Phillies: The interesting, non-roster invitee battle to come

A Discussion of Great and Average Fielding

One way to consider Hoskins as a first baseman is to contrast him in three regards to two of the best first basemen as fielders in the NL, Paul Goldschmidt and Freddie Freeman. Those three regards are fielding percentage and two of those initially baffling columns on their Baseball-Reference.com pages, Rtot and Rdrs.

Rtot is a range explainer, a composite figure giving the number of runs above or below average the first baseman is worth based on “the number of plays made.” Rdrs is also an above or below average measure counting/estimating “defensive runs saved.”

Here’s what you have:

• Goldschmidt: 2019 fielding pct. – .996 (career .996 at 1B); Rtot – 46 (9 seasons at 1B); Rdrs – 54 (9 seasons)
• Freeman: 2019 fielding pct. — .996 (career .995 at 1B); Rtot – 6 (10 seasons at 1B); Rdrs – 28 (10 seasons)
• Hoskins: 2019 fielding pct. at 1B – .993 (career .993 at 1B); Rtot – 2 (3 seasons at 1B); Rdrs – minus-4 (3 seasons)

More from Philadelphia Phillies

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Stock Up, Stock Down: Mariners, Padres, Giants, Phillies
• Disconnect between Philadelphia and national media is embarrassing
• Stock Up, Stock Down: Two teams rising, two falling post-trade deadline

No shockers here: Goldschmidt and Freeman are league leaders; Goldschmidt has far better range and overall defensive ability than the other two; Hoskins is still learning. However, this isn’t to say Hoskins couldn’t become a very good fielder; in his first 182 games at first base over two seasons, Goldschmidt’s Rtot average was minus-4.5, his Rdrs minus-1. Hoskins has played in only 202 games at the position.

Meanwhile, Walker has been playing all over the field, basically, since his days as an everyday second baseman ended with the Mets in 2017. But at first base, despite being seven years older than Hoskins, he is also somewhat inexperienced, having played in only 128 games at the position, all in the same three seasons Hoskins has played. In those games he has these numbers:

• Walker: 2019 fielding pct. at 1B – .996 (career .995 at 1B); Rtot – minus-1 (3 seasons at 1B); Rdrs – minus-2 (3 seasons).

In other words, if Hoskins doesn’t hit, the excuse to sit him down will be that he needs a game to breathe, or collect himself, or whatever manager Joe Girardi comes up with. Nothing is really lost by putting a glove on Walker instead of him. And that could come early.