Comments on: No ‘E’s in New York

By: vivaelpujols

vivaelpujols — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:16:11 +0000

Michael Young has committed just 3 errors so far this year. His ErrR is +1, his RngR is -9.

By: waynetolleson

waynetolleson — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:51:55 +0000

You know, there is something to be said for making the plays you can make, catching the balls you get to, throwing to the right base, etc… For some reason, it’s just really deflating when there’s an error. Even if a ball squeaks through for a single, and a better defender probably gets to that ball, it feels worse psychologically when a fielder boots a ball, or throws a ball away.

I buy that pitchers will feel more confident if they see their fielders vacuuming-up those routine outs. Yeah, you’d like seven guys behind you who run like deer and have cannons for throwing arms. But maybe it feels a little more calming having a Derek Jeter behind you than a Jose Reyes, who has better fielding skills across the board than Jeter, but could also take himself out of a play mentally – ie. play with his head up his *ss – on any given play.

By: Rob in CT

Rob in CT — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:18:15 +0000

In a perfect world, that’s an error. However, no official scorer in MLB would have called that an error. He never touched it, therefore it wasn’t an error. It’s stupid, but that’s the way it works. He misplayed the hell out of that ball.

By: bastardo

bastardo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:51:43 +0000

Is there anywhere that daily UZR numbers are posted?

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:23:54 +0000

There were a couple. Maybe not errors, per se, but definitely players where the fielder screwed up. Brett Gardner came in on a ball that was lined towards him and it went over his head. Nick Swisher uncorked a couple of rainbows that allowed runners to advance. Not errors in the tradition sense of the term, but definitely defensive mistakes.

By: B

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:04:17 +0000

Question for people who actually watch the Yankees. Have there been any really questionable rulings over this streak where something was ruled a basehit when it very well could have been an error?

By: David

David — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:14:45 +0000

“Does anybody even pay attention to errors anymore?”

You do realize that errors are a key component of UZR. For example, I doubt Michael Young is a well below average fielder at 3B in reality – he’s just committing a lot of errors, probably due to his unfamiliarity at the position.

By: Rob in CT

Rob in CT — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:01:20 +0000

Anyone who pays attention to the stats knows the Yanks are average defensively (or have been to this point). What’s funny is when you run into people who should know better who will claim that the Yankees are terrible defensively, without actually checking. They were terrible, but swapping out Giambi and Abreu for Teixiera and Swisher, plus some bounceback from Cano = big improvement. Jeter is continuing his average defense from last season, which is another conventional wisdom issue (amongst those who value statistical analysis, not the people who still think he deserved his GGs): Jeter is awful defensively, right? Well, not in 2008 and so far in 2009. If not for ARod’s injury, the Yanks might be solidly above average right now (his replacements were mostly bad, and his range since his return is not good).

By: Brent

Brent — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:32:28 +0000

Is anyone else surprised that the MLB record was only 18 games? But yeah, as Matt B stated, this is more of a sign of conservative defense than a talented one. Regardless, the addition of Teixeira I’m sure was a factor in these 18 games – good job nonetheless I suppose.

By: twinsfan

twinsfan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:04:37 +0000

Only every media outlet and casual fan in existence.