Houston Astros and Washington Nationals: How they stack up for the World Series
By Bill Felber
Fielding
Aside from raw power, if Houston has one potentially decisive advantage, it lies in the Houston Astros glovework.
During the regular season, Houston led the majors in Defensive Efficiency Rating, while the Washington Nationals ranked solidly mid-pack (13th). Measured by fielding percentage, Houston’s .988 was number two in the majors, while Washington’s .985 was 11th.
In Fielding Runs Saved – the synoptic number for glovework, Houston’s total of 54 ranked second in all of baseball. In simple terms, that credits Houston fielders with preventing 54 runs that a team with normal fielding skills would have allowed in.
Again, Washington Nationals fielders were almost perfectly ordinary. Their Fielding Runs Saved score of 1 ranked 18th in the majors.
This advantage plays out in numerous positions. If they choose to do so, the Astros can start five players who saved the team a minimum of six runs on defense this past season. That’s led by outfielder George Springer’s 20. Jake Marisnick, Alex Bregman, Robinson Chirinos, and Yuli Gurriel are the others.
Washington, by contrast, has only one six-run defensive star, and he’s exactly the guy you would assume, third baseman Anthony Rendon, with 8. When Kurt Suzuki catches, he’s a liability behind the plate, as is Juan Soto in left field.
The normal Houston starting eight saved an average of 5.0 defensive runs per man this season. For Washington, the comparable figure was a fraction under 1 defensive run saved per man.