Goldschmidt, Ahmed ranked in top-10 as defensive infielders
May 27, 2017, 1:54 PM
(AP Photos)
The Arizona Diamondbacks have had their struggles defensively this year but they still have some of the top defensive talent in the infield.
Scott Spratt, a research associate for Baseball Info Solutions, on ESPN.com ranked the top-10 defensive infielders based on his formula factoring in certain defensive metrics such as defensive runs saved (DRS). The D-backs had two players make the list.
Paul Goldschmidt was the only first baseman to make the rankings and just made the cut at No. 10.
In the end, I decided that Goldschmidt deserved the 10th spot. I do not think that his good range numbers mean he could play anywhere else in the infield, but he excels at many of the skills specific to playing first. In particular, he’s the best first baseman at handling poor throws from other infielders. His 93.2 percent scoop rate on bad throws is 1.3 percent better than any other active regular, and he’s saved nearly five runs since 2015 with that skill alone.
Goldschmidt is a two-time Gold Glove winner at first base, with his last coming in 2015.
Despite a limited role on the team, the advanced statistics show how valuable Nick Ahmed is as a defender and Spratt has the 27-year-old ranked third.
Ahmed is the only player on this list whose entire value is tied to his glove. In four seasons in hitter-friendly Chase Field, Ahmed has yet to finish a season with a .300 on-base percentage, and he has just 18 home runs and 12 stolen bases in almost 1,000 career plate appearances. But Ahmed’s defensive skills are so good that he continues to earn a substantial role. With limited playing time, Ahmed has saved the Diamondbacks 37 runs at shortstop since 2015, which is fourth-best at the position. Ahmed is most adept at ranging to his left and is sure-handed with great instincts.
As Spratt notes, Ahmed plays because of his defense. He’s hitting a career-high .257 in 2017 prior to Saturday’s game, which would be his highest batting average for a season over 30 points.
This season, Arizona ranks No. 14 in fielding percentage and they have 30 errors, which are the 15th-most in baseball.
Shortstops Andrelton Simmons and Addison Russell ranked first and second, respectively.