From Pete Caldera (Boston Herald):
During off-season discussions about potential acquisitions for the 2009 Yankees, the talk about Mark Teixeira wasn’t solely centered on his offensive output.The runs he could save at first base were as much of the conversation as the runs he could produce in the middle of manager Joe Girardi’s batting order.
“We talked about improving our pitching and defense, as well as adding some offensive firepower, because we’d lost some players,” Girardi said. “But pitching and defense were really important to us.
“We knew we were getting the complete package when we got him.”
So, after securing their current top two starters in free agents CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees signed Teixeira, whose yearly 30-plus homer, 100-plus RBI output as a switch-hitter were the obvious attractions, but didn’t tell the complete story.
In a recent Sports Illustrated story ranking player defense, Teixeira was rated the majors’ best defensive first baseman in 2008. Teixeira earned high marks for his ultimate zone rating, a formula by FanGraphs.com that measures a player’s range based on outs converted.
But even those stats can’t measure Teixeira’s true value to his club.
This year, all Mick Kelleher has to see is Teixeira snaring blazing one-hop shots to either side, stretching for throws in the dirt, or whirling and zipping throws to any base to know what the Yanks acquired.
“I think he’s the best first baseman that I’ve ever seen,” said Kelleher, the Yankees’ first base coach and longtime infield instructor.
A big-league infielder for 11 seasons, Kelleher played with Keith Hernandez in St. Louis, and coached in the Cubs’ organization when Mark Grace played first. But what makes Teixeira stand out to Kelleher is his entire army of skills.
“He’s got range both ways. He’s quick as a cat off the bat. He’s an accurate thrower. He picks everything. He’s aggressive. He’s a big target to throw to,” Kelleher said. “And he’s smart. He’s real smart. He positions himself real well. He understands hitters. He’s always thinking about (position) depth. He’s a very special player.”
Caldera cites Teixeira’s ultimate zone rating from 2008, when he was phenomenal between Atlanta and LA. However, his UZR this year is average or you can say that it’s slightly below average at -1.1 (UZR/150 = -1.2). I’ve written about this before, as this has been the case for most of Teixeira’s career. Basically, according to UZR, his range is below average. Assuming his rating is an accurate representation of his defense at first, I think most fans believe Tex is great because of his reflexes (he can snare a ball with the best of him), his vertical range (as opposed to his lateral range), and his ability to limit errors and scoop throws (although that can be disputed). He’s good at all of that, but his range from left to right is just not as good as a Casey Kotchman or a Lyle Overbay (not that any of us want Casey Kotchman or Lyle Overbay over Mark Teixeira).
Despite Tex’s range issue—let’s face it, he’s a pretty large guy—his defensive strengths, particularly his receiving ability, have been valued by his teammates. Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter have both noted that they love having Teixeira over at first. He’s a big target that can pick their throws out of the air or in the dirt. In Caldera’s piece, Mick Kelleher states this, saying that Tex allows Cano and Jeter to be “free and easy” when they throw to first. Based on this, I would say that Teixeira’s UZR doesn’t necessarily capture his full defensive value, although you can see improvements in Cano and Jeter’s ratings, especially with regard to error runs (Cano, specifically), which may have been influenced by Tex’s glovework.
This seems like a fair assessment of Tex’s defense in that he’s good at a lot of things and helps his team in ways that Jason Giambi never could. However, with that said, lateral range just doesn’t appear to be his strongest attribute.
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21 Responses to Teixeira's defense a complex discussion
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TIQ IQ
Totally agree. Hid lateral range shows as poorly for two reasons, I believe:
1) He short-arms some balls in the hole.
2) He turns back to 1st to cover the bag on some balls that he should be going after.
He is a very good first baseman, but this is his one area where he is just average.
Definitely. And, although his UZR rating is in the red, that doesn’t mean he’s a “bad” first baseman. People often see that and flip out, but in reality, a slightly negative UZR can indicate average defense rather than below average defense.
All I have to say is stat babies take this this stuff way to seriously!!! I don’t care about his UZR Tex makes at least one play a game that almost always saves a run and makes your jaw drop that he was able to make it…. watch the games with your eyes not a stat sheet!
I think he’s awesome at picking balls out of the air and his reflexes are cat-like, but his range is the only negative. I’m not saying he’s not helping the team defenisively, just that it’s the one aspect of his game that isn’t as good as people think it is (and it comes down to his range—not necessarily his throwing, ability to field grounders, etc.).
I don’t ever recall saying he has great range, in fact my biggest problem with Tex is the fact that he retreats to first a lot instead of going to get the ball but what does it matter what is UZR says about his defense. Watch him play the game, I have seen him dive into the hole and grab balls that Robby wouldn’t have got to and I have seen him wins games personally with his glove! My point is that people put these type of stats above watching baseball, go out watch a game see what he brings to the table then look at his stats and confirm what your eyes are seeing… I don’t think anyone here thinks he has the best range in baseball but he is a gold glove first baseman who has improved the whole team and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tex wins his 3rd gold glove this year and Cano wins his first.
