The Rockies starting pitching is terrible. However, they aren’t the worst in baseball. That distinguished honor currently belongs to the woeful Twins. Regardless, being in the same league as the Twins in anything is a really, really bad sign. The Rockies pitching problems will not be going away any time soon. Sure, they have some valuable arms in the bullpen, but if this continues, they’ll all be worn out. And the starters, oh man, those pitiful starters. They’re all either hurt, ancient, or just flat out terrible.
The mournful starting pitching has been discussed ad naseum though. It’s by far the largest and most obvious problem with this team. Anybody that pays attention to the Rockies is well aware of this fact. However, the starting pitching has been so terrible that it has somewhat overshadowed another giant weakness on the Rockies’ team – defense. Thus far, their defense has been absolutely awful, arguably the worst in baseball. That, combined with the sad, sad state of their rotation, adds up to a catastrophic failure in the run prevention department, which leads to four games under .500 despite one of the best lineups in the NL.
Just how bad are these Rockies on defense? Well, let’s take a look using data provided by both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference.
The first thing that jumps out about the 2012 Rockies is that they are dead last in baseball in defensive runs saved. Currently, the Blue Jays lead MLB in that department with a 29 DRS score. The Rockies are at the far opposite end of the spectrum with a -32 (that’s right, negative 32), which is the worst number in baseball by an incredibly wide margin.
For those that prefer UZR as a defensive metric, again the Rockies score as the worst defensive team in baseball with a -14.9. According to the metrics, as a team they have very limited range, commit too many errors, and are below league average in both throwing and turning double plays. See a trend developing here?
Baseball Reference is a little kinder to the Rockies, but not much. Total Zone fielding ranks them as the 25th worst fielding team in MLB. And traditional metrics, like fielding percentage, also don’t paint a very pretty picture. There really is no way around it. Aside from Todd Helton, this team hasn’t been able to handle the leather this year. Long gone are the days of the 2007 Rockies whose defensive dominance carried them to a World Series. As this team is currently constructed, defense is a side note, and that needs to change.
The good news is that, unlike the pitching, we should see improvement in this area. First of all, Carlos Gonzalez has been the worst left fielder in either league so far this season. That won’t continue. There has been much debate about CarGo’s defense. On one hand, he’s a Gold Glover who has often left us awed with electric defensive gems. On the other, the metrics say that he takes too many unnecessary risks and poor routes, scoring negatively as a result. Whatever you want to believe about CarGo’s D, he’s not the worst left fielder in baseball. That we know. We can safely expect improvement there.
The other big problem right now has obviously been Tulo. It is no secret that Tulo leads the team in errors with seven. His inconsistent play in the field has been alarming, but is there really any question about what kind of defender the Rockies have in Troy Tulowitzki? He had a bad month. He’s human. He’s also still the best defensive shortstop in baseball. The errors are unfortunate, but they are fluky and it’s highly doubtful that it will continue. So, there are two spots, left field and shortstop, where we can pretty much bank on regression to the mean.
However, there are some other defensive holes that aren’t likely to change. The first one is third base. Right now, the Rockies aren’t the worst team overall at third base, but they’re close and if Jordan Pacheco starts logging significant time over there, they will be soon. If/when Arenado arrives, we might see some improvement, but until that happens, the Rockies appear to be willing to ride it out with Nelson and Checo. Unfortunately, the end result of this scenario is predictably terrible.
Right field is also a significant problem. There is a lot to like about Michael Cuddyer but his range rating is one of the worst of any right fielder. His DRS is a -6, the lowest of any qualifying right fielder in MLB. Cuddy has made some plays with his arm, but it hasn’t been close to enough to make up for all of his other defensive deficiencies. The Coors Field outfield is expansive and Cuddyer can’t cover it. As long as he’s the everyday right fielder, it’s just something the Rox will have to deal with.
Perhaps some of this is circular – defense gets bored because pitchers are so bad, etc. However, if the Rockies really want to improve their situation, the defense has to improve. Sticking a great defensive team behind a bad pitching staff might be just putting lipstick on a pig, but nevertheless, it is lipstick. There really is no quicker, easier way to improve the pitching staff than by playing better defense. And it is something that this organization used to take pride in. Now, not so much.
As I said earlier, CarGo and Tulo will play better. It’s almost a guarantee. But, the rest of this team has to make a commitment to getting better in the field if they want any shot at being competitive for the rest of the season. The simple fact is that their pitching is too poor to overcome the defense they’ve been playing lately.
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11 comments
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JD
May 8, 2012 at 2:40 PM (UTC -6)
Cargo is indeed a problem; he lags in any area of the game that one would call “mental.”
The article didn’t even mention Dex; clearly he’s not enough to overcome this mess. Then there’s Rosario behind the plate; another disaster. And finally, Scutero, whose abysmal offense to date is supposed to be excused by defensive professionalism. Apparently not. What did we gain by signing him?
Logan Burdine
May 8, 2012 at 2:49 PM (UTC -6)
yeah, I was just pointing out extremes. Dex is an average MLB centerfielder, same with Scutaro at second. You expect poor defense from rookie catchers, but at least Wilin has been throwing out runners.
They traded garbage to get Scutaro, so I’m still perfectly fine with the acquisition.
Travis Lay
May 8, 2012 at 7:21 PM (UTC -6)
I haven’t looked into this in depth and not sure if a lot will show up in box scores or in game recaps but Scutaro has been AWFUL. Like the other day when he just simply didn’t finish the play and instead of laying a tag on the base runner attempting to steal second he ASS-U-MEd the batter had walked, when he hadn’t and he missed a sure thing out at 2nd.
