Keystone Cornermen
Yesterday, we took a look at the first basemen in baseball this past season, looking at the good, the bad, and the Konerko. Today, our attention turns to second base, one of those pesky middle infield positions to see which bright spots housed the most shine, and where some of that light needs to be directed moving forward. Ultimately, though, there were really only two standouts at second base this year, when you factor in offense, defense, and baserunning: Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia. Utley is both a fan favorite and a saber-darling, as many analysts cannot wrap their heads around how the Phillies won the MVP award in 2006 and 2007 and neither of them went to former UCLA star. Pedroia may very well walk home with the AL MVP this year in a very open race.
When looking solely at offense, there were actually quite a few solid performers at the position this year. Outside of Utley and Pedroia, Dan Uggla smacked 32 more home runs, Ian Kinsler helped spearhead a scary Rangers offense, and Mark DeRosa emerged as a legitimate offensive threat–he may have played all over the place this season but the majority was at second base.
Via WPA/LI, Chase Utley was close to one and a half wins better than anyone else at the position:
Chase Utley, 3.63
Dan Uggla, 2.27
Dustin Pedroia, 2.03
Mark DeRosa, 1.89
Ian Kinsler, 1.62
When we use VORP, we get a slightly different story:
Dustin Pedroia, 62.3
Chase Utley, 62.2
Ian Kinsler, 54.6
Brian Roberts, 50.6
Dan Uggla, 42.5
This is strictly offense, though, so what happens when the defensive element is introduced:
Chase Utley, +47
Mark Ellis, +26
Adam Kennedy, +19
Brandon Phillips, +17
Dustin Pedroia, +15
Only Utley and Petey remain, further establishing my assertion that this position belonged purely to the two of them this season. Based on the fact that Utley made over three times more plays than Pedroia relative to the average second basemen and that he either leads by a large margin, or is essentially tied to Pedroia in several offensive categories, it is in no way a stretch to conclude he had the best season for a keystone cornerman. Pedroia may walk home with some hardware, but Utley performed better, and I’m not just saying that as a fan of the Phillies.
In the baserunning department, Ian Kinsler scored a +41 based on his stolen base success and ability to advance to bases or take the next base. This put him seventh in the sport, ahead of all other second basemen. Placido Polanco‘s 43 strikeouts were the least, and Brian Roberts‘ 82 walks were the most amongst these players. Utley hit the most home runs, 33, and produced the highest OPS, .915. Pedroia came within four doubles of Todd Helton‘s “record” of 58, as he hit 54 two-baggers. Helton isn’t the record holder, but in recent history, nobody has more than his 58 from several years ago. Akinori Iwamura led the way with 9 triples in that department.
On the flipside, Freddy Sanchez and Robinson Cano had abysmal offensive seasons, finishing with a -1.44 and -1.31 WPA/LI, respectively. This does not mean either is a poor player, but rather that they had poor seasons. Factor in defense and it becomes clear that Cano had the worst season of any second basemen. Sanchez’s +2 at the position put him 11th, while Cano’s -16 placed him 34th, as he made sixteen less plays than an average second basemen. Entering the season, the thought existed that Cano might be able to challenge Utley in some way for second base supremacy. I don’t think anybody anticipated they would find themselves as polar opposites on both offense and defense. Tomorrow, we turn to Shortstops and Third Basemen, before finishing off the infield with Catchers on Friday.
23
Utley’s defense remains vastly underrated by everyone but the stat geeks, it seems. I’ve never seen him mentioned as a potential gold glover – I’ve even seen members of the Philly sports media, who aught to know better, suggest that he move to first or left field if/when either Howard or Burrell leaves. I’m glad he’s getting some more exposure in the playoffs.
Eric where do you get the fielding stats like +47 or whatever?
Bill James Online. It’s worth the 3 bucks a month just for the Fielding and Baserunning metrics.
Not that I’m up on this stuff or anything, but yeah, I was pretty shocked to see Utley at +111 over the last four seasons. That borders on ridiculous.
Then Phillies writers are idiots, offense like that at 2B is a huge premium, not so much at 1B, and that’s before you throw in the defense and basestealing.
For those who are not familiar with the Fielding Plus/Minus system, I thought it should be noted that what the number means is the number of additional plays that fielder made that at least one other player missed or not made that at least one other player made, and directly related to how often the player make the play. A total plus/minus of zero means he is average. Thus Utley made 47 more plays than the average MLB secondbaseman would make, Pedroia 15 more plays.
Nice article, nice series, I’m looking forward to the rest!
I think that its tough to just give it to him without taking into account that Utley is playing in the NL. Its hard to say for sure, but it seems like there is a huge talent discrepancy between the two leagues. Maybe I’m overexaggerating it because I’ve watched my twins absolutely dominate the National league over the past few years.