Zulgad: Arcia's Transition to Left Field

[stringer bell]

Delmon is primarily going to play right field for the Orioles this season.  He was quoted as saying that he always has felt more comfortable there.  I doubt it will be a night and day difference, but I thought that with his strong arm he always profiled as a right fielder. 

[jimmer]

Delmon is primarily going to play right field for the Orioles this season.  He was quoted as saying that he always has felt more comfortable there.  I doubt it will be a night and day difference, but I thought that with his strong arm he always profiled as a right fielder. 

I was always more comfortable in RF too.  My glove hand is on the side of the line (since I'm right handed) and since I had a lot of experience reading slices off the bat, having the glove on that hand helped me with balls down the RF line as opposed to having to cross over my body on slices to the LF from batter like Mauer. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Delmon is primarily going to play right field for the Orioles this season.  He was quoted as saying that he always has felt more comfortable there.  I doubt it will be a night and day difference, but I thought that with his strong arm he always profiled as a right fielder. 

I remember we moved Delmon off of right.  He hadn't played a single professional inning in LF before joining the Twins.  Not that it would have made a huge difference, but he was basically average by DRS in his ~1 season in RF for Tampa.  (But we already had Cuddyer averaging -10 Rdrs installed in RF, so...)

 

FWIW, the Orioles depth chart has Delmon listed 4th at RF, and 2nd at DH.  I don't think he's going to see much action in the field.

[Steve Lein]

You mean like this? https://vine.co/v/h7w1Iu2iDgt

 

haha, yup!

[Steve Lein]

I was always more comfortable in RF too.  My glove hand is on the side of the line (since I'm right handed) and since I had a lot of experience reading slices off the bat, having the glove on that hand helped me with balls down the RF line as opposed to having to cross over my body on slices to the LF from batter like Mauer. 

 

This is why I was more comfortable in LF. Balls going to the gaps in RF were harder for me to track since my glove would be reaching across my body. More balls are hit toward gaps than they are the line (in the > 2/3 of the outfield is in that direction as opposed to toward the lines sense).

 

I did like fielding grounders or liners toward the line in RF though as this made it easy to plant, spin, and quickly put extra oomph on a throw to second. Caught many guys at 2B trying to get a double by doing that.

 

I also have bad memories about chasing balls down moving to my right, because that's how I tore my ACL! But I did catch the ball on that play!

[ashbury]

You mean like this? https://vine.co/v/h7w1Iu2iDgt

Rub some dirt on it, and play ball.

[Mike Sixel]

That Delmon decision.......a perfect example of sports and the culture of taking care of the veterans over the good of the team imo.

[BK432]

I am predicting a huge year offensively from Arcia. A modest improvement of his defense will be sufficient. I think we are not going to care so much about it because the dude is about to go off.

 

Yeah, if Arcia can continue development at the plate, be more disciplined and make more consistent contact, he'll be a beast.

[Thrylos]

That Delmon decision.......a perfect example of sports and the culture of taking care of the veterans over the good of the team imo.

 

Yep.  And hopefully that culture is gone where Gardy & Co are

[bird]

Is the wall/overhang really that big of a deal? I am recalling some of the plays I saw him miss / "make" in RF and the overhang barely enters into it.

To be clear about what Ryan said: he knows that playing the wall caused Arcia trouble, and that Arcia then began to also struggle in all aspects of his outfield play, and seemed to lose confidence.

 

So no, he wasn't saying the only problem was playing the wall.

[bird]

I am not going to defend this reason, but I will offer that it is entirely plausible that it is affecting him. To play adequate or better requires at least some skill level, positioning, and good decision-making. If, and this is a big 'if', Arcia is concerned with the overhang, it could be possible that this interferes with sound decision-making, which is critical for him to overcome his skill weaknesses.

I listened to the interview, and this might be a reasonable interpretation of what Ryan described.

[h2oface]

Even going back to Cuddy, I think that there was some acknowledgment that RF is more difficult at Target than LF. More spacious plus the overhang. I remember Cuddyer talking about the overhang.

 

Target field is NOT bigger than the Metrodome was!  I see folks saying that a lot (not in this quote), and it just isn't true. Target is smaller in all dimensions except 1 foot directly down the right field line and a tiny jut just left of dead center.  Right field is virtually the same and the dome had a higher wall (baggy) and left field is about 5-8 feet more shallow in Target Field than the Dome was, depending exactly where you measure.  Left field is larger than right field in Target, so right field is not "more spacious" than left field at Target.  The overhang certainly is a challenge in right field, granted.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

Ryan: "[Arcia] was a pretty good minor league outfielder. We got him up underneath that darn overhang out there (at Target Field), and he just didn't read that very well and, of course, the ball is bouncing all over and that made him look bad."

