Today, I’ll look at the Average Range Ranks for first basemen. The table below lists the 30 first basemen with 600 or more innings in 2005. Note that range does not say as much about first base defense as it does about some other positions because so much of playing first base involves taking throws from infielders, This foot and glove work around the bag is not taken into consideration in range calculations. With that in mind, here are the highlights for first basemen:
- Chris Shelton was 24th in baseball with an ARR of 20.8. His ranks varied from 4 (Range Factor) to 30th (Gassko).
- The leading first basemen in baseball were Tino Martinez (6.3), Mark Teixeira (7.0) and Doug Mientkiewicz (7.3).
- The worst ARR (27.0) belonged to Richie Sexson.
Table:
| Player | Team | Innings | Best Rank | Worst Rank | ARR |
| | NYY | 771 | 1 | 12 | 6.3 |
| Teixeira | | 1358 | 2 | 14 | 7.0 |
| Mientkiewicz | NYM | 675 | 2 | 16 | 7.3 |
| Pujols | StL | 1359 | 1 | 18 | 8.5 |
| | Ari | 653 | 2 | 23 | 8.8 |
| Morneau | Min | 1166 | 5 | 14 | 9.8 |
| Choi | LAD | 665 | 3 | 23 | 10.0 |
| Helton | | 1230 | 1 | 17 | 10.5 |
| Hinske | Tor | 860 | 6 | 19 | 12.3 |
| Millar | Bos | 796 | 7 | 21 | 12.8 |
| Konerko | CWS | 1273 | 8 | 24 | 13.3 |
| Erstad | LAA | 1279 | 3 | 26 | 13.5 |
| Johnson | Was | 1099 | 4 | 27 | 14.0 |
| Broussard | Cle | 1051 | 5 | 28 | 15.3 |
| Ward | Pit | 892 | 8 | 21 | 15.5 |
| Snow | SF | 826 | 10 | 22 | 15.8 |
| Nevin | SD | 611 | 4 | 28 | 16.0 |
| Berkman | Hou | 738 | 6 | 26 | 17.5 |
| | Ari | 643 | 10 | 24 | 17.8 |
| Lee | ChC | 1386 | 10 | 23 | 17.8 |
| Casey | Cin | 1139 | 10 | 25 | 18.0 |
| LaRoche | Atl | 1019 | 5 | 28 | 18.5 |
| Overbay | Mil | 1265 | 7 | 30 | 18.5 |
| | Det | 738 | 4 | 30 | 20.8 |
| Howard | Phi | 706 | 12 | 28 | 21.3 |
| Johnson | Oak | 884 | 17 | 27 | 21.8 |
| Palmeiro | Bal | 748 | 13 | 30 | 22.5 |
| Lee | TB | 918 | 20 | 29 | 23.5 |
| Delgado | | 1206 | 15 | 29 | 24.0 |
| Sexson | Sea | 1302 | 23 | 30 | 27.0 |
Further evidence that Carlos Pena needs to play. A lot. He should start at first against righties basically all the time. Great glove, second best bat vRHP on the team last season, and Shelton can DH. Dmitri? Well, if he's in shape, he should play left (against righties). Yeah, he's substandard out there, but Monroe's bat simply isn't good enough against righties. And I think Dmitri's health could hold up if he weren't playing out there full time (i.e. DHing against lefties with Shelton playing first).
ReplyDeleteWe need more of a lefty presence in our lineup, to go with more OBP skills, so finding a way to get Dmitri and Pena in there against righties is a necessity.
I'd also like to see Pena play against RHP. Hopefully, Young can play in the outfield sometimes. Otherwise, Pena (one of their only LH bats) will most likely be sitting on the bench most of the time.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't object to Dmitri being dealt during the spring either. Atlanta or LAAOA might be interested, at least once they see he's in shape (if he is, in fact, in shape). Thames or Josh Phelps could then platoon with Pena.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that scenario leaves Monroe in left full-time, something I'm not in love with.
Given your defensive analysis, it's interesting to wonder if we really lose as much as some suggest with Dmitri in left. Monroe ain't so hot either. If Dmitri's in shape, he's below average, but apparently Monroe is too.
I think if Dmitri is in good enough shape to play the outfield, I'd do a platoon: Yound at DH and Monroe in LF against LHP and Pena at DH and Young in LF against RHP. I'm still skeptical about Young though. He needed to get slimmer but he also needs to be able to move around without hurting his hamstring.
ReplyDelete