Who has the best infield defense?
By
John Dewan
January 26, 2006
Last week we did a preview on outfielders from our new book about defense in baseball,
The Fielding Bible
. Let's do infield this week. The new Plus/Minus System to evaluate defense has a plus/minus number associated with each player to indicate how many plays he made above or below the number of plays an average fielder would be expected to make.
Here are the infield leaders for the three-year period 2003-2005:
First Base
Mark Teixeira
Texas
+53
Doug Mientkiewicz
3 teams
+32
Albert Pujols
St. Louis
+25
The Worst: Richie Sexson
3 teams
-28
Second Base
Orlando Hudson
Toronto
+77
Marcus Giles
Atlanta
+38
Adam Kennedy
LA Angels
+38
The Worst: Bret Boone
Sea-Min
-54
Third Base
Adrian Beltre
LAD-Seattle
+71
David Bell
Philadelphia
+52
Scott Rolen
St. Louis
+46
The Worst: Ty Wigginton
NY Mets-Pit
-48
Shortstop
Adam Everett
Houston
+76
Jack Wilson
Pittsburgh
+50
Jimmy Rollins
Philadelphia
+40
The Worst: Michael Young
Texas
-73
The teams with the best overall infields for the 2005 season:
Philadelphia Phillies
+107
(Ryan Howard/Jim Thome, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, David Bell)
St. Louis Cardinals
+49
(Albert Pujols, Mark Grudzielanek, David Eckstein, Abraham Nunez/Scott Rolen)
Los Angeles Angels
+46
(Darin Erstad, Adam Kennedy, Orlando Cabrera, Chone Figgins/Dallas McPherson)
Houston Astros
+36
(Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio, Adam Kennedy, Morgan Ensberg)
Oakland A's
+32
(Dan Johnson, Mark Ellis, Bobby Crosby/Marco Scutaro, Eric Chavez)
The Worst: Kansas City Royals
-117
(Matt Stairs/Mike Sweeney, Ruben Gotay, Angel Berroa, Mark Teahen)
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