Who are the Runs Saved Leaders? (Part I)

With summer officially beginning this week, it’s a good time to check in on our Runs Saved leaders.  Runs Saved are a defensive measure we developed in The Fielding Bible that shows how many runs a defender saves (or costs) his team in the field. This week, we’ll look at infielders and catchers and next week we’ll review outfielders and pitchers.

Matt Wieters has saved an estimated eight runs for the Orioles so far this year, leading all Major League catchers.  Notice anything missing on the catcher leaderboard?  Four-time Fielding Bible Award winner Yadier Molina is nowhere to be found.  He has struggled this year, throwing out only 28 percent of base stealers in 2011 so far compared to well over 40 percent for his career.

At first base, another Cardinal isn’t where he usually is. Perennial Fielding Bible Award winner Albert Pujols has started off slowly in the field as well as with the bat, costing the Cardinals four runs defensively so far this year.  Last year’s Fielding Bible Award winner Daric Barton has been sent to AAA and co-leader Adam LaRoche is on the Disabled List.  That leaves Daniel Murphy and Carlos Lee as the (healthy) co-leaders in Runs Saved.

After missing the first several weeks of the season with an injury, the Phillies welcomed reigning Fielding Bible award winner Chase Utley back to the lineup on May 23.  He is already in the top five defensively at second base having saved three runs for the Phillies.  Ben Zobrist has played some right field, but the majority of his time has been at second. He leads all second basemen with nine Runs Saved. 

There are several surprises on the third base leaderboard.  Jayson Nix is having a tremendous year with the glove saving eight runs defensively.  Nix has bounced around the last few years but looks very comfortable at third base in only 40 games for the Blue Jays this year.  Another surprise is Alex Rodriguez.  Over his last six years, A-Rod has been a below-average third baseman, but this year he has played very well.  Adrian Beltre is no surprise, having another strong season in the field.

Alex Gonzalez leads shortstops with 13 Runs Saved.  Gonzalez narrowly leads 2010 Fielding Bible Award winner Troy Tulowitzki in a crowded shortstop field.  Shortstop is another position where the Cardinals are having problems defensively.  Normally about average defensively, Ryan "The Riot" Theriot is 35th out of 35 defenders that we rate in MLB having cost St. Louis 14 runs with his defense.  Meanwhile, the other Ryan, Brendan Ryan, whom the Cardinals traded to Seattle, has saved nine runs.  That's a 23-run swing on defense.  On offense, Theriot is outperforming Brendan having created 31 runs to 22 for Brendan.  Using Total Runs, which adds in baserunning as well, Brendan Ryan has 46 Total Runs, compared to 30 for Ryan Theriot.  Advantage: Brendan (so far).
 
Despite the defensive problems, the Cardinals are only a half game behind the Brewers in the NL Central.  Albert Pujols is out for the next month or so, but this aspect of the game bodes well for St. Louis. Their defense should improve as these struggling defenders come back towards their career norms.

Next week, we’ll review outfielders and pitchers.

A fielder’s Defensive Runs Saved (Runs Saved, for short) indicates how many runs a player saved or cost his team in the field compared to others at his position.  For more information on Runs Saved, including an FAQ, visit FieldingBible.com.  For updated Runs Saved toals, visit BillJamesOnline.com, Baseball-Reference.com, or FanGraphs.com.

Have you submitted your entry for the Fielding Bible-Volume III Defensive Analysis Contest?  Entries are due July 12.