By MARK SIMON Baseball moves quickly these days. Free agency is already upon us, with some highly-coveted names in this year’s market. But who are the free agents who will be most coveted for their defense? Thirty-year-old second baseman DJ LeMahieu won his third career Gold Glove (he finished a close second…
This is the second of a two-part series on the top candidates for The Fielding Bible Awards, which will be announced next week. Part I can be found here. The Fielding Bible Awards are voted on by a panel of 12 experts, who can vote based on visual observations and subjective…
For the next two weeks, this space will feature a multi-part series on the top candidates for The Fielding Bible Awards, which will be announced the week of October 29. The Fielding Bible Awards are voted on by a panel of 12 experts, who can vote based on visual observation…
By Mark Simon With the 2018 regular season concluded, let’s look at the leaders in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman finished as the overall leader with 29. Chapman dominated all season, with his work being particularly outstanding on balls hit down the third base line. The next-closest third…
When a promising position player gets called up from the minors, you almost never hear about his defensive prospects unless they are extreme in one direction or the other. At Baseball Info Solutions, we use Minor League Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) as a tool to expand fans’ knowledge of the…
This month, two of baseball’s promising young pitchers—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Michael Kopech of the White Sox—learned that they will likely need Tommy John surgery due to torn ulnar collateral ligaments in their throwing arms. While Ohtani remains in the Angels’ lineup as a hitter, Kopech’s debut season…
In a crowded group of highly-talented center fielders, it has been tough for Adam Engel to stand out from the rest. But in August he did. He’s our selection as the MLB Defensive Player of the Month. Engel finished the month with eight Defensive Runs Saved, the most by any…
As of this past Sunday, teams have shifted more in 2018 than in any other season.
The National League MVP race is shaping up to be incredibly tight with a little more than a month left in the regular season, and it parallels the race for the lead in the Total Runs stat. Total Runs combines Runs Created (offense), Baserunning Runs and Defensive Runs Saved, along…
BY MARK SIMON Though we shone a spotlight on the Milwaukee Brewers’ defense last week, we neglected to mention a team that was just a notch behind them. That team has since surpassed the Brewers statistically and currently has no equals on the defensive front—the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks have…
