abrams played the position differently from a lot of shortstops. The average shortstop dives every 2.5 times for every time he slides to make a play, but Perdomo and Abrams almost never slid, doing so just 7 and 3 times, respectively.

    Third Base – Alec Bohm (115) and Rafael Devers (96) ranked 1-2 in dives in that time. Before you say, ‘Only bad fielders dive for balls,’ you should know that the next five players in diving attempts are Matt Chapman, Austin Riley, Ryan McMahon, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Alex Bregman.

    Of the 20 third basemen who dove the most, the one who got an out most often was Manny Machado (38%).

    Left field – Jurickson Profar (27) and Ian Happ (26) are the top two here. Happ goes all out for balls in all sorts of ways. His 133 slides, dives, and jumps in that span were miles ahead of the player with the second-most, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 78. Shout-out to Brandon Nimmo, who has split time center field and left field and has recorded an out on 80% of his dives over the last three seasons.

    Center field – Brenton Doyle is another outfielder who goes all-out, so much so that he had more dives in two seasons (34) than any other center fielder had in three. He won a Fielding Bible Award last year for playing with a high effort level. Standouts at getting outs when they played center field and dove included Riley Greene (79%) and Cedric Mullins (78%)

    Right field – As mentioned above, Springer leads the way in dives here and is highly effective when he does dive.

    All Players – Because some players switch positions, we thought it was worth checking the overall leaderboard, and in fact, the top diver was a position switcher – Nico Hoerner of the Cubs has 155 dives for balls over the last three seasons. However, we’re wondering if he might be able to save his body a little bit. He’s been successful at getting an out on only 15% of his diving attempts.

    Here are the leaders by position:

    Most Diving Attempts – 2022 to 2024

    Player Dives
    1B- Pete Alonso 139
    2B- Andrés Giménez 140
    SS- Geraldo Perdomo (tie) 111
    SS- C.J. Abrams (tie) 111
    3B- Alec Bohm 115
    LF- Jurickson Profar 27
    CF- Brenton Doyle 34
    RF- George Springer 30
    Overall- Nico Hoerner 155
  • Stat of the Week: The Last 10 Years of Strike Zone Runs Saved

    Stat of the Week: The Last 10 Years of Strike Zone Runs Saved

     Photo: David John Griffin/Icon Sportswire

    BY ALEX VIGDERMAN

    This year feels somewhat special to us at SIS because it’s the 10 year anniversary of a pretty cool honor, our Strike Zone Runs Saved research winning the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference’s award for the best research paper. The paper was called Who Is Responsible For A Called Strike?

    For those not familiar, Strike Zone Runs Saved (SZRS) is our method of capturing catchers’ skill in gaining extra strikes by framing the pitch as it comes in.

    The core concept is pretty simple. We start with an expectation for how likely the pitch is to have been a strike, and we compare that to what actually happened. That expectation takes into account handedness, the count, the location, and even how much the catcher’s glove had to move off its initial target. We then attach a run value which is basically the value of turning a ball into a strike, which is about a tenth of a run.

    Here are the leaders among catchers who played at least five years in that span, both in total and per season.

    Strike Zone Runs Saved leaders, 2015-24

    Total SZRS
    Tyler Flowers 68
    Yasmani Grandal 66
    Austin Hedges 64
    Christian Vázquez 50
    Roberto Pérez 33

    Strike Zone Runs Saved per season leaders, 2015-24 (min 5 seasons)

    SZRS per season
    Tyler Flowers 11.3
    Yasmani Grandal 6.6
    Buster Posey 5.3
    Austin Hedges 5.3
    Christian Vázquez 5.0

    Tyler Flowers is one of those players who is primarily known because of our ability to measure this skill, and you can see why. We talked with him a couple years ago about it, when Defensive Runs Saved turned 20.

     This range of years covered the back half of Buster Posey’s career, but that half a win (by WAR standards) per year of framing value makes a big impact for a player who didn’t play into his mid-to-late thirties.

    Here are the year-by-year leaders in Strike Zone Runs Saved. Flowers either shared the lead or led outright four straight years.

