Defense MAY be overtuned
Traded for a decent pitcher from the Royals, thinking he'd be a good #3 - and he turned into a Cy Young candidate. Either I've assembled a god tier defensive squad or KC tried trotting out 9 first basemen.
| 20-80 Scale | NYY | KC |
|---|---|---|
| C - Block/Frame/Arm | 70/65/55 | 65/60/70 |
| 1B - Height/Range/Error/Arm/DP | 6'6"/50/45/40/50 | 6'2"/40/35/35/35 |
| 2B - Range/Error/Arm/DP | 65/60/50/50 | 65/55/60/60 |
| 3B - Range/Error/Arm/DP | 50/50/60/35 | 55/50/65/60 |
| SS - Range/Error/Arm/DP | 70/60/60/70 | 50/55/40/65 |
| LF - Range/Error/Arm | 65/55/50 | 65/60/45 |
| CF - Range/Error/Arm | 75/55/50 | 60/55/60 |
| RF - Range/Error/Arm | 60/65/55 | 65/60/65 |
No idea why KC doesn't flip their SS & 2B, but that can't make THAT much of a difference, can it?
14 comments · 65% upvoted · other discussions
what the other comment said about FIP is very accurate - also, you have a huge increase in defense quality at the two most important positions (SS and CF). like it’s hard to oversell how massive that change is, 50 infield range and 40 arm is barely playable on a second baseman, the Royals guy is probably racking up negative double-digits ZR before the All-Star break. the CF isn’t quite as diabolical but 60 to 75 is still a big difference.
the guy went from having the Logan O’Hoppe of shortstops behind him to having Bobby Witt and Jacob Young. going from a .310 BABIP to a .250 BABIP will give you a lot more opportunity to go on a wild run
Head_of_Lettuce 6 points · Aug 2026
You mentioning Bobby Witt sent me a down a bit of rabbit hole. The Rays fan in me was sad you didn’t say Taylor Walls, so I peaked at the Baseball Savant leaderboards.
Why does OAA hate Walls so much? He’s at -3 on the year, good for 194th across all positions. Bobby Witt is sitting at +24, #1 in MLB.
Meanwhile Walls is sitting at +19 TZR (#2) and +18 DRS (#5). Bobby Witt is at +12 TZR (outside the top 10, not sure the exact rank) and +12 DRS (#33).
I know defensive metrics have a ton of variance, and they’re best used in multi-year sample sizes. But still, that’s a pretty contrast. I wonder what that’s about.
E_Mohde 5 points · Aug 2026
the explanation I've read is he gets on OAA because of his positioning - he's typically in a good spot pre-contact so he gets hit because the difference between his expected success rate and his actual success rate isn't as high? but he makes the plays so his DRS reflects that
Head_of_Lettuce 1 points · Aug 2026
Ah! I didn’t realize that’s how OAA is calculated. That makes a lot of sense, thanks.