Then there was the cutoff play the other night where if he lets the ball go there would have been a play at the plate.
Or his horrid OBP and of course Jim Tracy insists on letting him lead off.
And wasn’t there a few more mental lapses in one game a few weeks ago by Scutaro? It seems like there have been a lot, and like the Rockies defense, the pitching has been so bad his poor play has flown under the radar.
Mike
May 8, 2012 at 7:45 PM (UTC -6)
You have all done a great job of making me pleased to be too cheap to buy the mlb.tv subscription. At least when I listen to the Rox on the internet radio I don’t have to see the putrid defense backing the *vomitacious* pitching. And it is looking like I was right when I was wondering if the Rox were planning on making a run at that wonderful record, most home runs allowed, season….. sigh…
Brendan Giles
May 9, 2012 at 8:07 AM (UTC -6)
The defense is a bigger problem than the pitching. And its not just the errors, the plays that ‘should’ be made but don’t count as errors are just as bad. I also don’t buy the argument that the long counts put the defenders on their heals and that leads to errors. I think that the poor defense flusters the pitchers more than bad pitching causes errors (for example: CarGo and Chacin in Pittsburgh). Just look at the -32 DRS. even if that was a 0, it would be a huge improvement and the pitchers would look a lot better. I am not trying to say that the pitching has not been a big problem, but when you already suck and now you have to get 30 outs a game rather than 27 it a disaster waiting to happen.
Lonnie
May 9, 2012 at 3:53 PM (UTC -6)
Pitching is defense – and defense is pitching. The two are intertwined to the point where statisticians will attribute a full third of any team’s pitching numbers to its team’s defense.
The dimensions of Coors Field almost require the club fields three center fielders in order to run everything down. Is Cuddyer making up for his fielding deficiencies at the plate, and then some? Is Dex covering enough ground to make up for Cuddyer? You know the answer to those questions.
When the Rockies made it to the World Series, they had the top defense in MLB. Did baseball operations forget this over the last few seasons?
Logan Burdine
May 9, 2012 at 6:30 PM (UTC -6)
Of course, offense always deserves more weight than defense. Cuddyer has been solid at the plate, but I don’t think he’s been worth $10 million a season. Dex drives me crazy because he could be so much better. You’re right, if he played up to his potential, it would end up making a big difference in right.
To be honest, I might be done trying to figure out the reasoning behind most of the decisions made by this front office.
Troyf
May 10, 2012 at 7:31 AM (UTC -6)
My biggest issue with this team right now. There is no way they should be this bad. They suck beyond words right now. I don’t give a crap if it is a 15 pitch count and one hitter takes 15 minutes, field the damned ball.
As someone above said, it isn’t just the errors. Helton decided to bypass the pitcher this year and run one over to first. The hitter beat him. Screwed up double plays have been another part of the experience. We can talk all we want aBout the pitching staff, Dex, and other things, but if the defense continues to. E this bad, this team has no chance to be good.
The players should be ashamed of themselves right now.
Simone
May 11, 2012 at 11:23 AM (UTC -6)
I don’t think there’s any question that this year is another “let’s try this and see…” year.
Some thing I don’t understand…
The D’backs are paying Justin Upton $3 million less than the Rox are paying Cuddyer. I’d take Upton in a heartbeat over Cuddy.
Todd Helton is getting $6 million a year…i’m thinking he’s done after this year? Who do we put there once he’s gone?
Stewart is batting .200 with the Cubs with a couple of homers and a dozen RBI’s. Would it have been better to give him 1 more year (solid D) in Denver to see if he progressed much and if not bring up Arenado for the 2013 season and end up getting more for Stewart than what we got?
Scutaro…again…$6 million for this guy? I could do just as good of a job at 2nd and at the plate and i’d charge the Rox 1/10th of that
Omar Infante is getting $4 million from the Marlins and is at least at the same level on the defensive side and has been ripping it at the plate hitting .313 with 6 HR’s and 15 RBI’s.
Pitching…well…I don’t think I need to say much here. It’s obvious.
Logan Burdine
May 11, 2012 at 11:33 AM (UTC -6)
- Upton is on a prorated deal. He’ll be making $15 million a season by the end of it. Still, it’s a good contract. That’s the difference between extending a player already under control and signing free agents.
- Cuddyer
- You love Stewart. I don’t get it. He’s been terrible in Chicago. Who’s going to give anything up for a third baseman with a slugging percentage in the 300s?
- I’d rather have Infante too, but was that ever a realistic possibility? I get that people are frustrated with Scutaro, but let’s remember what second has been like for the last couple of years. Maybe the move doesn’t work out, but at the time it was done, and the price that was given, it was a deal that had to be made. If it hadn’t, they’d really be in trouble. Who would be playing there right now?
Simone
May 12, 2012 at 4:36 PM (UTC -6)
I don’t love Stewart I just think he got the short end of the stick.
Has he been doing well at the plate? Not really. Do I think his defense at 3rd makes up for his low BA? Absolutely.
Last year Stewart got hosed by Tracy and he was traded for nothing. So why not give him this year as a last chance at 3rd? Let him play and if he still bats under .230 then you can trade him and get more than we did this year.
Put the kid under the spotlight and let him make or break his career.
Defending Jim Tracy. Sorta. - Blake Street Bulletin » Blake Street Bulletin
May 14, 2012 at 10:02 AM (UTC -6)
[...] out and if Scutaro would have just applied the tag it would have been a double play). And how many defensive errors has this team had this year? If Clint Hurdle was the supposed reason for the historically great defensive play in 2007 then [...]