    Year-By-Year Leaders in Strike Zone Runs Saved

    2015 to 2024

      SZRS
    2015- Tyler Flowers 13
    2016- Flowers & Yasmani Grandal 15
    2017- Tyler Flowers 20
    2018- Flowers, Grandal & Max Stassi 10
    2019- Austin Hedges 18
    2020- Yasmani Grandal 5
    2021- Max Stassi 10
    2022- Jose Trevino 12
    2023- Hedges, Patrick Bailey & Francisco Alvarez 11
    2024- Patrick Bailey 15

    Our Strike Zone Runs Saved data actually dates back further than 10 years. We’ve been tracking it since the 2010 season. An overall leaderboard has Yasmani Grandal (87) at the top, followed by Flowers (85), Jonathan Lucroy (80), Russell Martin (72) and Posey (71).

    Which organizations have developed framing the best?

     It’s hard to know what teams are doing in terms of specific player development practices, but we can try to get at it from different angles.

    For example, over the last decade three teams set themselves apart in how much improvement their acquired players showed year-over-year. Players acquired by the Athletics, Yankees, and Brewers over this decade averaged improving by at least 5 runs saved per 900 innings caught. (We’d give more credit to the A’s and Brewers, though, because they did this across many more players.)

    A team that falls just short of that distinction is the Diamondbacks, who had 18 catcher acquisitions and averaged just under 4 additional runs saved per 900 innings. That’s a big deal because they had some of the worst performance from homegrown catchers (-5 runs saved per 900 innings from 4 players).

    Bringing up a successful player from your system might just be about the player’s talent, and we have a hard time teasing out those elements, but it’s still worth noting that the Guardians clearly outpace the rest of the league in average SZRS from homegrown players (7 runs per 900 innings). The Astros are the only team within a run of them (6.4 per 900 innings) and we should give credit to the Giants, who had similar production (5 runs per 900 inn) with more homegrown catchers (7 compared to 5 for the leaders).

    How much better are today’s framers than catchers a decade ago?

    The strike zone gets adjudicated differently over time, but we can approximate the change in how good catchers are by placing them into each other’s context.

    In other words, we can throw pitch results from the catchers in 2014 (the year before the Strike Zone Runs Saved presentation) in with the 2024 season sample, or vice versa, and compare our evaluation in this blended environment to their original context.

    As an example, Cal Raleigh saved 11 runs with his framing in 2024. If we threw 2014 catchers into the mix, by virtue of that comparison we’d have him estimated at about 14 Runs Saved.

    Correspondingly, Mike Zunino tied for the MLB lead with 16 Strike Zone Runs Saved in 2014. If he had been compared to 2024 players, he would have been more in the 12-13 run range.

    Because every catcher saw different pitches the changes wouldn’t be entirely consistent, but on average the gap is about 4 runs per 900 innings.

    That might not feel like a lot, but it certainly manifests itself at the bottom end of the population. Just based on actual Strike Zone Runs Saved, there were four catchers in 2014 who were worse relative to their context than any 2024 catcher was last year. With this merged group, the bottom 18 catchers are all from 2014.

    Next week, we’ll look at Strike Zone Runs Saved from another angle: how it evaluates the batter, pitcher, and umpire (yep, the stat can do that too). What can we learn about the players who had the most (and least) success over the last 10 years? And we’ll have notes on the umps too.

  • 2025 NL Team Defensive Storylines  

    2025 NL Team Defensive Storylines  

     Photo: Cliff Welch (left) and Larry Radloff (right)/Icon Sportswire 

    Over on our website, we spent two weeks looking at the defensive strengths and weaknesses of all 30 MLB teams heading into 2025. That makes our look at the top defensive storyline for each team heading into the season easier to do. 

    We did the American League last week and now this week, we’ll touch on the National League. Click the links to read the article for each team (some things may be slightly outdated).

    Braves – The Braves are pretty good to very good at the corner infield spots and center field. The questions will be at the corner outfield spots where Jurickson Profar (-19 Runs Saved in left the last two seasons) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (-11 Runs Saved in right field the last three seasons) are going to be challenged.

