Time to discuss Yankees' infield defense

[terrynever]

Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal finally wrote the story we have been waiting to see -- about the Yankees' horrendous infield defense. Jeter is ranked 23rd among 29 shortstops, raising the question of who are those other six guys?
Brian Roberts has a similar minus UZR to Jeter. Solarte is only a bit better at third base. And Teixeira has made five errors so far at first base. Add in Kelly Johnson's three and you see what a mess first base has become.
Fortunately, the Yankees have a great outfield and McCann is very good behind the plate.
Here is the link:
 
http://online.wsj.com/articles/its-not-just-jeter-yankees-infield-defense-is-dragging-team-down-1401326965

 

[jon abbey]

Their infield D is obviously very bad, but 1/3 of a season of UZR with all of the shifts they've been doing has to be close to meaningless.
 
And Solarte seems pretty solid at 3B to me, from the eye test anyway.

 

[terrynever]

Their infield D is obviously very bad, but 1/3 of a season of UZR with all of the shifts they've been doing has to be close to meaningless.
 
And Solarte seems pretty solid at 3B to me, from the eye test anyway.

Yeah, he has been fine at third base. Solid. Solarte played second base for more than half of his extensive minor league career, though. Third base was his second most frequent position. I could see him playing second base next year, especially if the fraud guy comes back.
My problem with this infield is routine plays are too often botched. Roberts had a beauty in the Phelps game when he charged a grounder, hoping to tag the runner for a 4-3 DP but didn't get his glove down and the ball went between his legs. I couldn't watch anymore that night.

 

[EvilEmpire]

The massive amount of shifting has to impact some of the routine plays though, right? Some of of the normal patterns and angles have changed and I'd have to think that for at least some infielders, many, many years of muscle memory may be causing some to fight their bodies a bit.

I'll be interested to read any detailed analysis that emerges. I'm sure shifting overall is all a net positive, but I'm curious if it degrades defense in other ways. At least for some players.

 

[terrynever]

The massive amount of shifting has to impact some of the routine plays though, right? Some of of the normal patterns and angles have changed and I'd have to think that for at least some infielders, many, many years of muscle memory may be causing some to fight their bodies a bit.

I'll be interested to read any detailed analysis that emerges. I'm sure shifting overall is all a net positive, but I'm curious if it degrades defense in other ways. At least for some players.

I have trouble picturing what a real base hit that goes through the infield looks like anymore. Saw a routine grounder to the normal second base position roll into right field because the 2B was positioned behind the bag. Pitcher rolled his eyes. Might have been Phelps.

 

[Max Power]

Individual defensive stats must be completely useless for the Yankees this year. How do you have a "zone rating" when an infielder is never actually positioned in his zone? Team defensive efficiency on ground balls and liners is really the only way to see if it's been effective.

 

[jon abbey]

Yeah, my gut says that while NY's infield defense is pretty bad with all of the shifting, it would be even worse with no shifting.
 
The lack of an actual backup 1B (especially with Tex coming off of a season lost to a wrist injury) is just insanely poor roster construction that I harped on here in the spring, and in fact it has indeed hurt them badly in a few games. The overall roster construction is horrible, which is what happens when you just randomly throw money at every big name FA and sign the first handful to accept. 

 

[Just a bit outside]

I have trouble picturing what a real base hit that goes through the infield looks like anymore. Saw a routine grounder to the normal second base position roll into right field because the 2B was positioned behind the bag. Pitcher rolled his eyes. Might have been Phelps.

Doesn't the increase in shifting force defensive numbers to be figured out differently.  Defense now needs to be judged based on the players starting position in relation to how the ball is hit.  In the play above it is not a lack of range that allowed the grounder to be a hit. 
 
On topic, the infield defense for the Yankees is pretty bad and that was to be expected looking at the roster.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

I have trouble picturing what a real base hit that goes through the infield looks like anymore. Saw a routine grounder to the normal second base position roll into right field because the 2B was positioned behind the bag. Pitcher rolled his eyes. Might have been Phelps.

Does he roll his eyes when the shift results in a putout? Because I've seen the hitters do that.

 

[Brickowski]

We knew SS would be bad. Based on the eyeball test, IMHO Solarte and Roberts have been passable. The big surprise to me has been 1B, where no one had fielded well, including Teixeira.

 

[terrynever]

We knew SS would be bad. Based on the eyeball test, IMHO Solarte and Roberts have been passable. The big surprise to me has been 1B, where no one had fielded well, including Teixeira.

Agree totally.