Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — It’s true that the Dodgers are on a pace to be one of the best, if not the best, team in franchise history when measured by regular season wins and losses. So any complaints at this point might seem like Cassandra-like doomsaying. And far be it from me to spill my soda on your waffles this morning, but there is a trend that the Dodgers have exhibited lately that has me “concerned.” And that is the team’s sloppiness in the field.
In the six games of this homestand, they have committed six errors, and that is just counting the plays that “officially” went as errors in the scorebooks. This does not include things like missed cutoffs, failures to turn double plays, and balls that “could” have been outs, but were bobbled into hits. This stands in stark contrast with a team like the Cardinals, who have plus defenders all over the place it seems, led by Arrenado and Goldschmidt at the corners.
It’s true that the Dodgers have their share of elite players with the glove: Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, and Joey Gallo are all past Gold Glove winners. And its true that the Dodgers’ analytic team more often than not puts the LA defenders in position to succeed. However, the deeper we dig, the more it seems like these numbers are not built on the firmest of foundations.
If we go by the metric of Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), the Dodgers are in second place with 79 runs saved this season, according to the Fielding Bible. They trail only the Yankees, who lead the category with 108. However, if we closer at that stat, we see that over half of the runs saved (51) come from two places: shifts (35) and right field (16). Now you didn’t have to read this article to know that the Dodgers have an elite glove in right field with Mookie Betts. But he is doing most of the heavy lifting for this team when it comes to playing defense. The rest of the positions are not really contributing a whole lot.
Credit where credit is due, we have to give a little love to Max Muncy, who is the best-rated defender on the infield in DRS. JT has had his moments at third, but Muncy has been considerably better at fielding the position this year. The stats bear this out: Muncy is credited with 8 defensive runs saved in 2022, while Justin Turner is rated at 0.0 runs saved. So kudos to Max for taking on the challenge. It’s never easy to change positions, even if you are moving to a spot where you have played in the past. But Muncy has done well, at both third (76 games so far) and second (30 games).
Unfortunately, that is where my praise for the 2022 Dodger infield has to end. In another key fielding stat, Outs Above Average (OAA), the Dodger infielders are all rated rather average, according to Statcast. Only Freddie Freeman has a positive rating in that stat (+2 OAAA). Every other Dodger infielder is rated either at 0 (Gavin Lux) or in negative territory: Justin Turner (-2), Max Muncy (-3), Trea Turner (-3), and Hanser Alberto (-4). That leads to a very pedestrian 13th place in team OAA for 2022. Not horrible, but not great, either.
And even if you’re not a stat nerd, you can see it just with the eye test. There are some plays that should be made that aren’t being made, especially lately. How many times has an infield throwing error opened the door to a big inning that results in a Dodger loss?
Of course, much of defense is just focus, and the argument could be made that these latest defensive lapses are just the product of playing a series of games against an inferior opponent at the end of a long season when the division is already wrapped up. Still, with 10 games to go as I write this, this is no time to dog it in the field or be lackadaisical with throws to first. This is the time that the Dodgers need to push for sharpness on the field.
Still, the great thing about defense is that you can actually get better on it. Repetition and reaction. Drill and kill, as they say. There isn’t a lot of time left for the Dodgers to improve statistically, but they certainly want to shore things up before moving into the playoffs. It’s one thing when you give the Arizona Diamondbacks some extra outs to play with in a meaningless game at the end of the regular season, quite another when an error lets Pete Alonso have an extra late-inning at-bat with the game on the line in the NLCS.
Anybody need me to hit you some grounders? I’m ready with my fungo bat, boys. Let’s take some infield!
