Defense, and Analysts, but NOT in Defense of Analysts

As the TBS analysts were going over the starting lineups for the Braves/Giants last night one of them pointed out that the Giants had the 3rd fewest errors in the NL. "Well that doesn't begin to tell the whole story" said the other analyst.

Yes!! Somebody was going to point out on national TV that errors do NOT tell the whole story, that errors favor people who DON'T go after the ball, and punish people who go hard after the ball, only to bobble it. If an infielder lets a hit go through for a single, it's a hit. If an infielder covers a great deal of ground, bobbles it, and the runner is safe, then it's an error. The guy that kept the ball in the infield gets an error. Now which would you rather have if there were men on base?

An outfielder can go a whole season without making very many errors, and still be wretched. If a ball goes into the gap, it's a double, no error. If an outfielder has the kind of range to go into that gap and catch the ball, it's an out, no error. So at the end of the season, one set of outfielders is allowing doubles and triples to go by (Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Carlos Lee, Jonny Gomes) while another set is running these balls down (Carl Crawford, Brett Gardner, Andres Torres, Michael Bourn).

Andre Ethier has LESS errors than Crawford, Gardner, Torres, or Bourn. If you have seen Ethier manning RF this season, you know it's been filled with bad routes and lousy throws and getting turned around and running the ball into the wrong endzone. If you've seen the other four, you've seen them get to balls that you wouldn't think possible! I'm a bit more biased towards Torres since I get to see him daily, but he has his technique down, even able to slide on the warning track after catching a ball to avoid running into walls. His body will thank him in a few years (see Rowand, Aaron). This guy is a marvel to watch. He's not flashy, but manning those gaps in 2010 at AT&T is no easy task, and hasn't been done this fine since Jose Cruz Jr. in 2003 or Randy Winn in 2009.

So clearly there is a problem with errors. They let real gaffes and errors slide while punishing people who run stuff down with much greater efficiency. And finally the good anaysts at TBS were going to explain why errors don't tell the whole story.

Except his follow-up line was "They may have few errors, but they have trouble getting to balls and covering ground."

Arrrrrrrgggghhhhhhh.

I thought we had done it.

http://www.fangraphs.com/teams.aspx?pos=all&stats=fld&lg=all&type=1&season=2010&month=0

That is a list of the 30 MLB teams ranked by UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating), a stat that exists solely to figure out who gets to the most balls and covers the most ground. The Giants are 2nd in that. The Giants are 4th in errors. By old-fashioned stats and newer/nerdier stats, the Giants seem to rank as a really really good defensive team. But I guess they just need to cover more ground. 2nd best isn't good enough! More Simon, less Garfunkel, Giants! More Coke, less Pepsi! Get your heads up and your gloves down and cover that ground!!

I eagerly await this analyst talking about all of Derek Jeter's intangibles and gamesmanship. At least it's better than Eric Karros or Harold Reynolds.