CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 23: Victor Robles #16 of the Washington Nationals steals second base in front of Javier Baez #9 of the Chicago Cubs during the third inning of a game at Wrigley Field on August 23, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
(Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
‘Statcast’ has come out with a new statistic, Outs Above Average, for Infielders that incorporates batted ball data to tell us who the best IF are in MLB. There are some surprises and some things we already knew.
The Geniuses that crunch numbers for Baseball Savant have revealed their new Outs Above Average metric for MLB Infielders. This statistic was already available for Outfielders but infielders took longer to develop since there are other factors for consideration.
Whenever a new metric comes out, it challenges what our collective baseball minds already believes. Sometimes, there are huge discrepancies, other times, the metrics back up what we already knew.
The other half of Oakland’s All-Star Matt duo. Olson is the best defensive first basemen in the league producing 12 OOA. Where Olson truly shines is moving to his right, where being +9 OOA takes away would be singles. This is also valuable because it allows Oakland to play their 2B, towards the middle and cover more ground. Olson also chips in value going towards the line +2, and backward +3 but his best skill remains going right.
Walker spent the majority of his career blocked by Chris Davis in Baltimore and then blocked again by Paul Goldschmidt in Arizona. After Goldschmidt was traded to STL, Walker put together a solid season that looks even better now by OAA, ranking 2nd among all 1B. Walker is more balanced than Olson, being +1 going forward and backward and +3 going to his right. Walker’s best defensive attribute is going down the first baseline, +4, taking away would-be doubles from hitters.
Speaking of Paul Goldschmidt, he rounds out the top 3. His calling card for value is going forward where he’s accrued +3 OAA. Any dribblers or pesky in between balls that cause issues for 2B and pitchers are smothered up by Goldschmidt in his best area of defense.
Now let’s look at the keystone.
Outs Above Average: MLB’s best defensive 2B
Pittsburgh Pirates, Adam Frazier +11
Kolten Wong may have won the gold glove but the best defensive 2B in baseball resides in Pittsburgh. Adam Frazier lead all keystoners in OAA at +11. His best trait was +7 going to his left, turning balls usually picked up by the right fielder into outs. Frazier chipped in another +1 each way going forward and backwards along with a solid +2 going up the middle.
Kolten Wong brought home the hardware in 2019 and makes up half of the best defensive right side in baseball. Wong is just as strong as Frazier going to his left +6 and is even better going backwards and to his right +3. Wong would be the best at 2B if it weren’t for his -2 on going to balls in front of him.
This will probably be the most surprising name on the entire list. Once a talented offensive SS who always seemed a bit lost on the field, Castro rounds out the top 3 of second basemen adding +3 OAA going to his right and backwards. His surprisingly above-average defense at 2B will be warmly welcomed by Nats pitchers after Brian Dozier and his -6 OAA manned the position last season.
Onto the left side of the infield, starting with the hot corner.
This is another case of the numbers proving what your eyes already knew. Arenado is incredibly at the hot corner racking up +17 OAA. He is the absolute best 3B in the league at going left at +12 OAA where he reaps a majority of his defensive value. Mix Arenado with the excellent but not quite top 3 Trevor Story and the Rockies probably have the strongest left side defense in all of baseball.
Here is the other half of the Matt duo listed earlier, Chapman may be the most underrated player in all of baseball given that he plays in Oakland and at an already deep 3B position. Chapman is solid in every direction. Where he is best though is going after balls that are in. In fact, he is the best 3B in baseball at going forward worth an incredible +8 OAA.
Donaldson is currently a free agent and would be an immediate upgrade at 3B for basically any team. Even at 34, he’s top 3 in defense at the hot corner adding in +8 OAA. He’s solid going left and right and merely average going backwards. His best attribute though is charging forward to get the ball adding +5 OAA and spoiling would be choppers up the line. Someone sign this man!
The King of Infield Defense, El Mago, Javier Baez. Play after dazzling play is the best infielder in all of baseball being worth an incredible +19 OAA. Baez gets there by being a strong +7 OAA going up the middle and forward which isn’t a surprise given his range and ability to make throws from any angle. He’s no slouch going to his right either adding another 4 OAA. The one area he “struggles” in is going backwards adding one more run to his tally.
The former King of the Infield, Simmons is now 30 years old and still bringing the flash with the leather being +16 OAA. Simmons is even better than Baez getting to balls up the middle being +OAA on account of his range and absolute cannon for an arm. He also matches Baez at +7 going forward. The only area he “lags” behind is going right and behind him.
Ahmed may only have a 92 wRC+ but he more than makes up for his bat by adding +16 OAA. Ahmed is a solid +5 going to his left and backwards +2 while being average going towards 3B. Where he really shines is being the best of any SS going forward swallowing weakly hit grounders and being worth +10 OAA.
Next. MLB Projections: Top 10 First Basemen in 2020. dark
So there you have it. Javier Baez is the best fielder in baseball. The numbers proved what your eyes already knew. Like all new metrics, there are some players that surprise you but the guys who dazzle with the glove are now statistically proven to be incredible.