 

So the GM of the team is complaining about the architectural feature that makes it harder for the players to play.

Why did they build it that way in the first place? These quirks are supposed to give the building character - great, but why put that ahead of the quality of play (the "product") on the field, which suffers from this feature?

 

Maybe there's a reason I don't know, just as there may be a reason for that ridiculous hill in center field in Houston.

[Kwak]

Ryan: "[Arcia] was a pretty good minor league outfielder. We got him up underneath that darn overhang out there (at Target Field), and he just didn't read that very well and, of course, the ball is bouncing all over and that made him look bad."

 

So the GM of the team is complaining about the architectural feature that makes it harder for the players to play.

Why did they build it that way in the first place? These quirks are supposed to give the building character - great, but why put that ahead of the quality of play (the "product") on the field, which suffers from this feature?

 

Maybe there's a reason I don't know, just as there may be a reason for that ridiculous hill in center field in Houston.

It was an excuse-pure and simple.  The "eye test" would have shown that Arcia is just plain "challenged" as an outfielder:  slow reads, misreads, as well as inexperience, and possibly too large of a desire to impress.  As far as the statement "...a pretty good outfielder..." I take with a block of salt.  Some guys (sadly, too few) make playing the outfield look easy, most allow a viewer to notice the difficulty but that extra effort and athletic ability show that success is possible, and sadly too many give the impression that they would rather the ball be hit toward anybody else.  I place Arcia in the last group.

[HitInAPinch]

And do we think Arcia will eventually be moved back to RF and, if so, why mess up his development in RF by moving him to LF?

THANK YOU!  Someone's finally on my side

[stringer bell]

THANK YOU!  Someone's finally on my side

I think you have more company with that opinion than you think. How many people asked if Hunter was going to play left when he signed? Quite a number IIRC. I don't think Arcia will end up always being a terrible outfielder, but he hasn't been even adequate to this point. I do think that experience and continuity will help the Twins' outfield defense. IMHO it is a waste of time for him to move to left only to move back whenever Hunter is out of the picture.

[kab21]

That Delmon decision.......a perfect example of sports and the culture of taking care of the veterans over the good of the team imo.

 

It was a case of Delmon or Cuddy in LF and RF.  Yes, Delmon profiled well as a RF but Cuddy was also very limited defensively and should have been in RF.  I don't think the Twins would have been better off with 1 CF and 2 RF'ers those seasons.

[kab21]

I think you have more company with that opinion than you think. How many people asked if Hunter was going to play left when he signed? Quite a number IIRC. I don't think Arcia will end up always being a terrible outfielder, but he hasn't been even adequate to this point. I do think that experience and continuity will help the Twins' outfield defense. IMHO it is a waste of time for him to move to left only to move back whenever Hunter is out of the picture.

 

It's a waste of time to even have him on the team if he can't handle the differences between LF and RF defensively.  This is just silly.  His development is not being hurt by switching to LF even if he switches back to RF.

[Thrylos]

It was a case of Delmon or Cuddy in LF and RF.  Yes, Delmon profiled well as a RF but Cuddy was also very limited defensively and should have been in RF.  I don't think the Twins would have been better off with 1 CF and 2 RF'ers those seasons.

 

 

LF is the easiest position to play.  Cuddyer's left ear is deaf, so that causes problems (not hearing the center fielder yelling for a ball) if he played LF.  That was part of the reason there.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Target field is NOT bigger than the Metrodome was! I see folks saying that a lot (not in this quote), and it just isn't true. Target is smaller in all dimensions except 1 foot directly down the right field line and a tiny jut just left of dead center. Right field is virtually the same and the dome had a higher wall (baggy) and left field is about 5-8 feet more shallow in Target Field than the Dome was, depending exactly where you measure. Left field is larger than right field in Target, so right field is not "more spacious" than left field at Target. The overhang certainly is a challenge in right field, granted.

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/attachments/ootp-mods/180294d1266085284-target-field-dimensions.jpg

 

Center is bigger in TF, over the Metrodome, LF and RF are virtually identical, but the play seems to be different. I assume due to variability caused by weather.

 

Oh and I'd just like to see Arcia find a position and stick, regardless if he's really good. He'll hit well enough. Hunter on the other hand...