I don’t think people put the stats above the game. Usually, what I see is confirmed by the stats, after the fact. I used to hate stats and advanced stats in particular, but they really do open doors for good discussions such as this one. Also, many teams use stats such as UZR to help better their teams. If you look at Derek Jeter, for example, Brian Cashman and others discussed his defense with him a few years back when his UZR was the lowest in baseball (at his position). Since then, he is playing GG defense. The stats help document what we see and organize it accordingly. It’s really a big help.
Yeah, now you have poked the hornet’s nest, so I am going to make a few points about why this statement is a load of bull.
1) People who use stats watch games too. In fact, being that those who use stats need to put a lot more research and effort into their fanhood, I would bet that statheads watch more games than anyone else. This idea that people who use stats live in spreadsheets is ridiculous. I’ve never used a spreadsheet in my life.
2) You say go out and watch games. The fact is, none of us can watch all the games of all the teams. However, we have people who do that for us, and then compile their eyewitness accounts into a stat like UZR. This helps us compare players who we cannot always watch. Range is the most difficult thing for non-experts for us to judge. We notice when Tex makes a spectacular play, but it is harder to tell a ball that he should have gotten to. But there are people for whom this is their job. So they watch every darn play and judge it. And Tex comes out a bit below average in this particular aspect of defense. It does not mean that he is bad.
You are the last person I would listen to on this site, you come across like a know it all can’t be wrong kid so leave me alone, don’t comment me. Not to be rude dude but I don’t care about your list or poking a nest… I know a lot of people who rely on stats over the game and try to prove certain players are better when they are not just by going off of splits and what not.
Trust me I am one of the biggest stat whores off all times I live in stats! I’m counting up RBI and BA in my head for every player every time they come to at bat. However as I pointed out there are people who trust stats over watching the game! There just are!
Wow, no reason to get personal there. You can’t be rude and then say “not to be rude.” Chris wrote an article and you commented by referencing stat babies, and told him to watch the games. And regarding the idea that people try to prove players are better when they are not, according to who? Just because your eyes tell you one thing means the guy who is using stats is wrong? That seems pretty know it all cant be wrong to me.
Just goes to show these Stats are totally worthless.Tex is a monster first baseman who saves game after game.
Probably MVP of the entire league if Yankees win it and defnese is a big part of his value.
Jeter used to play shallow and cut off all the short cheap hits so the stats said he had no range.Now he plays deeper and the stats like him better but he was always a fine SS and still is.
That’s not all of it, though. Jeter has also worked on drills to improve his lateral movement (range). So, repositioning is part of it, but you can’t ignore that aspect of his improvement.
Jeter does deserve some credit for his upgraded D but he still makes quite a few throws that are errors with another first baseman.
Then Jeter was stupid. He sacrificed a lot of hits to cut off those shorter balls, which, by the way, UZR gives him credit for. So if all he did was change his positioning, he should have done it long ago.
Arod is still the MVP of this team no matter what happens… he is the spark that makes this team go
I think Jeter is the MVP of the team, but that’s not really the point of this post.
Thanks for backing that up oh might one! Jeter’s batting average increased from .290 to .320 and his produtction increased with Arod in the line up and I don’t even have to mention Tex, not to mention he has 19 HRs and over 50 RBI coming off hip surgery after missing what 2 months? MVP = Alex Rodriguez.
I’m not really sure what you are getting at with your “oh mighty one” comment. I put forth my opinion here on the blog just like all the other writers do. You do not have to agree, but try and stay away from the personal stuff, if you can. Also, it is not like you backed your statement up about A-Rod. And I backed it up last week when I wrote a post to that effect. You really think adding A-Rod to the lineup is the reason Jeter’s average went up? The point is, if you replaced Jeter with an average SS, you would lose more production than if you replaced Alex with an average 3B or Tex with an average 1B.
I think that Teixeira is a great first baseman and that his ability to make great reflex plays, throws and scoops will probably never diminish. Despite those great attributes, he is a roughly average to above average player range wise(except for 2008) and I am worried about how he will decline defensively at the end of his contract. He should be about this good for probably 4-6 more years so that shouldn’t be a problem, but I think his range could diminish significantly by the end of his contract. All that being said I will take those two poor defensive seasons (which I hope won’t happen) if he continues to do what he is doing now offensively and defensively. It’s sure great watching someone that knows how to play first base after so many years of Giambi.
Use your eyes for god’s sake, not meanlingless stats in a vaccum.
Tex is a great first baseman, not good, great.
UZR is a stat compiled by people using their eyes. While we can only watch some of the games, they watch all of the games. Tex is good, but lateral range is not a great strength of his.
UZR is worthless as are most of these stats.
Tex just saves game after game, is always in the right position, makes the right throw, just a great first baseman.
The rest is utter stupidity.