A Closer Look at Defense

After Tuesday’s defensive fiasco, it’s an apt time to check out some of the advanced metrics for defense. The two most widely quoted calculations are John Dewan’s +/- system and Mitchel Llichtman’s Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR). Dewan’s +/- system is calculated by assigning runs saved (positive) or runs allowed (negative) in terms of the average MLB player, based on a variety of factors including arm strength (outfielders) to bunts saved (first and third basemen). An average player will have a total defensive runs saved (DRS) of 0. UZR, in some circles, has become the more reliable defensive statistic. Similar to Dewan’s, UZR assigns a number of runs saved (positive) or runs allowed (negative) compared to the MLB average of 0.  UZR calculations, to be fully reliable, need a large sample size, but for this post, we’ll just look at the rating for 2011 so far and just know that it might not be indicative of future play. We’ll  just use the data to determine a relative opinion of the play...