McCutchen 2017 defense?

[johnfluharty]

Did he end up average, below, above?  Better than 2016?  I'm not familiar enough with the defensive metrics to even look it up properly.  Someone more knowledgeable than me please post a review of his defense from a statistical perspective.  Thanks.

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

My eyes say he was better than he was in 2016. I am not sure what the defensive stats said. I also don't trust a lot of defensive stats since it is not black & white. There is a lot of gray and estimates when it comes to defensive stats.

[johnfluharty]

So, his UZR in CF this season was -4.6 and his DRS was -14.  Are those the best two stats to look at?  His UZR last year in CF was -18.7, so improved dramatically, but was still a negative.  His UZR in 2015 was -4.5.  His DRS in CF last year was -28 and it was -8 the year before, so he improved a lot on last year but was worse than in 2015, and he was again still a negative.  Over his career, though, he jumped back and forth from negatives to positives year to year so I'm not sure these stats mean a whole lot or really tell us anything.



http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?pl ... F#fielding

[Bobster21]

IMHO, positioning in the OF is a significant factor and I don't know if sabermetrics adequately accounts for that. An OFer always has a good idea where to play each hitter but it's not an exact science and it varies depending on who your pitcher is. You can't draw and X on the grass to ensure you're not 3 inches off where you stood the last time that batter was up. Sometimes a ball does not get caught that would have been caught if the OFer had stood just a couple inches different in any direction. But obviously when an OFer is not getting to the ball, whether it's by 3 feet of 3 inches, it's not caught. So those things can vary game to game or year to year. I don't know enough about the zone rating calculations to know how that factors in. Maybe someone can explain it. I rely on the eye test which seems pretty accurate.

[dogknot17@yahoo.co]

032E23323524337370410 wrote: IMHO, positioning in the OF is a significant factor and I don't know if sabermetrics adequately accounts for that. An OFer always has a good idea where to play each hitter but it's not an exact science and it varies depending on who your pitcher is. You can't draw and X on the grass to ensure you're not 3 inches off where you stood the last time that batter was up. Sometimes a ball does not get caught that would have been caught if the OFer had stood just a couple inches different in any direction. But obviously when an OFer is not getting to the ball, whether it's by 3 feet of 3 inches, it's not caught. So those things can vary game to game or year to year. I don't know enough about the zone rating calculations to know how that factors in. Maybe someone can explain it. I rely on the ye test which seems pretty accurate.


McCutchen didn't play in like he did in 2016. I didn't like that decision in 2016. It is easier to run in than back. McCutchen doesn't have an arm to hold runners.



I did see more players with note cards this year than years past. They would pull them out of their pocket before every at bat.

[Bobster21]

69626A666362793C3A4D746C656262236E620D0 wrote: IMHO, positioning in the OF is a significant factor and I don't know if sabermetrics adequately accounts for that. An OFer always has a good idea where to play each hitter but it's not an exact science and it varies depending on who your pitcher is. You can't draw and X on the grass to ensure you're not 3 inches off where you stood the last time that batter was up. Sometimes a ball does not get caught that would have been caught if the OFer had stood just a couple inches different in any direction. But obviously when an OFer is not getting to the ball, whether it's by 3 feet of 3 inches, it's not caught. So those things can vary game to game or year to year. I don't know enough about the zone rating calculations to know how that factors in. Maybe someone can explain it. I rely on the ye test which seems pretty accurate.


McCutchen didn't play in like he did in 2016.  I didn't like that decision in 2016. It is easier to run in than back.  McCutchen doesn't have an arm to hold runners.



I did see more players with note cards this year than years past.  They would pull them out of their pocket before every at bat. 
I thought Cutch was better this year than in 2016. I never noticed players checking cards. That's interesting.

[IABucFan]

Another factor to consider is Marte's stupidity. By taking out a legit GG left fielder, and replacing him with whatever back-up infielder was the flavor of the day, meant a necessary decrease in range, which meant that McCutchen had to cover more ground. With Marte in left, Cutch can shade a bit more towards right field (probably), knowing that Marte can get to everything in left center.