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Category: John Dewan’s Stat of the Week

  • Stat of the Week: What’s Aaron Judge Crushing?

    Stat of the Week: What’s Aaron Judge Crushing?

    Did you see Brewers pitcher Luis Perdomo’s reaction to giving up Aaron Judge’s 59th home run of the season?

    Perdomo made the ultimate mistake.

    First off, he threw Judge a slider.

    Per FanGraphs’ pitch values, which have been tracked for the last 20 seasons (using our pitch data), no hitter has had quite a season against sliders like Judge in 2022. He’s hitting .315 and slugging .723 with 15 home runs in at-bats ending against them this season.

    MLB hitters are batting .215 and slugging .359 when an at-bat ends with a slider this season. Judge’s batting average is 100 points higher than average. His slugging percentage is more than double it.

    Judge has tripled his home run total against sliders from last season in roughly the same number of sliders faced. He hit .320/.580 against sliders in 2018 but managed only 6 home runs against them.

    Secondly for Perdomo, the pitch hung and ended up about as “middle-middle” as you can get.

    Judge has 10 home runs in at-bats ending with middle-middle pitches this season. So does Mookie Betts, who is having a terrific season. But Judge is hitting .477 (21-for-44) on pitches thrown to that area. Betts is at .333 (20-for-60).

    MLB batters are hitting .325 and slugging .596 when at-bats end versus those pitches in 2022. They average a home run every 41 middle-middle pitches. Judge is averaging one every 14 pitches. He’s basically homering at three times the rate of anyone else against them.

    And that’s the story here.

    Judge is on a Triple Crown pace and on track to break Roger Maris’ AL home run record both because he can hit the pitches that very few batters can hit well (admittedly he got an easier one to handle in this instance) and hit the pitches that everyone can hit well, but at an otherworldly level.

  • Stat of the Week: Which Teams Shift The Most?

    Stat of the Week: Which Teams Shift The Most?

    The Dodgers have led the majors in full shift frequency in each of the last four seasons, so they’re going to have some adjusting to do with the implementation of new rules prohibiting such defensive alignments next season.

    A full shift is defined as one in which three infielders are playing on the pull side of second base. Alignments in which two infielders are playing on each side of second base with two deviating significantly from straight-up positioning are known as partial shifts (which will still be permitted in 2023).

    This season, 53% of balls put in play against the Dodgers defense have come against a full defensive shift. That’s a near match for last season (54%), 2020 (55%), and 2019 (52%). The Dodgers made their big jump in shift usage after the 2018 season, a year in which they shifted on 24% of batted balls.

    For all their aggressiveness, the Dodgers are similarly good at turning groundballs and bunts into outs whether they use a full shift, a partial shift, or no shift. In all, they rank 8th in the majors in groundball and bunt out rate and are within striking distance of the Top 5.

    Right with the Dodgers in shift usage this season are the Blue Jays, another team for whom 53% of balls in play have come versus full shifts (for greater specificity, the Dodgers were at 53.0%, the Blue Jays, 52.7%).

    The Blue Jays radically changed their defensive approach this season after using full shifts against only 22% of balls in play in 2021. That 53% number was considerably higher earlier in the season, but it has since tapered off.

    Toronto also changed its defensive look in the outfield. The Blue Jays are the MLB leader in what we call “outfield shifts,” instances in which the Statcast data shows that the three outfielders are positioned at least 110 total combined feet from their average position.

    The Blue Jays have used an outfield shift 412 times this season. The only other team to do so more than 100 times is the Marlins (110).

    The team’s infield and outfield have combined for 32 Runs Saved this season compared to 27 in 2021. Add in strong work from their pitchers and especially their catchers and the team as a whole ranks 6th in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved this season, up from 15th in 2021.

    The Astros’ defense will be fascinating to watch next season as they’ll have to change their approach a lot. They have full-shifted on 48% of batted balls against them, but that rate jumps to 79% vs left-handed batters.

    The Astros’ shifting has compensated for the age and lack of skill of some of their infielders. The team has gotten negative Runs Saved out of first base, second base, and third base this season, though their shortstop, Jeremy Pena, ranks among the leaders at the position in Defensive Runs Saved.

    Though the Astros rate slightly below average at turning groundballs and bunts into outs in full shifts, it’s likely no one is currently complaining given that they have the best record in the AL and their outfield leads MLB in Runs Saved.

    As for the teams that will have the least amount of adjusting to do, the Rockies rank at the bottom in shift usage, with one used on just 18% of balls in play against them. The Rockies’ rank in the Top 5 in Runs Saved at first base, second base, and third base this season, as their infield has thrived.

    The Guardians (21%), Orioles (22%), Padres (23%), and Yankees (24%) follow the Rockies in least shift usage, with the Yankees inclusion being noteworthy. Their infield leads the majors in Runs Saved this season. They’ve done what’s worked with their personnel and thrived with it.

  • Stat of the Week: The Yankees and 100 Defensive Runs Saved

    Stat of the Week: The Yankees and 100 Defensive Runs Saved

    The Yankees hit a milestone earlier this week when they reached 100 Defensive Runs Saved for the season.

    Now understand that Defensive Runs Saved aren’t like wins or home runs. Your defensive performance can fluctuate and the Yankees did in fact dip below 100 to their current total, 98. They’ll likely finish at or above 100 so long as they keep playing such good defense.

    Four teams have previously reached 100 Runs Saved in a season, most recently the two teams that rank 1-2 in that stat since we began tracking it in 2003 – the 2018 Diamondbacks (125) and the 2018 Brewers (123).

    And while 100 Runs Saved has now proven reachable recently, it’s particularly notable that the Yankees did it.

    The Yankees are currently taking shots from their fan base because of the team’s lackluster play the last two months. But knocking them means ignoring that, on the whole, their defense has been excellent.

    The Yankees ranked 29th in Runs Saved last season with -41. The 139-run improvement year over year is not (yet) the largest in the 20 seasons of Defensive Runs Saved. But it’s close. The Phillies have the mark for the largest single-season improvement, going from -82 Runs Saved in 2018 to 68 in 2019, a jump of 150 Runs Saved.

    Also, the Yankees have obliterated their previous single-season mark for Runs Saved. Their past best was 28 in 2017, which ranked 9th in MLB.

    The Yankees have fielded some rough defensive teams, particularly early in the DRS era. The -41 Runs Saved in 2021 looks pretty good compared to the -120 Runs Saved of the 2005 team. In fact, the Yankees rank 26th in Runs Saved from 2003 to 2021.

    In fairness, the Yankees under Brian Cashman began to prioritize defense a little more in the 2010s, finishing with a positive Runs Saved seven times in a nine-year stretch before a three-year stretch from 2019 to 2021 in which their best result was 1 Run Saved in 2020.

    The remade infield has been a huge key to their success, with the acquisitions of third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa playing a major role along with the resurgence of Gleyber Torres and the continued success of DJ LeMahieu at third base.

    Those four have combined for 35 Runs Saved this season (Anthony Rizzo is at -3 Runs Saved, though he’s been lauded by fans for his throw-handling). The Yankees rank 1st in how often they turn a ground ball or bunt into an out in 2022, 77.4% of the time (a smidge ahead of the Cardinals).

    The Yankees also have one of the best defensive catchers in baseball in Jose Trevino (MLB-best 17 Runs Saved) and a pitching staff whose 14 Runs Saved lead MLB.

    Rookie Oswaldo Cabrera has been an instant defensive sensation even as he’s struggled at the plate. He’s recorded 9 Runs Saved in only 20 games thanks to 5 assists from right field.

    And though the Yankees aren’t running away with the AL East as they once were, they are running away with the Defensive Runs Saved lead.

    The Yankees entered August with 65 Runs Saved, one run better than the Dodgers. But they’ve pulled away since then, with 33 Runs Saved. The Dodgers, with 74 Runs Saved, are now 24 behind the Yankees.

    That puts the Yankees close to another milestone as well. The largest margin between the top two teams in Runs Saved in a season is 30 runs, with the 2016 Cubs besting the Astros, 107-77.

    That Cubs team is remembered for something much bigger than that. That’s the Cubs team that won the World Series for the first time since 1908. Those Cubs and the 2008 Phillies are the two teams to lead the majors in Runs Saved and win the World Series.

  • Stat of the Week: August’s Defensive Player of the Month

    Stat of the Week: August’s Defensive Player of the Month

     

    This is not a misprint. Reds outfielder Aristides Aquino has 19 Defensive Runs Saved in 389 innings this season.

    Aquino tied for the MLB lead with 9 Runs Saved in August and won our voting for MLB Defensive Player of the Month for August.

    What differentiates Aquino, and helps him record so many Runs Saved in such a short period of time, is his throwing arm. People keep testing it. He has 10 outfield assists this season, all without the help of a cutoff man. Five of them have been on plays at the plate, including one against the Giants on May 28 that ended a one-run win.

    Aquino had 5 assists in August, including this one, which prompted an “oh wow!” from Phillies broadcaster John Kruk. Kruk had good reason for his exclamation. Statcast clocked the throw at 99 MPH.

    Aquino’s 8 Outfield Arm Runs Saved (a stat that considers both throw-outs and baserunners held) are the most in MLB this season.

    Aquino didn’t have any particularly dazzling catches this month, but the value of those he did make adds up. Among his better ones were this one against the Brewers and this one against the Phillies, which of course had an assist tacked on to it.

    Aquino’s 19 Runs Saved are tied for the most of any player at any position this season. He’s tied with Taylor Walls of the Rays, who has played more than 900 innings this season, and Tommy Edman of the Cardinals, who has played more than 1,000.

    Among those Aquino beat out for Player of the Month were shortstops Walls and Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the Yankees, and catchers Adley Rutschman of the Orioles and Cal Raleigh of the Mariners.

    Walls led all shortstops with 9 Defensive Runs Saved (we wrote about him in another recent article). Kiner-Falefa totaled 7 Runs Saved in his best month of the season (albeit one that ended with an error that drew the ire of Yankees fans on Wednesday night).

    Rutschman led catchers with 7 Runs Saved in August. He’s tied for third in our pitch-framing metric (Strike Zone Runs Saved), fourth in catcher block rate (preventing wild pitches and passed balls) and his 12 Runs Saved this season trail only Jose Trevino’s 15 among catchers. This is made all the more impressive given that Rutschman didn’t make his MLB debut until May 21.

    Raleigh, in his second year, had 6 Runs Saved in August and has matched Rutschman’s 12 Runs Saved this season. He’s second in Strike Zone Runs Saved and tied for third in Stolen Bases Runs Saved.

  • Stat of the Week: Albert Pujols Finishing With A Flourish

    Stat of the Week: Albert Pujols Finishing With A Flourish

    As of July 9, the Albert Pujols farewell tour had been a dud. He was hitting .198 with a .624 OPS.

    But over the last six weeks, the Cardinals designated hitter and occasional first baseman has looked much more like he did in his prime.

    Since July 10, he’s hitting .393 with 10 home runs and 20 RBI in 84 at-bats entering Thursday’s game with the Cubs. Pujols has been particularly destructive against left-handed pitching. He’s 14-for-23 (.609) with 7 home runs against lefties since August 10.

    What Pujols has done over the last six weeks is reminiscent of what David Ortiz did in his final MLB season in 2016 (1.021 OPS, 127 RBI). Ortiz and Ted Williams in 1960 (1.096 OPS, 29 home runs) are the standard setters for farewell seasons.

    Pujols’ 10 home runs came in a 25-game span. Since 1901 (as far back as public play-by-play data allows us to search), Pujols and Barry Bonds are the only two players to hit that many home runs in that number of games after turning 42.

    As Pujols’ career enters its final weeks, here’s where he stands on baseball’s all-time lists.

    • 693 home runs (5th)
    •  2,188 RBI (2nd)
    • 3,359 hits (9th)
    • 6,153 total bases (2nd)

    The only question left among his statistical accomplishments is whether he has enough time to reach 700 home runs. He could catch Alex Rodriguez, whose 696 home runs stand 4th all-time. Pujols is also the rare player who can say his top comparable in Similarity Scores is … Willie Mays.

    As far as accolades go: Pujols has won 3 MVP awards and two World Series titles. He’s also won MLB awards named for Hank Aaron (best hitter), Roberto Clemente (sportsmanship and community involvement), and Lou Gehrig (representing Gehrig’s character and integrity).

    And as we look ahead to Pujols’ final games, we can look back too. We should remember that one reason that Pujols was able to accumulate such numbers was because of a hamstring injury that Bobby Bonilla suffered prior to the start of the 2001 season, which put him on the injured list. That allowed Pujols to make the Opening Day roster. He never played in the minor leagues again.

    Bonilla often gets celebrated in baseball circles because of the contractual agreement he had with the Mets that has him paid annually long after he retired. Perhaps he should be heralded for his role in Pujols’ career too.

    Lastly, you know how much we love defensive excellence here, so we do have to tip our cap to how Pujols played first base. Pujols has 137 Defensive Runs Saved at the position since we started tracking the stat in 2003. Mark Teixeira ranks 2nd with 92. Anthony Rizzo is the nearest active player there with 68.

    As has often been the case with Pujols, there’s nobody close to doing what he could do.

  • Stat of the Week: Michael Harris Sparks The Braves

    Stat of the Week: Michael Harris Sparks The Braves

    By MARK SIMON

    The Braves are 50-21 with 21-year-old rookie center fielder Michael Harris II in the starting lineup this season.

    That’s a 114-win pace over 162 games and particularly impressive given that when Harris was recalled, the Braves were 22-24.

    He’s started in all but one Braves game since making his MLB debut on May 28 and is hitting .287 with a .325 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage. That makes him one of the leading candidates for NL Rookie of the Year.

    The Braves had a team OPS of .702 and were averaging 4.2 runs per game prior to his recall. Since May 28, their OPS is .802 and they’re averaging 5.3 runs per game. We pointed out their impressive offense in a Stat of the Week two months ago and they’ve largely sustained that success.

    This is all pertinent given that Harris, who grew up near Atlanta, just signed an eight-year contract extension worth $72 million (club options could make it a 10-year deal). He will be a long-term core player along with other teammates with lengthy deals, including Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and Matt Olson.

    What’s so impressive about Harris is the completeness of his game. He can hit, hit for power, run, field, and throw.

    He already has 12 home runs, matching the combined total he had in 144 games at in the minor leagues in 2021 and 2022. He’s 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts after telling us last season that he was working on getting better jumps on the bases.

    Harris ranks 7th among center fielders with 5 Defensive Runs Saved. Even with the Braves leading the Mets 13-1 on Monday night, Harris wasn’t afraid to crash into the wall to make a catch. He also had several strong throws against the Mets in their previous series.

    As Harris gets more experience, one thing to watch for is that he’s a pitch-chaser. Since his recall only three players have a higher chase rate than his 44%. He’s struck out 65 times and walked only 10.

    But Harris has shown a comfortability at the plate when in adverse counts. Eight of his 12 home runs and 14 of his 28 extra-base hits have come with two strikes. And in a limited sample with runners in scoring position, he’s hit .389 with only nine strikeouts in 54 at-bats.

    He’s also bounced back from a 2-for-24 slump in July when it looked like the league might have figured him out a little bit. He’s hitting .307 with an .863 OPS in his last 25 games.

    With no Freddie Freeman, the 2022 Braves are a bit different from the 2021 World Series champs. Yes, they still have the stars mentioned earlier in this piece, but that team was floundering until Harris came up. There are many ways a player can spark a team. Harris has done so in just about every one of them.

  • Stat Of The Week: Aaron Judge’s Amazing Stretch … And Season

    Stat Of The Week: Aaron Judge’s Amazing Stretch … And Season

    By MARK SIMON

    “Oh what a sock it was!”

    “It was one of the sockiest socks we ever saw.”

    Those are the words from the person who wrote the game story in the New York Daily News for the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Tigers on May 26, 1920 (there’s no byline, so they are forever anonymous to us). They were describing a mammoth home run hit by Babe Ruth (click here to see it in newsprint).

    Ruth’s 60 home run season in 1927 is often acknowledged as one of the best seasons in baseball history. But Ruth’s 1920 actually surpasses it. He hit .376 with an .847 slugging percentage, the latter an MLB record that stood until Barry Bonds surpassed it in 2001 .

    Within that season, Ruth had many incredible stretches.  We want to focus on one that had a lot of socky socks. Over 21 games from May 11 to June 7, Ruth had 33 hits, 6 doubles, 3 triples, and 13 home runs. He slugged 1.183. It’s the best single-season slugging stretch in Yankees history.

    “You never can tell when a man hits his batting stride,” Ruth wrote in a column alongside that game story.

    It’s a stretch that is topped since 1901 only by ones from Bonds in 2004 (thanks, Baseball-Reference!).

    We bring that up in light of Aaron Judge and the amazing season that he’s having. He hasn’t quite been Ruthian, but he has been ridiculous.

    He has an MLB-leading 45 home runs, including 14 in his last 21 games, a run that started with two home runs in a 14-1 win over the Red Sox. His slugging percentage in those games is 1.052.  The only Yankees with better 21-game stretches are Ruth (many instances) and Lou Gehrig (once).

    Look at this statline!

    Aaron Judge’s Last 21 Games  

    Category Stat
    Batting Average .434
    On-Base Percentage .561
    Slugging Percentage 1.053
    Home Runs 14
    RBI 33

    Let’s add in that Judge is playing a premium position in center field and doing it credibly in his final season before free agency. He’d be a candidate for his second straight Fielding Bible Award had circumstances not dictated his move off right field (he could move back to right field when new acquisition Harrison Bader comes off the injured list).

    The long-ago developed stat Offensive Winning Percentage is one we like to dust off every now and then to celebrate a player’s excellence. It calculates how a team would fare if it had nine of that player in their lineup, with average defense and average pitching.

    A team of Aaron Judge’s would win 82% of its games (we’d like to meet the team it would lose to!).

    Judge and Paul Goldschmidt are dueling for the No. 1 spot in that stat this season. Judge currently leads by one-tenth of a percentage point (82.4 to 82.3). They’ve both been amazing, but this current run by Judge has been just otherworldly. By the way, he also easily leads MLB in another Bill James-crafted stat, Win Shares, with 30.

    Admittedly Judge’s stats look a little meager compared to some of Ruth’s best seasons, and we say meager with a chuckle because Judge doesn’t look meager next to anybody.  He’s a giant among men in MLB right now. Or as the Daily News could say, he’s the sockiest socker in the game.

  • Stat of the Week: Notable Outfielders Dealt At Deadline

    Stat of the Week: Notable Outfielders Dealt At Deadline

    BY MARK SIMON

    Those who cover MLB are calling the Juan Soto trade among the biggest in baseball history, with the Padres acquiring a generational talent and sending the Nationals the top players in their farm system in return.

    And while it’s likely that Soto’s bat will have a huge impact, not just on this pennant race but on the next two, we like to look at things through a defensive lens here.

    For his career, Soto is an average defensive right fielder. It’s seemingly the only aspect of his game that could be called average. Soto has exactly 0 Runs Saved in a little more than 2,100 innings. He saved 4 runs with his right field defense last season but has dropped to -3 so far in 2022.

    The 2021 version of Soto would be about a match for the Padres’ current standing in right field (2 Runs Saved), but the 2022 version of Soto is a little bit of a drop off.

    Soto has 19 Defensive Misplays & Errors in right field in 2022, the most of anyone at the position and two more than he had in 2021. On a per-inning basis, he has the 6th-highest rate of Misplays & Errors among the 35 right fielders that have played the most innings.

    The Padres can live with that because they know that his bat will go way above and beyond in making up for it. They also landed another big bat, first baseman Josh Bell. Bell, who cost his team 25 runs with his defense from 2016 to 2019, has a career-high 3 Runs Saved there in 2022.

    Other teams made moves for outfielders from whom good defense will be essential. The Yankees traded pitcher Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals for center fielder Harrison Bader.

    Bader just missed out on winning the Fielding Bible Award last season, after recording his second season with 15 Runs Saved in center field. He’s currently out with a foot injury and hasn’t played since late June.

    When healthy, he’ll be rejoining a team that currently ranks first in the majors in Defensive Runs Saved. It’s biggest defensive weakness? Center field (-6 Runs Saved).

    The Phillies made a move with the intention of bettering a defense that ranks tied for 27th in Runs Saved, snagging Angels outfielder Brandon Marsh. Marsh ranks second in left field with 7 Defensive Runs Saved this season.

    He’ll likely switch to center field, where his history isn’t as good (-3 Runs Saved), though he may be better than what the Phillies already have there (only two teams are worse than their -7 Runs Saved).

    A study by our former research associate Andew Kyne showed that outfielders decline by about 7 runs per 1,000 innings when moving from a corner spot to center field. Remember that when evaluating Marsh, who wasn’t the only move the Phillies made to better their defense. They also traded for Cardinals infielder Edmundo Sosa (13 Runs Saved in 737 career innings at shortstop).

    Two of the best defensive players dealt were traded in deals involving the Rays. With Kevin Kiermaier out for the season, Tampa Bay got involved in a three-way trade with the Astros and Orioles, netting center fielder Jose Siri after trading for Diamondbacks left fielder David Peralta.

    Siri ranks second in Defensive Runs Saved at that position this season and made a terrific catch in his Tampa Bay debut. Peralta won a Fielding Bible Award in 2019 but basically rates average at the position since then (-1 Run Saved from 2020 to 2022).

    With Siri’s acquisition, the Rays traded Brett Phillips to the Orioles for cash. Phillips had below-average numbers in center field in 2022 (-4 Runs Saved), but ranks tied for 3rd with 8 Runs Saved in 235 innings in right field. He has a history of defensive excellence in limited playing time and will be outfield depth for an Orioles team whose outfield has played well this season.

    Lastly, one player that wasn’t traded was versatile Marlins infielder Joey Wendle. Wendle won our Defensive Player of the Month award (determined by SIS staff voting) for July. He’d have been an interesting pickup for any number of teams looking for help. But for now, he stays with the Marlins.

    Wendle was a defensive difference maker for the 2020 Rays, helping them advance to the World Series. This October (and November) he’ll be watching players make great plays at home. Maybe even one by a player dealt at the deadline.

    For more on the trade deadline, check out the SIS Baseball Twitter.

  • Stat of the Week: Who are MLB’s top pitch framers?

    Stat of the Week: Who are MLB’s top pitch framers?

    BY MARK SIMON

    On this week’s edition of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, we talked to Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh about the team’s success and his work behind the plate this season.

    Raleigh rates as one of the top pitch framers in MLB in 2022, so this seemed like a good time to look at the leaderboard for that stat.

    MLB’s best pitch-framer this season, in the aggregate, is Yankees catcher Jose Trevino. Trevino has an MLB-best 7 Strike Zone Runs Saved (our metric that measures how often catchers get strikes above an expected strike total, converted to a run value).

    If that number seems small relative to other seasons, that’s because it is.

    The number of catchers recording high totals in Strike Zone Runs Saved has shrunk. From 2014 to 2016, there were 12 instances of a catcher recording at least 10 Strike Zone Runs Saved. In the last three full seasons (2018, 2019, 2021) there were seven such catcher seasons.

    The only catcher to reach 10 Strike Zone Runs Saved last season was Max Stassi of the Angels.

    One thought is that the gap between catchers has shrunk. Many are now good at pitch framing and there isn’t one that rates far beyond his peers. Trevino, given how often he plays and how skilled he is, is the class of the field at the moment.

    On a per-pitch basis, Austin Barnes of the Dodgers is just about as good as Trevino. He just doesn’t play as often. Barnes has 4 Runs Saved in 288 innings this season. Trevino has 7 in 496.

    Since becoming the Dodgers’ regular backup catcher in 2017, Barnes ranks tied for fourth in Strike Zone Runs Saved despite ranking 31st in innings caught.

    Raleigh, with 4 Strike Zone Runs Saved ranks tied with Barnes and a host of other catchers for second. He’s one of the more adept catchers at framing high pitches, while still being able to stick the low ones on the bottom edge of the zone for a strike.

    “I like to get into a rhythm,” Raleigh said, explaining his technique and how he brings his glove down at or near the dirt before setting up. “I know some guys stay as still as possible. I can’t get into a rhythm that way. I’d get stuck, so I’d end up losing some strikes. My approach is to stay loose, let the ball travel as deep as I can, and then at the last second make a move to the ball and give the umpire the best viewpoint of it.”

    For all the talk about Julio Rodríguez, Raleigh’s value might go unnoticed. But Raleigh’s work behind the plate and his improvement at the plate (his .762 OPS is 230 points better than last season) are worth mentioning. The Mariners are 38-22 when Raleigh starts, 16-24 when he doesn’t.

    To learn more about our methodology for Strike Zone RunsSaved, read our award-winning paper from the 2015 Sloan Sports Conference.

    2022 MLB Strike Zone Runs Saved Leaders

    Player Team Strike Zone Runs Saved
    Jose Trevino Yankees 7
    Cal Raleigh Mariners 4
    Austin Barnes Dodgers 4
    Jonah Heim Rangers 4
    Max Stassi Angels 4
    Tomas Nido Mets 4
    Travis d’Arnaud Braves 4
    Sean Murphy Athletics 4

     

  • Stat of the Week: First Half Defensive Runs Saved Leaders

    Stat of the Week: First Half Defensive Runs Saved Leaders

    BY MARK SIMON

    As we get set to start the second half of the season, let’s run through the MLB leaders in Defensive Runs Saved.

    At catcher, it’s a runaway. Jose Trevino of the Yankees leads all catchers in Runs Saved by a wide margin. His 15 Runs Saved are more than double the next-closest catchers, Reese McGuire and Cal Raleigh (7). Trevino stands out because of his excellent pitch framing. He’s good at stopping the running game too.

    At first base, Christian Walker of the Diamondbacks has range for days. He’s able to get to balls in the 3-4 hole like no one else, while covering first base without issue. He’s at 13 Runs Saved. The next-closest first baseman is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with 7.

    Tommy Edman of the Cardinals has split time between second base and shortstop. He’s been great at both spots and leads the majors in Runs Saved overall (17) and at second base (11).

    What differentiates Edman from his peers is how infrequently he makes mistakes. He has only 2 Defensive Misplays & Errors at second base. He’s the only second baseman to average less than 1 Misplay & Error per 100 innings among the 40 who have played the most innings this season.

    The Orioles have had a nice resurgence this season and shortstop Jorge Mateo deserves some credit for his great defense. He’s the Runs Saved leader at that position with 13, showing great skill in handling ground balls and line drives, particularly those hit to his right.

    Nolan Arenado’s defense at third base for the Cardinals this season looks a lot like the great defensive work he did for the Rockies. Arenado still seems to be in his defensive prime. He’s the Runs Saved leader at the position with 15, well more than the 6 he had last season.

    In left field, remember the hot start Steven Kwan of the Guardians got off to with the bat? Well, he’s pretty good with the glove too. He can catch it (9 Runs Saved for Range) and he can throw it (4 assists in left field without a cutoff man). His 10 Runs Saved as a left fielder are the most in MLB.

    Center field is going to be a tough call for Fielding Bible Awards voters down the road. Right now, the leader is Jose Siri of the Astros, who shows great athleticism on both shallow and deep balls and leads with 8 Runs Saved. A lot of other center fielders are within two runs of his total including Myles Straw, Michael A. Taylor, Michael Harris II, and Cedric Mullins.

    The first half ended with a Defensive Runs Saved tie in right field between Kyle Tucker and Hunter Renfroe, each with 10 Runs Saved. They get it done a little differently. Tucker’s been known to make impressive catches in deep right field. Renfroe has a great throwing arm. Take your pick, they’re both off to great starts.

    At pitcher, it’s the 2nd year in a row that Ranger Suarez of the Phillies has gotten it done both handling comebackers and stopping potential basestealers. He’s yet to allow a stolen base this season.

    The team leader in Defensive Runs Saved is the Yankees. This is quite a turnaround for a team that ranked 29th last season. The Bronx Bombers have become the Bronx Stoppers – remaking their infield into the best in the game at getting outs on ground balls.