After coming off of hip surgery in 2009, many of us wondered what would happen to Alex Rodriguez in regards to defense. We knew that, eventually, his hitting would come around, but we weren’t quite sure about his fielding.
The early returns at the hot corner were not encouraging. Alex looked, as expected, pretty bad at third, despite his hot hitting. As the season went on, though, Rodriguez started to improve. The farther away from the surgery Alex got, the more movement he had. Another positive was his always strong arm; it definitely helped him make up for his lack of range. While Aelx did come a long way in 2009, his fielding numbers were still pretty bad
Of all American League third basemen with at least 950 innings in 2009, Rodriguez had the fewest out of zone plays, lowest Revised Zone Rating (RZR) and second lowest Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games (UZR/150).
In 2010, we’ve seen an improvement. As it stands right now, Alex has a 7.0 UZR/150 and a .763 RZR (which is fourth best among AL 3B’s w/at least 200 innings played). In the early season, the numbers show that Alex has improved quite a bit on defense.
If you prefer the “eye test,” I’d say Alex passes. Even just by watching the games this season, I’ve seen Alex moving much better to his left than he did last year and his arm is as strong as ever. Watching him throw inspires quite a bit of jealousy.
As the season moves on, I don’t think we can expect much more improvement UZR-wise, but I wouldn’t expect a big drop off either. I don’t want to be greedy, but I think a 3-5 UZR/150 is possible for A-Rod this year, even if it’s only because of a hot start. I think you guys would agree that we won’t see him post something as bad as his -8 mark last season, but we’re not going to see his 11.2 mark from 2004.
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5 Responses to Alex's Improved Fielding
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TIQ IQ
Obviously we can’t put too much stock in 1/6th of the season’s UZR data, but the “eye test” certainly suggests that A-Rod looks much smoother. I’ve also noticed that his first step seems much quicker, particularly moving to his left.
It would seem that he looks totally back from hip surgery, which could have been something far more serious than it is. For all the talk about how A-Rod is some sort of villain, it seems that most lose sight of just how much work he puts into his game. He clearly takes it very, very, very seriously. While he may have a world of talent, he doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his insane work ethic. He’s not a one-trick pony. He could have easily dedicated all of his workouts to hitting, particularly after a nasty surgery that limits lateral movement. He didn’t, yet you don’t see those pieces in the media.
Imagine how strong his throws would be if he got ride of that side-armed crap.
Yeah I could tell his fielding is a lot better but what about his offense, how come he isn’t mashing homers?
Alex def looks better out there this season. Last year, especially early on – after he had just returned from surgery – he looked terrible out there. He improved as the season went on, though, and has carried that over into 2010.
Yeah, absolutely. Good range and smooth decisions. That triple play was wonderful. Good baserunning, hustle. Line drives. Looks like a great team player to me.