I'm convinced it's imposible to determine how good a player is defensivley by stats. If you use the range factor, zone rating, defensive %, they're just numbers. Torii Hunter/Andruw Jones are below average defenders using these stats. The best measurement is by just watching the player in my opinion. And on a side note, what's this obsession with defense?
nope, you can tell everything from a stat. for example, batting average could tell you about a player's determination and daily workout routines and say if he has aids or not. sometimes you've gotta look deeper on these things to see what tracy mcgrady sees.
In addition to the very salient points raised by Burzmali and MadMax, there is one very important issue in this Everett debate that some seem unable to comprehend. That is that the Astros do not have a choice of Adam Everett or Michael Young. Or Adam Everett or Derek Jeter. Their choice is, in this case, Adam Everett or Eric Bruntlett. Everett is the superior defensive player. Bruntlett is a valuable backup at many positions, but has never been considered a strong hitter by ANYONE other than people who have convinced themselves that the proverbial grass must, in fact, be greener. If Eric Bruntlett were inserted into the lineup every day, he would provide worse defense than Adam Everett does. Additionally, his batting average WOULD fall. His on-base percentage (which is at .315 for his career, by the way, for those of you advocating not only including Bruntlett in the lineup, but putting him at the top of it) WOULD fall, and so would his slugging percentage. He's just not that good of a hitter. He is the quintessential scrappy backup who is on a hot streak. I'm glad he's an Astro, and he should not be starting at shortstop.
People are insistent on pointing to Adam Everett as being the glaring weakness in the offense. Burzmali, MadMax, and a handful of others have been defending AE's remaining in the lineup despite his poor batting average due to the fact that he is considered to be the top defender in the league at his position. Shortstop is generally believed to be one of the most important positions to have solid defense, if not the most important. General baseball strategy dictates that if you must give up one or the other, you give up offense for defense up the middle (catcher, second, shortstop, and center field), and vice versa on the corners (first, third, left and right field). While being a defensive stud definately doesn't hurt at the corners, you figure that the middle infield players and center fielder will save runs by effectively covering the holes/gaps. Adam Everett makes a ton of plays in the hole that would get by most shortstops, as well as a good handful that go up the middle. Count next game. See how many hits get through his side of the infield. All of that said, is anybody really happy that he's hitting .200 this season? No, I doubt even Burzmali would say that. But of any of the positions up the middle, shortstop is the position that I'd be most willing to ignore a low batting average, and if he gets back to his career .250 batting average then I'm more than fine with him out there every day. Lane and Wilson have been the disappointments so far this year, Berkman and Ensberg can only carry this team so far. Wilson was supposed to be the bat to put us over the top, and striking out five times a night is ridiculous. He's shown some improvements over the last couple of weeks, but we still need him to hit for power. Singles to the left side and up the middle aren't going to get it done. Overall, the telling number is that Wilson and Lane combined for a total of nine extra base hits this past month. That's not getting it done for your two corner outfielders, who again are traditionally supposed to be two of your big bats. Lane's was terrible last month, but at least he hit two dingers. That's two more than Wilson.
FYI: John Lopez's column today calls for Bruntlett to get more playing time: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/lopez/3921863.html I guess he must be an idiot just like Richard Justice and anyone else who questions conventional wisdom.
Richard Justice isn't an idiot because he questions conventional wisdom. Justice is an idiot because he puts a giant tombstone on the front page of the sports section and says that the team is done for the season, and then takes the credit when they turn it around and go to the World Series as if his article had something to do with it. The way he writes himself into the articles as if he has influence over the team, as well as the dialogues that he makes up and passes along as news are flat out annoying if not amateurish. As for Bruntlett, his average is going to settle downwards with more playing time towards .250 while Adam's is going to rise back to about that same mark. Bruntlett has had a way of coming up with big hits off the bench, and I'd just as soon leave him there. His ability to play most of the positions on the field reasonably well make him a pretty valuable asset, but he'll never be a starter for any reasonable length of time.
The ironic thing is that Justice didn't even write the Tombstone Article -- Ortiz did. And yet Justice still references the tombstone every five seconds and tries to take credit for it! Make no mistake -- Justice is a true idiot.
I'd say the biggest problem on the team right now is actually Berkman and Ensberg not hitting. In May, Ensberg's batted 0.216 with a 0.779 OPS. In April, he was .329 with a 1.232 OPS. Berkman batted 0.248 with a 0.770 OPS compared to an April of 0.348 and 1.141. No one expects either of those guys to bat like they did in April, but their Mays were both severely subpar (you expect 0.900+ OPS and a much higher average) for them. You fix those guys and the team will score. Lane, Wilson, etc are all expected to have ups and downs, but you need the big two or the team won't function.
so you believe torii hunter is a below average defender, and Manny Ramirez has the best arm in the game, since he always leads the leage in assists? and yes, stats on offense can be misleading. The mark of a good hitter depends on the quality of his atbats, not his average or obp.
I was refuting your statement that scouting is the only way to determine defensive ability. I didn't say that fielding percentage and assists are accurate measures of defensive ability. In fact, if you've read my posts, you'd know that already. There are fielding statistics out there that do accurately gauge defensive ability. The "quality" of a hitters ABs can also be quantified. And no, that's not the only or best measure of production.
I can't really argue with that, though I have a hard time faulting Berkman and Ensberg when they're really the only ones in the lineup hitting for any power, with the possible exception of Biggio. Do you disagree that Wilson and Lane have been extremely disappointing so far, to the point where they are hurting the team?
Oh I definitely agree - I just think they that it is to be expected. Wilson is a streaky guy, and Lane have some severe slumps last year. The problem is that they struggled at the same time Ensberg/Berkman struggled, at the same time the starters struggled, at the same time the bullpen crashed. Oddly, that is eerily similar to what happened last year. Check out some of the numbers for last year's May - Lane batting in the low 0.100's, the big bullpen guys all sucked, etc. Very strange, but hopefully history repeats!
The other part of it - players like Wilson or Lane can be sat down for bits and pieces if they struggle, or move them around in the lineup. Last year, we saw it with Burke getting to play in the playoffs and Willy being benched, etc. But you can't sit Ensberg (or Berkman), and you don't really move him out of the 4 spot. Ensberg really hurt us in the playoffs last year, but you just kind of have to accept it. So if I have the choice between Lane/Wilson getting it together or Berkman/Ensberg, I'd prefer the latter to hit and the former to do be crappy.
