Sports Info Solutions

Log In

Category: MLB

  • May’s Defensive Players of the Month: Ezequiel Tovar and Jo Adell

    May’s Defensive Players of the Month: Ezequiel Tovar and Jo Adell

    It’s been rough sledding all season for the Rockies and Angels, two teams at the bottom of their respective divisions through two months with little hope of catching the contenders.

    But we recognize defensive excellence wherever it comes, and even on these struggling teams there are examples to be found at different spots on the field.

    Our Defensive Players of the Month for May are Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and Angels right fielder Jo Adell.

    Tovar was terrific in the field in 2023 and has again been great in 2024. His 7 Defensive Runs Saved ranked 1st among shortstops this month. His 18 Runs Saved since the start of last season rank tied for the most among shortstops with Anthony Volpe and his 6 this season are tied for the most at shortstop with Brayan Rocchio and Masyn Winn.

    Tovar is particularly adept at turning the double play. He’s converted 40 double plays in 50 opportunities. The 80% success rate ranks 3rd in MLB and is 18 percentage points above MLB average for the position.

    Tovar has made quick slide-and-turn plays like this one against Marcus Semien regularly throughout his brief career. He’s also shown he can go back on popups (watch) and snag line drives (here). Tovar handled almost everything flawlessly. He had only 1 Defensive Misplay and no errors the entire month.

    “From last May to now, I can’t imagine any shortstop that’s played better than Ezequiel,” said Rockies manager Bud Black. “He’s steady. He’s dependable. He makes every play. And he does it his way. He’s got great instincts.”

    Added Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland: “He’s an incredible infielder. We love having him there as our leader on the infield. The sky’s the limit for a guy like that.”

    Most Defensive Runs Saved By Shortstop – 2024 Season

    Player Team Runs Saved
    Ezequiel Tovar Rockies 6
    Brayan Rocchio Guardians 6
    Masyn Winn Cardinals 6
    Gunnar Henderson Orioles 5
    Bobby Witt Jr. Royals 5
    Orlando Arcia Braves 5

    Adell led all players with 9 Runs Saved for May, a number boosted by a home run robbery (watch it). But that wasn’t his only great defensive play during the month. He had a fantastic catch against the Astros (here) and also made a great throw to preserve a tie in extra innings (here). His 5 Good Fielding Plays for the month ranked 2nd among right fielders to Starling Marte’s 8.

    Adell is still trying to figure things out as a hitter (he had a big slump at the end of May) but he looked the part of a star defender in May. He leads all right fielders with 7 Runs Saved this season.

    “It’s his work ethic,” said Angels third base coach Eric Young Sr., who works with first base coach Bo Porter on helping the team’s outfielders. “This guy came into camp on a mission to be the best all-around player he could be. He worked on his defense vigorously. That was his main focus when he came to the park. A total commitment to make it happen.”

    Most Defensive Runs Saved By Right Fielder- 2024 Season

    Player Team Runs Saved
    Jo Adell Angels 7
    Wilyer Abreu Red Sox 6
    Kyle Tucker Astros 6
    Max Kepler Twins 5
    Mike Yastrzemski Giants 5
    Andy Pages Dodgers 5
  • Stat of the Week: 2024 MLB Defensive Runs Saved Leaders

    Stat of the Week: 2024 MLB Defensive Runs Saved Leaders

    Photo: Rick Ulreich/Icon Sportswire 

    BY MARK SIMON

    We’re two months into the season and we’re just getting to the point where defensive stats tell us a little bit about what’s been going on so far.

    Injuries to some prominent players have opened up some space atop the Defensive Runs Saved leaderboard, though if you take a look, you’ll notice several familiar faces at the top of their positions.

    Here are the Defensive Runs Saved Leaders at each of the infield and outfield spots, as well as catcher.* If you want to follow along, head over to the Fielding Bible leaderboard page here. You can also click the hyperlinked names to see a top play that player has made.

    * 25 pitchers have either 2 or 3 Runs Saved, some in very small samples, so we’ll save that position for a future leaderboard look. And we’ll give some of the multi-position leaders standalone coverage in the next few weeks.

    First Base

    Christian Walker of the Diamondbacks is going for his third consecutive Fielding Bible Award and he’s currently the position leader in Runs Saved with 6, ahead of Joey Gallo (5 Runs Saved), Bryce Harper (4), and Wilmer Flores (4).

    The last two winners before Walker, Matt Olson and Paul Goldschmidt, have some ground to make up. They each have 2 Runs Saved.

    Second Base

    Four different players have won the Fielding Bible Award at second base the last four years. Marcus Semien of the Rangers has come close but has never won one. He’s currently the position leader with 10 Runs Saved, edging out Ketel Marte (8).

    Andrés Giménez, who was last year’s Fielding Bible Award winner on the strength of a strong close to the season, is well behind with 2 Runs Saved.

    Third Base

    Matt Chapman of the Giants has very much looked the part of a two-time Fielding Bible Award winner the last few weeks. He’s made some terrific plays at the hot corner. With 7 Runs Saved, he’s 3 runs ahead of Max Muncy and Oswaldo Cabrera. Last year’s Defensive Player of the Year, Ke’Bryan Hayes, has missed time due to injury and currently has 3 Runs Saved.

    Missing from the list of contenders is five-time Fielding Bible Award winner Nolan Arenado, whose -6 Runs Saved are the worst at the position (and worth examining at another time).

    Shortstop

    Shortstop is very much a young man’s game and it’s 22-year-old Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn leading the way with 6 Runs Saved. This is likely going to be a crowded top of the leaderboard at season’s end. It is right now with Brayan Rocchio, Ezequiel Tovar, Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, and Mookie Betts all with 5 Runs Saved.

    Last year’s Fielding Bible Award winner, Dansby Swanson, is off to a slow start with the bat and glove. He has -1 Run Saved.

    Left Field

    Alex Verdugo of the Yankees moved back to left field after spending 2023 exclusively in right field for the Red Sox, where he ranked second in Runs Saved. The move is working. Verdugo’s 9 Runs Saved lead all left fielders. Daulton Varsho’s 7 Runs Saved rank second.

    Varsho was our April Co-Defensive Player of the Month and is the overall MLB leader in Runs Saved with 12 (7 in left field, 5 in center field). He co-led all players in Runs Saved last season along with Fernando Tatis Jr.

    Steven Kwan, who has won the last two Fielding Bible Awards in left field, has missed time due to injury and currently sits at 4 Runs Saved.

    Center Field

    It’s tight at the top, with three players leading the way with 6 Runs Saved: Michael A. Taylor (Pirates), Jarren Duran (Red Sox), and Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs). Interestingly, none of them ranks higher than 18th in innings played there this season. Duran has played left field in 7 of the last 8 games. Crow-Armstrong just got called back up from the minors. Taylor is barely hitting .200.

    Last year’s Fielding Bible Award winner, Kevin Kiermaier, is in position to pounce. He currently has 3 Runs Saved after missing time due to injury earlier this season.

    Right Field

    A couple of surprising names lead the way here. Jo Adell of the Angels and Red Sox rookie Wilyer Abreu pace the field with 7 Runs Saved. Kyle Tucker and another rookie, Andy Pages of the Dodgers (who has played more center field than right field), are each just behind with 5 Runs Saved.

    Last year’s runaway Fielding Bible Award winner, Fernando Tatis Jr., similar to Arenado, is off to a rough start this season. He’s racked up a considerable number of Defensive Misplays and Errors and stands at -4 Runs Saved.

    Catcher

    Cal Raleigh of the Mariners has been a top catcher the last three seasons when it comes to both pitch framing and limiting basestealing. This year, that’s placed him atop the Runs Saved leaderboard with 8. Jose Trevino, who won a Fielding Bible Award in 2022, and Patrick Bailey are just behind with 7 Runs Saved.

    Last year’s Fielding Bible Award winner, Gabriel Moreno, has not been able to match last year’s performance yet. He has 1 Run Saved.

    2024 Defensive Runs Saved Leaders

    Position Name Runs Saved
    1B Christian Walker 6
    2B Marcus Semien 10
    3B Matt Chapman 7
    SS Masyn Winn 6
    LF Alex Verdugo 9
    CF (tie) Michael A. Taylor 6
    CF (tie) Jarren Duran 6
    CF (tie) Pete Crow-Armstrong 6
    RF (tie) Jo Adell 7
    RF (tie) Wilyer Abreu 7
    C Cal Raleigh 8
  • What’s Making The Guardians So Good on Defense? Finding Extra Outs

    What’s Making The Guardians So Good on Defense? Finding Extra Outs

    Photos: Frank Jansky and Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire

    The Cleveland Guardians are 37-18 and leading the AL Central. It’s fair to say that we didn’t see this coming, particularly after Shane Bieber suffered a season-ending injury earlier this season.

    You can certainly point to the Guardians leading the AL in runs scored as the most important reason for their success this season. They also have a bullpen that has pitched very well and the starting rotation has survived Bieber’s absence.

    But I want to point out a couple of defensive improvements that have resulted in the Guardians having more Runs Saved in 2024 (23, which ranks 6th) than they had in 2023 (21, which ranked 13th)

    Catcher

    Without looking, you’re probably thinking this is an Austin Hedges thing. Hedges is arguably the best pitch framer in MLB (Jose Trevino, Patrick Bailey, and a few others have good cases too). He returned to the Guardians this past offseason after winning a World Series ring with the Rangers in 2023.

    It’s not a Hedges thing though. It’s a Bo Naylor thing.

    Naylor wasn’t a good or bad pitch framer last season. He was an average one. But in 2024, he’s been pretty good. He’s among the MLB leaders in our pitch-framing stat, Strike Zone Runs Saved. As a result he’s flipped his overall Runs Saved total from -3 to 3.

    With help from Baseball Savant, we can tell you that where Naylor is earning his value is in two spots:

    – On pitches at or a smidge below the bottom of the strike zone right in the middle of the plate.

     

    – On pitches to his arm side (rather than glove side) running the height of the strike zone vertically

    Bo Naylor Called Strike Percentage – MLB’s Shadow Zone

    2023 2024
    Low, mid-height 44% 55%
    Arm side, within height of zone 66% 75%

    The practical impact of Naylor of this can be seen in games like Tuesday’s win over the Rockies when Naylor and his pitchers got 13 strikeouts, including 5 looking.

    Shortstop

    For about two-thirds of last season the Guardians had to deal with the well below-average defense of shortstop Amed Rosario (-16 Runs Saved).

    Rosario was eventually traded to the Dodgers and is now primarily playing right field for the Rays. And the Guardians have replaced him with rookie Bryan Rocchio.

    Rocchio, who has 4 Runs Saved this season, is a considerable upgrade over Rosario. He’s far better than Rosario at getting to balls and turning them into outs and far better at turning double plays with fellow Venezuelan Andrés Giménez.

    Statistically speaking, Rosario couldn’t crack 60% of double play opportunities converted in any of his 3 seasons in Cleveland. Rocchio is currently at 77% and is nearly perfect at getting them when he’s the one fielding the initial batted ball.

    The Guardians turned the 5th-fewest double plays last season. In 2024, they’ve turned the 9th-most.

     

    Extra outs keep ERAs low and help teams win games. The Guardians have a starting catcher and starting shortstop who are getting them through pitch framing and through double play turning. Combined, Naylor and Rocchio aren’t even hitting .200 and they’re not even slugging .300. But they’re still on the field and contributing in a big way.

  • Stat of the Week: Bryce Harper Takes A Dive

    Stat of the Week: Bryce Harper Takes A Dive

    Photo: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire 

    When Bryce Harper’s not serving as a wingman for potential prom dates, he’s playing MVP-caliber baseball for a Phillies team with MLB’s best record.

    What’s different about this season is that Harper entered it as the Phillies full-time first baseman, a role necessitated both by the Phillies’ roster composition and Harper’s past Tommy John surgery.

    Harper gave the position a whirl for 36 games at the end of last season and then into the postseason. However, he’s playing it this year with a different level of aggressiveness.

    Harper foreshadowed what was to come on Opening Day when he made this play against his Braves counterpart, 3-time Fielding Bible Award winner Matt Olson.

    That was the first of an MLB-leading 13 diving plays he has made at first base this season. No other player has reached double figures in successful diving plays yet.

    We thought about titling this article “Bryce Harper is The Dirtiest First Baseman in Baseball” after watching how covered in grass and dirt his uniform was from his work in the field and on the bases from this game on a rainy night in early April.

    Bryce Harper in a uniform covered with dirt and grass stains

    Harper currently ranks tied for 3rd among first basemen with 4 Defensive Runs Saved, so the approach seems to be working. His 19 diving attempts match the most of anyone at first base (Pete Alonso also has 19). Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner leads all players with 25 diving attempts.

    Harper’s 68% success rate on his dives is high relative to that of his positional counterparts. The average first baseman converts 40% of his diving attempts into outs. Last season, Harper made 3 diving plays at first base in 8 diving attempts.

    Harper did miss one notable ball on a diving attempt, a double against Zack Wheeler that broke up a no-hit bid of 7 1/3 innings against the White Sox on April 20. But he’s made some nifty plays too.

    Other than his final year with the Nationals when he had only 1 diving attempt, Harper was a willing diver, though not the most prolific one, in his time as an outfielder.

    Harper’s most diving attempts in any previous season was 12 in 2019, his first season with the Phillies (5 fewer diving attempts than the MLB leaders). His most diving plays made in a season was 9, also in 2019. He’s already gone well past both numbers in 2024 and seems to be adjusting to his new role well. We say that regarding both first base and as a prom date wingman.

    Most Diving Plays Made – 2024 Season

    Player Team Diving Plays Made
    Bryce Harper Phillies 13
    Jazz Chisholm Jr. Marlins 8
    Jake Cronenworth Padres 8
    Alec Bohm Phillies 7
    Masyn Winn Cardinals 7
    Brendan Rodgers Rockies 7
    Enmanuel Valdez Red Sox 7
  • Reese Olson The Latest In Run Of Pitchers Hit By Batted Balls

    Reese Olson The Latest In Run Of Pitchers Hit By Batted Balls

    Tigers starter Reese Olson became the latest pitcher to leave a game after getting hit by a batted ball. Michael Massey’s 102 MPH line drive hit Olson in the right hip. Olson was diagnosed with a hip contusion, but it certainly could have been worse.

    That marked the 6th instance in which a pitcher left the game as a result of being hit by a batted ball this season. Hunter Harvey (Nationals), Wade Miley (Brewers), Frankie Montas (Reds), Alec Marsh (Royals), and Taijuan Walker (Phillies) are the other occurrences.

    We wrote about this almost exactly a year ago and the dangers pitchers faced then are still those that the pitchers face now.

    Sports Info Solutions tracks injury events in all the sports it covers. We document everything, even foul balls off a catcher’s mask or off a batter’s foot. Every injury event receives a grade ranging from 1 (least severe) to 5 (most severe).

    Injury events graded ‘4’ and ‘5’ are generally significant. A 4 grade is for an injury with a trainer’s visit, where the player is shaken up and needs time to recover and move around on his own power (and often leaves the game). A 5 grade is an injury that requires an immediate visit, in which the player may be immobile and/or bleeding. Severities are based on what happens immediately following the injury, not knowing what the diagnosis or prognosis is.

    The 6 pitchers listed make up those whose injuries received a ‘4’ grade. There haven’t been any ‘5’ grade injuries for pitchers yet this season. Last season, there were 16 injuries that received a ‘4’ and 2 more that were graded a ‘5’ (Ryan Yarbrough of the Royals and Anthony Misiewicz of the Yankees were each hit in the head by line drives). 

    The 18 injuries with a ‘4’ or ‘5’ grade was more than the total for 2021 and 2022 combined (16). It was also one shy of the most since 2015 (19 in 2018).

    Entering Monday, there were 53 total instances of a pitcher being hit by a batted ball and receiving some type of injury grade. Using ‘on pace for’ is tricky for something like this but it certainly would not be surprising if the sport matched its totals for pitchers receiving an injury grade after being hit by batted balls the last 2 seasons (172 and 176, respectively).

    Pitchers Hit By Batted Balls

    Season Received An Injury Grade Grade 4 or 5
    2015 216 11
    2016 175 8
    2017 154 10
    2018 191 19
    2019 135 11
    2020* 50 5
    2021 158 6
    2022 172 10
    2023 176 18
    2024** 53 6

    * Shortened season

    ** Through games of May 19, except for last column, which includes Reese Olson’s injury on May 20

    *** Alert readers may notice very slight differences in numbers when comparing this year’s article to last year’s. This was due to a technical issue that was fixed after last year’s article was published.

     

     

  • Stat of the Week: Mariners Top The AL West, Are Tops In Positioning

    Stat of the Week: Mariners Top The AL West, Are Tops In Positioning

    Photo: Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire

    The Mariners infield is turning grounders and bunts into outs at a 77% rate, which ranks 3rd-best overall. The outfield is turning balls hit in the air into outs at a 63% rate, which ranks 5th in MLB.

    When we consider the skill of their defensive players, the Mariners do alright in Defensive Runs Saved. But when you factor in how they position their players, it takes their defensive performance to a different level.

    They have average skill. They rank 16th with just their fielder totals for Runs Saved. But when you factor in defensive positioning, they rank 7th.

    That’s why it’s important to know that the Mariners rank 1st when we combine their Infield and Outfield Positioning Runs Saved into one stat, Defensive Positioning Runs Saved (you can find these stats here). Their defensive positioning across all positions has been vital to their first-place standing in the AL West.

    In Defensive Positioning Runs Saved, if the out probability increases when positioning is known, the team receives a credit based on how much it increased. If the out probability decreases when positioning is factored in, the team earns a debit based on how much it decreased. The credits and debits are subsequently converted to run values.

    There are plenty of examples of defensive positioning helping the Mariners this season. There’s this one, a play on which positioning increased the out probability of this inning-ending double play ball for J.P. Crawford from 12% to 56%. This one is a different type of double play for Jorge Polanco, with positioning increasing his out probability from 34% to 78%. And here’s one for Ty France where defensive positioning took the out probability from 62% to 100% because he was stationed so well for this rocketed line drive.

    Julio Rodríguez has been a beneficiary of good positioning in the outfield several times. Here’s one on which the out probability increased from 26% to 74%. We’d be remiss if we didn’t show you this catch by Luke Raley, who given his initial stumble wouldn’t have made the catch if he weren’t in the path of this fly ball, on which positioning increased the out probability from 54% to 91%.

    There’s some history here. The Mariners ranked 8th in Infield Positioning Runs Saved last year, the first in which full shifts were banned, and 11th in Outfield Positioning Runs Saved last season. And in 2022, we wrote about the Mariners and their outfield positioning success.

    Here’s the list of the team leaders in Defensive Positioning Runs Saved this season.

    Defensive Positioning Runs Saved Leaders

    Team Infield Positioning Runs Saved Outfield Positioning Runs Saved Positioning Runs Saved
    Mariners 9 3 12
    Dodgers 4 6 10
    Padres 7 3 10
    Braves 4 6 10
    Reds 8 1 9
    Blue Jays 8 1 9
    Cardinals 6 3 9
  • What’s Led To James Paxton’s Success? The Dodgers’ League-Leading Defensive Positioning

    What’s Led To James Paxton’s Success? The Dodgers’ League-Leading Defensive Positioning

    Photos by Mark Goldman and Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire

    Dodgers starter James Paxton will enter his next start later this week with a 2.58 ERA despite 24 walks and only 22 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings. His FIP is nearly 5.

    The two things we’d usually point to in this case are defense and luck as the factors keeping Paxton’s ERA down. But in this instance, there’s something else at work: the Dodgers’ defensive positioning.

    Paxton has gotten the most support from that this season, 4.5 Defensive Runs Saved from positioning by our count. The actual skill of his defensive players at turning batted balls into outs has been worth a combined 0 Runs Saved.

    That’s not to say that there haven’t been excellent defensive plays behind Paxton. There have been. But in the aggregate, positioning has been more valuable behind him than playmaking.

    The Dodgers lead MLB with 13 Runs Saved combined from their infield and outfield positioning, one run ahead of the Mariners. Other teams doing well in that stat are the Padres, Guardians, Cardinals, and Blue Jays.  You can find the numbers for every team at FieldingBible.com.

    What does league-leading positioning both behind a pitcher and for a team actually look like?

    Take this hard liner to right field by Fernando Tatis Jr. in the 3rd inning of Paxton’s last start last Saturday. The batted ball characteristics of where the ball was hit and how hard it was hit give it a high hit probability in our system.

    But Pages was positioned just right by the Dodgers’ defense such that he had to move only 25 feet to be waiting for the ball when it arrived. Not knowing where Pages was positioned, that ball had a 43% catch probability in our system. But knowing where Pages was, the out probability jumped to 88%.

    The 45% gap from 43% to 88% represents the value of defensive positioning in plays saved, which we then convert to a Runs Saved value. 

    Pages’ positioning has been a boon to Paxton wherever Pages has been. Four of the top five boosts in a player’s out probability that have come from defensive positioning with Paxton on the mound have been on balls that were caught by Pages.

    Here’s another example and if you watch this clip, you’ll hear Joe Davis note a reference to Pages’ positioning.

    Just to show you one non-Pages example, here’s another good one, with Gavin Lux stationed in the right spot to handle Wilmer Flores’ grounder up the middle. This positioning turned a ball with a 30% out probability into one with a 66% out probability.

    Paxton’s defensive positioning support is a little out of line with his teammates.

    There have been 14 instances of a fielder having a 20% or better increase in out probability due to positioning for Paxton and only 5 instances of a 20% or larger decrease due to positioning.

    How does that compare to his mound mates?

    Plays With Increase/Decrease in Out Probability From Defensive Positioning

    2024 Season (Among Dodgers with most IP)

    Plays with 20% Increase Plays With 20% Decrease
    James Paxton 14 5
    Yoshinobu Yamamoto 10 9
    Tyler Glasnow 9 9
    Ryan Yarbrough 10 4
    Gavin Stone* 8 11

    * Not including Stone’s start on Tuesday.

    In sum, we weren’t looking to be anything other than descriptive here. We’re not going to use this in some sort of predictive fashion. For now, your biggest takeaway can be that, for at least a few starts, the Dodgers have done a nice job supporting Paxton defensively. Just not in the way we’d typically describe it.

  • The Silent Contributor to the Rise of Catcher’s Interference

    The Silent Contributor to the Rise of Catcher’s Interference

    In the wake of Willson Contreras’s brutal injury, catcher’s interference has found its way into the spotlight. A lot of the discourse has focused on the rise of catcher’s interference (and the injury risk that goes with it) due to catchers setting up closer to home plate to try to frame low strikes. While that is a big factor, another cause in the rise of catcher’s interference calls is replay review.

    The Data

    Catcher’s Interference became a reviewable play that teams can challenge in 2020, and it has been a call that teams have success challenging. From 2020 through 2023, catcher’s interference challenges have been successful 69% of the time, with a success rate about 10% higher than the next most successful replay category (force plays).

    Season Total Catcher’s Interference Catcher’s Interference Challenges Challenges Overturned
    2018 41
    2019 60
    2020* 35 7 4
    2021 61 17 11
    2022 74 25 19
    2023 96 21 14

    From Experience I Know: It’s A Tough Call To Make

    From personal experience having umpired amateur softball for 9 years, catcher’s interference can be a tricky call to make. As the pitcher starts their windup, you are making sure that the delivery is legal, and once the pitch is released you are tracking the ball to see if it ends up in the strike zone. If the batter starts to swing, then you also have to consider if the batter did swing or not. Processing this while tracking rapidly moving objects and listening for sounds is tricky at the best of times.

    Was the pitch high? The catcher will be reaching up for it, and possibly blocking your view with their glove.

    Did you hear two sounds in rapid succession on the swing? Was that catcher’s interference, or was it a foul tip?

    Sometimes you get lucky and there is an obvious call, like if the batter knocks the catcher’s glove off their hand, but it isn’t always that easy.

    Also consider the rarity of catcher’s interference. MLB employs 19 crews of 4 umpires, for a total of 76 full-time umpires (not including call-ups). Even in 2022, there was less than 1 catcher’s interference called per full-time umpire over the entire season. Generally your first instinct when making a call will not be that catcher’s interference happened.

    Diving deeper into catcher’s interference challenges, they are often challenged by the batting team, and frequently they are challenged on check swings. That is an important nuance, as a checked swing will not make a loud noise by hitting the catcher’s glove at max speed (hence the title of the article). Also, a checked swing will not knock the glove off the catcher’s hand, and is less likely to cause the catcher to react in pain. This limits the two key cues that tell umpires catcher’s interference happened.

    A checked swing will also split the umpire’s concentration even more. Trying to determine if the pitch was in the zone, if the batter went around, and then if the bat made contact with the glove in a fraction of a second is very difficult.

    For example

    An example from April 27 of this year shows this perfectly as Cavan Biggio initially strikes out while checking his swing. Home plate umpire John Tumpane initially calls a strike three looking, then follows that up with a foul tip signal, before getting together with the rest of his crew. In the end the Blue Jays challenge for catcher’s interference and the call gets overturned. 

     

    MLB Ramifications

    Diving into 2023 as the most recent full season, there are two main takeaways. Of the 14 overturned catcher’s interference challenges, 12 of them resulted in catcher’s interference being awarded when it had not initially been called. Of those 12 plays, 6 were plays where the batter had attempted to check his swing.

    Had catcher’s interference challenges not existed in 2023, there would have only been 86 catcher’s interferences instead of 96, due to the 10 net catcher’s interferences added after challenges. This is still a large uptick from previous seasons.

    However, applying the same logic to 2021 and 2022, catchers were getting hit with the bat at roughly the same rate as 2019, just that more were being called catcher’s interferences due to team challenges.

    Catcher’s interference is definitely on the rise, and while that is due in part to catchers trying to steal more strikes, the use of technology to assist umpires in making a difficult call correctly (which replay is supposed to do) is contributing to that rise as well.

  • Stat of the Week: Who Has Benefited Most Often From Good Defensive Plays?

    Stat of the Week: Who Has Benefited Most Often From Good Defensive Plays?

    BY MARK SIMON

    If you happened to catch the Cubs-Brewers game on Sunday, you saw Cubs starter Javier Assad pitch 6 scoreless innings, lowering his season ERA to 1.66.

    But a glimpse of the box score tells only part of the story.

    The Cubs infield made 4 very good defensive plays behind Assad.

    In the top of the first, Dansby Swanson kept the game scoreless with a sliding play in the 5/6 hole and subsequent throw-out of Willy Adames with a man on 3rd and 2 outs.

    In the second inning, first baseman Michael Busch dove to tag out Oliver Dunn on a drag bunt attempt, ending the inning.

    Then Swanson took a hit away from Brice Turang with a 4th-inning sliding stop in the other direction, behind second base. Though a runner on first advanced to second, Swanson helped kill a rally.

    In the fifth inning, Busch made a sprawling stop on a Sal Frelick grounder then dove to tag first base. Again, a runner advanced to second base but the out prevented further potential damage.

    There was one other play that probably went unnoticed by many but not by us – Mike Tauchman hustled to the right field line to field a ball off the side wall and hold Tyler Black to a single.

    At SIS, we keep track of Good Fielding Plays and Defensive Misplays. These are given by our game-watching Video Scouts for about 30 types of good plays and 60 types of mistakes.

    The 4 plays on ground balls all count as Good Fielding Plays under the categorization of ‘ground ball out.’ Tauchman’s play counts as a ‘holds to single,’ and for that play Tauchman gets a fractional credit applied to his Defensive Runs Saved.

    The Cubs made 5 Good Fielding Plays behind Assad in 6 innings. He’s now been the beneficiary of 11 Good Fielding Plays this season against 2 Defensive Misplays & Errors.

    The Cubs have 3 unbeaten starting pitchers with sub-2 ERAs: Assad, Shota Imanaga, and Jameson Taillon. But there’s a difference in what’s happened behind them.

    Assad was the beneficiary of 5 Good Fielding Plays in those 6 innings. Imanaga and Taillon have received 4 Good Fielding Plays (against 8 Misplays & Errors) in 65 2/3 innings pitched all season.

    Assad has been on the mound for the second-most Good Fielding Plays by a team for a pitcher this season. Seth Lugo of the Royals has benefited from the most, 13 (including this this home run robbery).

    But Lugo’s experience has been a little different from Assad’s. He’s been on the mound for 12 Royals misplays and errors, the most by any team for any pitcher. Lugo has thus far benefited more from the good plays than he has from the mistakes and is pitching to a 1.92 ERA.

    Phillies starter Ranger Suárez is another who has benefited from Good Fielding Plays. The Phillies have made 10 behind him (including this one by first baseman Bryce Harper). They’ve turned 85% of grounders and bunts against Suarez into outs, the 4th-highest rate in the majors (minimum 40 grounders and bunts against them). Suárez has a 1.72 ERA.

    But a high total of Good Fielding Plays does not guarantee success. Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays and Logan Allen of the Guardians each have had 10 Good Fielding Plays behind them, just like Suárez. Each has an ERA of 5.00 or higher.

    Most Good Fielding Plays – By Team For Pitcher

    Pitcher Team Good Fielding Plays
    Seth Lugo Royals 13
    Javier Assad Cubs 11
    Ranger Suárez Phillies 10
    Chris Bassitt Blue Jays 10
    Logan Allen Guardians 10
  • Stat of the Week: March/April Defensive Players of the Month

    Stat of the Week: March/April Defensive Players of the Month

    Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho and Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien are our co-Defensive Players of the month for March/April.

    The two have an additional common bond. Despite gaudy defensive statistics, they’ve never won a Fielding Bible Award.

    By our eyes, Varsho has the best highlight reel of any player in MLB this season. He finished April tied for the MLB lead among all players with 8 Defensive Runs Saved and 10 Good Fielding Plays. He’s split his time between left field (5 Runs Saved) and center field (3 Runs Saved) and thus does not lead either position individually in Runs Saved.

    Blue Jays fans (and Toronto media) shared their annoyance at Varsho not winning a Fielding Bible Award last season. Varsho led all outfielders in Runs Saved but finished 2nd in the voting to Steven Kwan of the Guardians for left field and 4th in our inaugural Defensive Player of the Year voting to Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. Varsho didn’t win a Gold Glove either.

    Since the start of the season, Varsho has made a statement with how good his defense has been. He’s had a knack for making great plays against great hitters. Check out his fence-crashing catch against Shohei Ohtani and his diving catches against Bobby Witt Jr. and Kyle Tucker.

    Varsho has 55 Defensive Runs Saved as an outfielder since the start of 2022 season. No one else is within 20 runs of him. It’s not just catches either. In that time, he has 11 Outfield Arm Runs Saved, 1 shy of the MLB lead.

    —

    Semien has finished 2nd in the Fielding Bible Awards voting twice, in 2021 and 2023. Perhaps this is the season that Semien wins it as he’s off to a pretty good start.

    Semien has 7 Defensive Runs Saved this season for an infield that has turned the highest percentage of grounders and bunts into outs of any MLB team. His defensive work has been less about fancy plays (though he has this one and this one) and more about just getting to balls without issue and accumulating outs. That’s not calling him a compiler. That’s calling him good at his job.

    Semien has made just about every play he should make. Most of the balls he’s missed fielding, other second basemen have a history of missing similar balls too. Last season, Semien had 30 plays on which he was debited more than 0.4 runs. In March and April, he had only one. He’s made 19 of 19 plays with a 60% to 80% out probability and is 47-of-48 fielding balls with a greater than 80% out probability.

    By a bizarre coincidence, Semien also ended April ranked No. 1 in Defensive Runs Saved against him as a hitter. Teams have saved a combined 6 runs against his batted balls.

    Semien ended April hitting .258 but should probably be doing better than he is.

    Here are a bunch of examples of very good plays being made against him: a running catch by Cubs left fielder Mike Tauchman, a sliding snag by Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker, a play from deep in the hole by Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson and a nifty play by Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia. Defensive positioning has also gotten Semien a couple of times, including on this catch by Mark Canha.

    There’s no shortage of good defense being played against Semien at the moment. But there’s no shortage of good defense being played by him either.

    Most Defensive Runs Saved By Position

    Through End of April 

    Player Team Runs Saved
    1B – Christian Walker Diamondbacks 7
    2B – Ketel Marte Diamondbacks 8
    3B – Trey Lipscomb Nationals 4
    SS – Masyn Winn Cardinals 6
    LF – Riley Greene Tigers 7
    CF – Kyle Isbel (Tie) Royals 5
    CF – Parker Meadows (Tie) Tigers 5
    RF – Wilyer Abreu Red Sox 4
    C – Cal Raleigh Mariners 7
    P – Josh Fleming Pirates 3