Cleveland Indians have the best defensive infield in MLB

The Cleveland Indians pitching staff has been stellar, but they have been assisted by the best defensive infield in baseball early in the season.

At this point, everyone knows about the great Cleveland Indians pitching staff. The 2018 squad is largely the same group that posted some of the best pitching numbers of all time in 2017. Unsurprisingly, the pitching staff has gotten off to another great start this season. The pitchers boast the league’s eighth-best fielding independent pitching number at 3.66.

However, it might be the Indians defense that propels them to the next level as the team’s 2.65 ERA ranks second in all of baseball. That’s a difference of a whole run every game! This is largely due to the work of the Indians’ incredible defensive work around the infield.

The Cleveland Indians pitching staff currently has the lowest batting average on balls in play of any staff in the majors which is almost entirely due to the defense, particularly on the infield. Not only do they have the lowest babip in the league but their .234 number is the lowest by nearly thirty points!

Babip is often a statistic used to cite how lucky a team has been, but it can also be a sign of good defense. The Indians have also allowed a much lower batting average than what would be expected based on Statcast hit tracking data. The defense is clearly making the pitching better which is how this team is built to win. Let’s see how they’ve gotten here.

Jason Kipnis

Jason Kipnis isn’t really known for his superb glove, but to this point in the early season, he is leading all major league second basemen in fielding according to Fangraphs. He leads all second basemen in Ultimate Zone Rating by a full run and is third in UZR/150 among players with at least 100 innings played at second base.

His Defensive Runs Saved isn’t fantastic at -1, but it is still a little early for that number to stabilize. Jason Kipnis also ranks fourth in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average with 1.7. Regardless of what number you look at, Jason Kipnis has had an excellent defensive start to the season. If he could just get his bat going, Jason Kipnis could be in line for a very nice season.

Francisco Lindor

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Francisco Lindor has long been touted as a defensive wizard at shortstop. He has done nothing but live up to that hype during his time in the big leagues.

Since 2015, Francisco Lindor ranks third among major league shortstops in Fangraphs defensive value, third in Ultimate Zone Rating and fourth in Defensive Runs Saved.

In 2016, he even won a Gold Glove and the Platinum Glove beating out the likes of all-world shortstop, Andrelton Simmons. Francisco Lindor is off to another fantastic start defensively in 2018. Through the first few weeks of the season, Francisco Lindor leads major league shortstops in Fangraphs defense by .7 runs. That might not seem like a lot but that’s a pretty big lead this early in the year.

Francisco Lindor is also leading the league in Ultimate Zone Rating and is in second in UZR/150 and Defensive Runs Saved, just behind the aforementioned Simmons. After a bit of a down year for him defensively a year ago, I would not be surprised to see him fired up this year and take home another Gold Glove award.

Jose Ramirez

Cleveland Indians third baseman, Jose Ramirez, rounds out the league-leading infield for the tribe. Like Kipnis and Lindor, Jose Ramirez is currently leading the majors in Fangraphs defense for his position. In fact, the only advanced defensive statistic that Jose Ramirez doesn’t lead all third basemen in is Defensive Runs Saved and he is just 1 run behind Matt Chapman of the Athletics in that category.

Jose Ramirez has truly been outstanding this year in all facets of the game. He is leading the team in hitting with a 135 wRC+, he has nearly cut his strikeout rate in half while also nearly doubling his walks from a year ago and he is solidifying this infield defense in support of the marvelous Indians pitching staff. Jose Ramirez finished third in MVP voting a year ago and it looks like he might be in that conversation yet again in 2018.

The Cleveland Indians infield has easily had the best infield defense of any other team in baseball to start the season. If they can maintain this level of play over the next several months, the team could be looking at another very special season. The support that this unit is giving the pitchers cannot be overstated.

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This team is built on pitching and defense and to this point in the season that’s what is carrying the team. The Cleveland Indians will need to start hitting more which they have over the past week, but this team looks to be a formidable group, one that no team is going to want to face in October.