I hope you're sitting down for this, because I'm going to share a notion that might shock you right out of your Snuggie.
No, it's not that Jose Canseco is suing MLB. Or that Congress is now setting its sights on Sammy Sosa. Those two nuggets wouldn't even surprise this guy.
No, what I'm going to point out is so shocking, you might question everything you thought you knew about baseball:
DEREK JETER IS NOT SUCH A BAD DEFENDER ANYMORE.
That's right, he's not. In fact, at the age of 34 (35 in 9 days, don't forget to send a card), Jeter is putting together his finest defensive season since they've been keeping advanced defensive metrics.
|
|
|
Looking at two fielding stats, range runs and UZR, Jeter has improved immensely since 2005, when he contributed to one of the worst defensive teams to ever make the playoffs.
Here is how Jeter's numbers stack up since that season:
Range runs (Number of runs above or below average a fielder is, determined by how the fielder is able to get to balls in his vicinity)
2005: -17.1
2006: -7.1
2007: -16.0
2008: -3.2
2009 (through 60 games): 0.6
Ultimate zone rating (Number of runs above or below average a fielder is in both range runs, outfield arm runs, double play runs and error runs combined)
2005: -14.3
2006: -6.8
2007: -15.3
2008: -0.5
2009 (through 60 games): 1.6
The improvement clearly started last season, when Jeter rededicated himself to defense, employing "exercises designed to improve his lateral quickness and first-step explosiveness."
So how has Jeter gone from being among the worst defensive shortstops in baseball to a slightly above-average one?
Is it something simple like these exercises he's doing? His diet? The fact that no one wants to hit the ball on the ground at the new Yankee Stadium?
I wonder what Jerod Morris thinks? That last one was a joke, folks.
Leave a Comment:
Saving...
While Jeter has never been all that great as a short stop, his defense was never all around bad. He had strong points and one really really weak point. Jeter is really good at making plays on the balls he actually gets to, that's why his fielding percentage is usually pretty damn good and he doesn't make all that many errors. He's really good at going back for pop-ups (might be useful if he ever transitions to the outfield) as many will remember that play against Boston when he went diving head first into the stands after making a catch on a pop-up. He's about average to his right. His arm isn't the greatest, but he makes up for it with that patented mid-air throw allowing him to release the ball earlier. What he's really, really, really bad at is going to his left (second base) and going in on grounders. There's nothing more infuriating than watching ground ball after ground ball go through the middle because Jeter couldn't get there, while almost any other short stop would have been able to.
So if he's really been working on his first step and laterally quickness, and if those exercises actually work, then yeah, that would explain his improved defense a lot. Of course that only begs the question of why Jeter never really worked on his defense way earlier on in his career.
Being able to throw to Mark Teixiera instead of Jason Giambi is a big deal. Teixiera can catch a lot of balls that would otherwise be throwing errors.
Jeter has never made a ton of errors anyway, as his biggest flaw is that he just can't get to the ball. That said, he's still having a much improved defensive year and he deserves props for that. It still doesn't make up for all those years that he played putrid defense and received gold gloves on name recognition and some flashy web gems.
And he's still barely average, so let's not get too excited.
I think it's because he's on my fantasy team. It's worked for some other guys...
Well played, sir. :)
Jeter is one of those great player for whom numbers don't tell the story. He's a winner, and one of the great Yankees. His attitude, work ethic, performance in the clutch, they made him a better shortstop than Garciaparra in his prime, and that is saying something.