2006 Defensive Blues: Part IIa
The other day we posted David Pinto’s PMR defensive team stats which indicated the Pirates had 4,448 balls in play last year, a team Defensive Efficiency Ratio (DER) of .674 (MLB had the Pirates with a .688 DER), and an expected DER of .683.
What this means in a nutshell is that the Pirates had 4.448 balls put in play on the field off their pitchers, not including home runs, and PMR says they converted 67.4% of those into an out, but were expected to convert 68.3%. That -0.9% difference represents about 2 outs given to the opposing team every 3-game series we played over the MLB median.
So where did the Pirates fail, according to PMR? Let’s see:
GB = ground balls and bunt grounders
FB = fly balls, line drives, pop ups, and bunt pop ups
Obviously, the Pirates were pretty rank on anything in the air to the outfield ranking dead last in MLB. Remember now, PMR is park adjusted so these figures already take into account PNC park’s vastness.
If you read my blog all year, then you know I whined and whined about Jason Bay’s poor fielding in left field. Baseball Prospectus listed Bay as a +11 run defensive fielder last year but, between you and me, that’s just plain nuts. Bay was a tad better than league average getting to a ball in play, but significantly below average in the number of runners who took bases on him once he got the ball.
Bay wasn’t the only problem though, as our right field combo’s last year would even make AA team’s look bad.
We’ll continue to monitor Pinto’s work and report it here.
Pittsburgh Pirates - Bucco Blog 
You are certainly on a roll this month.
is that a good roll or a bad roll fluffy? hehe
A great roll. It’s so much fun when I check your blog and see you have new stuff written. It’s a great feeling.
you’re hilarious fluffy!