A CITIZEN'S BLOG

What a bizarre victory for the Phillies last night – