- Mookie's made 30 plays on balls out of the RF zone.
- Holt and Young combined have made 30 plays on balls out of the LF zone.
- JBJ's only made 21 plays on balls out of the CF zone.
The numbers confirm what I've eyeballed: the 2016 Red Sox are using JBJ in CF to back up both corner outfielders, on balls hit to either RCF or LCF.
I think it's an excellent strategic decision (a second good thing due to Amaro's coaching, in addition to the improved baserunning?), since this paradigm allows the team to leverage JBJ's superior arm in case the primarily-assigned corner outfielder is unable to make the play. And, if JBJ is assigned to "back up" plays in the gaps as a general rule, such an arrangement should also significantly reduce the risk of possibly season-ending injury due to collision.
There doesn't appear to be any significant overall impact on the team, either. The Red Sox are
7th in MLB on OOZ plays made, and 3rd in the AL behind the premier defensive outfields of Houston and KC.
However, since this strategy goes opposite the conventional wisdom that "it's the CF's ball" there's an absolute devastation of JBJ's defensive "value" in comparison to other teams' CFs, at least according to WAR. On the field it may work great, but on the spreadsheet, it reads like JBJ's being passive and slow.
Just like a swinging bunt that doesn't squib foul looks the same as a screaming liner off the wall -- both end up marked down as a single.
That being said, JBJ appears to have had a handful more misplays than he did in 2014-15, and he certainly looks to me significantly heavier this year than in 2013-14. But those are entirely unsupported and anecdotal observations. If he's not playing every chance absolutely balls-out, and also has put on offseason muscle, in order to hit better on a day-in-day-out basis...I'm okay with that.
This would make a great piece for the .com, though, if someone wanted to look more carefully into the hit charts and game logs.