    Brewers – This should be one of the best defensive teams in the NL. They can put three standout outfielders on the field at any time. Joey Ortiz, a good defender, moves from third base to shortstop to replace Willy Adames, who ranked last in the majors in Runs Saved at the position last season.

    Cardinals – A couple of concerns: Willson Contreras moves to first base, where he’s played 11 MLB games in his career and hasn’t played since 2019. The full-time catcher, Ivan Herrera, threw out 2-of-57 would be basestealers last season.

    Cubs – You could make a case for the Cubs having MLB’s best defense this season. One intriguing thing could be how Kyle Tucker handles the wind playing right field at Wrigley Field. Tucker’s Runs Saved the last few seasons have been boosted by home run robberies at Minute Maid Park. He won’t be able to do that at Wrigley.

    Diamondbacks – The Diamondbacks are good up the middle but weaker at the corners. Josh Naylor replacing Christian Walker at first base represents a 13-run defensive downgrade (Walker had 7 Runs Saved in 2024, Naylor had -6). Third baseman Eugenio Suárez, though never terrible at third base, has not finished a season with positive Runs Saved in the last seven years.

    Dodgers – The biggest question would be how much this team’s defense gets bitten by the aging curve. Their projected starting lineup on FanGraphs features six position players 30 or older and another starter who’s about to be (Tommy Edman). Plus everyone on the bench is over 30 too. We’ll see how the team’s positioning masterminds handle potentially declining skills.

    Giants – How does shortstop Willy Adames handle the pressure of a big contract and recover from a 2024 season in which he ranked last among shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved? That and Jung-Hoo Lee in center field are the two big things to watch.

    Marlins – This is a hard team to get a full read on because they don’t have a projected starting position player with even three years of MLB service time. The Marlins finished 27th in Runs Saved in 2024, so we don’t have much optimism. If you’re looking for one guy to watch, it’s second baseman Otto Lopez who has 9 Runs Saved in 103 career games there.

    Mets – The Mets paid a ton for right fielder Juan Soto’s bat but they also get his glove, which has not rated impressively the last few seasons. Soto’s range with the Yankees left something to be desired (-6 Range Runs Saved in 2024) though his arm made up for some of that.

    Nationals – Washington has a pair of young and exciting corner outfielders in James Wood and Dylan Crews. Wood had trouble in left field during his time in MLB last season (-7 Runs Saved) but Crews fared alright in right field, and on The SIS Baseball Podcast, Washington Post national baseball writer Chelsea Janes said he looked good in spring training too. He looks like he could be a complete major league player.

    Padres – Can Fernando Tatis Jr. bounce back from the stress fracture that cost him considerable time last season? Tatis had 29 Runs Saved in right field in 2023 but dropped to 0 in 2024.

    Phillies – The Phillies have a decent defensive team, with a solid right side of the infield in Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott. How J.T. Realmuto holds up behind the plate as he ages could be a story after a knee injury limited him last year. The team already has two notable weaknesses in the field (Nick Castellanos and Trea Turner) and the defense would be hindered if Realmuto’s performance dips.

    Pirates – Oneil Cruz got his feet wet with 23 games in center field last season. He had -3 Runs Saved, but more notably 9 Misplays & Errors (a high total for a small span of games). Cruz replaces Michael A. Taylor, one of the better defensive center fielders in the game.

    Reds – Jose Trevino was added this offseason to improve the Reds backup catcher spot and now he’s the regular starter with Tyler Stephenson injured. Trevino’s 45 Runs Saved over the last 4 seasons lead all catchers and he’s an excellent pitch framer, so what he doesn’t have in his bat, he should make up for some with his glove.

    Rockies – The Rockies have three Gold Glove/Fielding Bible Award-caliber defenders in shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, third baseman Ryan McMahon, and center fielder Brenton Doyle. But how many games can the Rockies win with defense to make up for their deficiencies elsewhere?

  • Are The Diamondbacks A Good Defensive Team?

    Are The Diamondbacks A Good Defensive Team?

    Photo: Wilfredo Perez/Icon Sportswire

    Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? To see the full series, click here.

    2024 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 17th

    Team Strengths

    Catcher Gabriel Moreno has put together two strong seasons, saving 20 runs and winning a Fielding Bible Award in 2023 and then saving 10 runs in 2024. Moreno improved his strike-getting numbers from 2023 to 2024 but slipped a little in both pitch blocking and stolen bases (though teams don’t run often on him). 

    Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo had his best defensive season by far in 2024, saving 10 runs after back-to-back seasons with -3. He improved covering ground both in the hole and up the middle. The 2024 season was also a good defensive one for Ketel Marte, who cut back on his misplays and totaled 10 Runs Saved at second base, his best total there since saving 14 in 2018

    Team Weaknesses

    The Diamondbacks are good up the middle but weaker at the corners. Josh Naylor replacing Christian Walker at first base represents a 13-run defensive downgrade (Walker had 7 Runs Saved in 2024, Naylor had -6). Third baseman Eugenio Suárez, though never terrible at third base, has not finished a season with positive Runs Saved in the last seven years.

    The Diamondbacks also have an issue in that their best defensive center fielder, Alek Thomas, is the worst-performing hitter of the potential options. As such, they’ll probably start Jake McCarthy there. He has -4 Runs Saved in just over 100 games in center field.

    New staff ace Corbin Burnes had -6 Runs Saved last year after allowing 41 stolen bases. Perhaps he’ll fare better with Moreno catching.

    Other Things To Know

    One thing that hurt the Diamondbacks last season is that when they didn’t play Moreno or Perdomo, there was a big drop-off defensively. Moreno had 10 Runs Saved last season. His backups had -6 (projected backup Jose Herrera had -2). Perdomo had 10 Runs Saved too. His backups had -5 Runs Saved (Garrett Hampson is a better backup option than what they previously had, though Blaze Alexander, -6 Runs Saved last year, figures to play some after he comes back from a strained oblique.)

    Are The Diamondbacks A Good Defensive Team?

    They’re largely running back a 2024 team that ranked 17th and lost a Fielding Bible Award-winning first baseman. In sum, they’re not, though they’re in good shape in a few places.

  • Are The Giants A Good Defensive Team?

    Are The Giants A Good Defensive Team?

    Photo: Larry Placido/Icon Sportswire

    Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? To see the full series, click here.

    2024 Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 21st

    Team Strengths

    Patrick Bailey is the reigning Fielding Bible Award winner and was runner-up for the Award in 2023. He’s an excellent pitch framer and a good catcher when it comes to slowing down an opponent’s running game. In sum, he’s the standard-setter at the position.

    Matt Chapman looked like something close to the best version of himself in winning the Fielding Bible Award at third base last season. His MLB-leading 17 Runs Saved were his most in a season since he had 23 in 2019. He made many terrific plays at third base and covered ground well to both sides. 

    Mike Yastrzemski is a good though not great right fielder, who totaled 5 Runs Saved there last season and can play center field at an above-average level too.

    Team Weaknesses

    Newly-signed shortstop Willy Adames inexplicably finished last among shortstops with -16 Runs Saved last season. Were Adames to revert to 2022 and 2023 form (9 and 8 Runs Saved at shortstop, respectively), we’d list him as a strength. But given his most recent season, we categorize him here.

    Other Things to Know

    Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee is a wild card in this whole thing. Lee came to the states with a rep for being a great defensive outfielder in the KBO but got sidelined for the season with an injury before he could fully demonstrate it. In 37 games, he looked the part with effort, but totaled -2 Runs Saved. Without Lee, the Giants spent most of the summer playing Heliot Ramos in center field, which went badly (-15 Runs Saved). He’s much better suited for left field (4 Runs Saved).

    For that matter, so is Tyler Fitzgerald, who slides from shortstop to second base with Adames’ signing. Fitzgerald didn’t do well at shortstop last season (-6 Runs Saved) particularly when it came to double plays but gets a shot at another position.

    Are The Giants A Good Defensive Team?

    The Giants totaled -24 Runs Saved in center field and -11 at shortstop last season. If Lee and Adames can even get those numbers to 0, then the Giants could stake a claim to being a Top 10 defensive team. If not, then they’re a frustrating defensive team, one that is very, very good in a few spots but not so at some important ones.