Minnesota Twins: Pedro Florimon is the AL's Best Defensive Shortstop

[SoCalTwinsfan]

I looked at how good Florimon has been at shortstop and discovered that he's been the best in the AL thus far.

 

All of the advanced metrics agree that Florimon has been the best in the AL in the first half of the season. Fangraphs' UZR, Total Zone's total fielding runs above average, and Baseball Info Solutions' defensive runs saved above average all have Florimon ranked No. 1 among American League shortstops.

 

You can read the rest of Minnesota Twins: Pedro Florimon is the AL's Best Defensive Shortstop at Yahoo! Sports.

 

Is this surprising? Does he have a shot at the Twins' first Gold Glove for a SS since 1965?

[MichiganTwins]

Not sure about his chances for a Gold Glove, but his chances are higher now that Jeter is hurt. (even though Jeter's defense has gone downhill) I just do not know if he will have the exposure to win the award. But Florimon has been solid for us this year.

[Boom Boom]

I looked at how good Florimon has been at shortstop and discovered that he's been the best in the AL thus far.

 

 

 

You can read the rest of Minnesota Twins: Pedro Florimon is the AL's Best Defensive Shortstop at Yahoo! Sports.

 

Is this surprising? Does he have a shot at the Twins' first Gold Glove for a SS since 1965?

 

Even in Florimon is better defensively, JJ Hardy will win the Gold Glove, because despite what the baseball wonks want us to believe, offense does play a part in that award.

[ThePuck]

Pedro has been top notch defensively. I am very surprised and am very happily eating crow in regards to his defense.

 

nice post!

[Danchat]

I would say not good enough for a gold glove, but he's been great.

I wonder if Dozier has a shot at a gold glove too?

[ThePuck]

I would say not good enough for a gold glove, but he's been great.

I wonder if Dozier has a shot at a gold glove too?

 

I don't think he gets it over Pedroia, but when looking at real positive things about this year, the defense of our current middle infield is pretty high on the list.

[Larsbars08]

The only player on this team who has a chance at a gold glove is Mauer. Maybe Florimon deserves it, but only Mauer has the popularity and offensive ability to go along with solid defense. Actually Mauer is having his best season behind the plate that he's had in several years.

[stringer bell]

I don't trust defensive metrics at all, but for my money Florimon has been very good. He's made a few too many errors on routine plays and early in the season, he threw at lot of sinkers to first base. He has good range and a powerful arm. Combined with Dozier at second, they give the Twins as good a middle of the infield defense as they have had in some time. For all the talk about Rosario, perhaps the Twins could stick with Dozier/Florimon and get a pitcher for Rosario. If Dozier's performance since late May isn't a mirage and Florimon can hold his own, it would be great to have a cheap, relatively young, defense-oriented double play combo.

[Major League Ready]

I don't trust defensive metrics at all, but for my money Florimon has been very good. He's made a few too many errors on routine plays and early in the season, he threw at lot of sinkers to first base. He has good range and a powerful arm. Combined with Dozier at second, they give the Twins as good a middle of the infield defense as they have had in some time. For all the talk about Rosario, perhaps the Twins could stick with Dozier/Florimon and get a pitcher for Rosario. If Dozier's performance since late May isn't a mirage and Florimon can hold his own, it would be great to have a cheap, relatively young, defense-oriented double play combo.

 

Good point. The twins have suffered through a long spell of mediocre or worse MI defense. You would have to believe they would be inclined to stay with this combo if Rosario could net a good SP prospect.

[howieramone1406390264]

I don't trust defensive metrics at all, but for my money Florimon has been very good. He's made a few too many errors on routine plays and early in the season, he threw at lot of sinkers to first base. He has good range and a powerful arm. Combined with Dozier at second, they give the Twins as good a middle of the infield defense as they have had in some time. For all the talk about Rosario, perhaps the Twins could stick with Dozier/Florimon and get a pitcher for Rosario. If Dozier's performance since late May isn't a mirage and Florimon can hold his own, it would be great to have a cheap, relatively young, defense-oriented double play combo.

 

I like your idea, but I don't think that is the way we will go. We're somewhere in the middle of the rebuild and I think at this point in time, they're looking for good sticks in the MI. I would be surprised if we don't use our first pick on a SS next draft. It's a very real concern our position players will be ready before our starting pitching prospects and wouldn't rule out playing beer ball for a spell. I don't think we will deal our excess prospects unless we hit a fairly significant bump in the road.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

I don't trust defensive metrics at all, but for my money Florimon has been very good. He's made a few too many errors on routine plays and early in the season, he threw at lot of sinkers to first base. He has good range and a powerful arm. Combined with Dozier at second, they give the Twins as good a middle of the infield defense as they have had in some time. For all the talk about Rosario, perhaps the Twins could stick with Dozier/Florimon and get a pitcher for Rosario. If Dozier's performance since late May isn't a mirage and Florimon can hold his own, it would be great to have a cheap, relatively young, defense-oriented double play combo.

 

I think Rosario has one of the highest floors of all our prospects. If Dozier is good enough for second, I think they would just shift him back to the outfield. Of course, he would be perfect for center (which we don't need). I think he's good enough offensively for a corner though. Rosario could be a high 200s-low 300s hitter with 10-20 HRs. His arm should be good enough there too. I guess it really depends who we could get, but I want to believe Eddie is a huge part of our future.

[Jim H]

I doubt if the defensive metrics mean much, even their most ardent defenders will tell you a half season is too small a sample size. Still, Florimon has been quite good. Not gold glove good, just good. He has good range, a strong arm, and the mistakes have been reduced. Dozier has been fine as well. The offense on these guys is still the question, although that has been encouraging at times, if still very inconsistent.

 

I wouldn't worry about trades for awhile. The Twins will find a place for Rosario if he can hit at the major league level. One of the reasons the Twins move their prospects around to different positions in the minors, is so they can find a way to use them if you end up with, say, 2 second basemen.

[Kobs]

I don't understand why people even bother referring to gold gloves.

[jorgenswest]

I doubt if the defensive metrics mean much, even their most ardent defenders will tell you a half season is too small a sample size. Still, Florimon has been quite good. Not gold glove good, just good. He has good range, a strong arm, and the mistakes have been reduced. Dozier has been fine as well. The offense on these guys is still the question, although that has been encouraging at times, if still very inconsistent.

.

 

Lots of stats don't mean much in samples of a half year. Defensive Runs Saved has been shown to be more stable than batting average and ERA and less stable than OPS.

 

How Well Do Advanced Defensive Statistics Correlate? | Articles | Bill James Online

 

While there is good reason to be aware of the context of any set of data, some of the defensive metrics have advanced to the point where it is critical the Twins are paying attention.