Saturday, December 22, 2012

Omar Infante Ranked in Top Five Defensively in 2012

In previous posts, I looked at the Revised Zone Rating (RZR) and Out-of-Zone Plays (OOZ) metrics listed at FanGraphs.  Links to these posts are provided below:
Now, I'm going to to do the above conversion for second basemen.  Table 1 below contains the following information for 22 MLB second basemen 800 or more innings in 2012:
  • Inn = Innings
  • RZR = Revised Zone Rating
  • OOZ = Out-of-Zone Plays
  • PIZAA =  Plays in Zone Above Average
  • OOZAA = Out-of-Zone Plays Above Average
  • PMAA = Total Plays Above Average
  • RSAA = Runs Saved Above Average
The MLB Runs Saved Above Average leader was Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney +23 follwed by the Yankees' Robinson Cano (+18).   The worst by far was Rickie Weeks of the Brewers (-34). 

Omar Infante, who played for the Marlins and Tigers finished fifth with +12 RSAA.  Some fans may be skeptical about Infante because he makes a lot of errors - second highest in the majors with 17 in 2012 - but he also makes plays.  Infante was especially good at turning balls hit into the second base zone into outs finishing 12 plays better than average.  He was also five plays above average outside the zone.  Other advanced statistics support his being a strong defender as he was +6 on Defensive Runs Saved and +4 Baseball Prospectus' Fielding Runs Above Average.  

Table 1: Runs Saved by MLB Second Basemen According to RZR, OOZ, 2012


Player
Team
Inn
RZR
OOZ
PIZ AA
OOZ AA
PMAA
RSAA
Darwin Barney
CHC
1,270
.836
65
10
20
30
23
Robinson Cano
NYY
1,343
.814
69
3
21
24
18
Jason Kipnis
CLE
1,293
.834
56
11
10
21
16
Aaron Hill
ARI
1,336
.831
57
10
10
20
15
Omar Infante
MIA/DET
1,246
.836
49
12
5
16
12
Dustin Pedroia
BOS
1,216
.830
49
8
6
13
10
Dan Uggla
ATL
1,348
.833
50
11
2
13
10
Mark Ellis
LAD
910
.896
25
20
-7
13
10
Brandon Phillips
CIN
1,251
.840
45
12
1
13
10
Ian Kinsler
TEX
1,265
.770
66
-12
21
9
6
Howie Kendrick
LAA
1,242
.813
48
2
4
6
5
Robert Andino
BAL
899
.790
41
-4
9
5
4
Dustin Ackley
SEA
1,259
.815
45
3
0
3
2
Kelly Johnson
TOR
1,179
.791
50
-5
8
3
2
Neil Walker
PIT
1,068
.821
35
5
-3
2
1
Danny Espinosa
WSN
1,069
.822
29
5
-9
-4
-3
Gordon Beckham
CHW
1,308
.793
40
-5
-6
-11
-9
Marco Scutaro
CHC/SF
955
.793
24
-4
-10
-14
-11
Jose Altuve
HOU
1,226
.763
43
-18
-1
-18
-14
Jemile Weeks
OAK
1,013
.767
27
-11
-9
-20
-15
Daniel Murphy
NYM
1,127
.787
21
-7
-19
-26
-19
Rickie Weeks
MIL
1,344
.735
31
-28
-17
-45
-34

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