Leveraging Speed and Defense

by EtSuKe on Oct 10, 2009 10:51 PM EDT

(bumped from FanPosts. --eric)

Lots of people, here and elsewhere, say that the Mets need players that fit Citi. The idea is that the better defensive players can cover the fly balls hit deep and run down balls in the gap and at the wall. There is more space to cover and good defense takes advantage of that. In addition to good defenders usually being speedy, stolen bases have a lager impact in low run environments. But does anyone have any evidence that this assumption is actually true? Is a fast, good defensive player, but worse offensively in a large park more valuable than an equal overall player (in normal parks) who is slower and worse defensively, but better offensively? Similarly, is a higher OBP, lower SLG player more valuable in Citi than an overall equal low OBP, high SLG player?

The only thing I have read about this is at the Book Blog (which I FanShot a little while ago). In the comments, they don't reach any conclusion. It is a very complicated question that is hard to answer. This would be a good thing to determine before making personnel decisions on this assumption. I think the best idea is just to get the best player, and not worry about tailoring to Citi. I do think, however, that more specific tailoring would be successful, such as pairing fly ball pitchers with good defensive outfielders or good ground ball pitchers with good defensive infielders. Or, good right handed hitters in a stadium with short left field fences. As MGL said:

BTW, one sign of a really poor manager or GM is when they make definitive statements about something that they clearly know nothing about. If they do that for one thing, how many other things do you think they do it for? Successful people in all fields always question what it is they know and don’t know and why. Ignorant and unsuccessful people do just the opposite (think they know lots more than they really do).

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions, reasoning skills, or attention to grammar and usage rules held by the editors of this site.

Tweet Comment 7 comments | 1 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I suspect

that it’s mostly baloney. While it’s conceivable that certain ballplayer characteristics are worth more in one environment than in another, I suspect it’s rarely (if ever) enough of a difference to justify changing an entire organizational philosophy. Ultimately, a run is a run is a run, whether it’s generated offensively or saved defensively or with pitching.

by Eric Simon on Oct 10, 2009 11:00 PM EDT reply actions

While I don’t doubt a guy like reyes is going to benefit from the gaps in citifield, and a CF like beltran is essential in covering such a wide space, I don’t think you can build a team around this. Eventually you’re going to need a big bopper (think dunn or reynolds) who will have no problem smacking home runs out of citifield. Speed and defense is nice but I’ve seen enough of a team that hits three singles in a row with no runs to show for it. I think like any ballpark, you need a good mix.

by Rey-O on Oct 10, 2009 11:32 PM EDT reply actions

I think managemant style needs to be more adaptive than player acquisitions.

Given two very very similar players, I can see the Mets shifting their focus to one based on speed and defense (say given the choice between Denard Span and Adam Lind). In most cases though, I think the Mets should not be worried about power being non-existant at Citi. Citifield didn’t make much difference in the Mets homers home and away, and it didn’t affect their opponents either. The Mets just failed to hit them.

"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green

by Stephen Schmidt on Oct 11, 2009 9:31 AM EDT reply actions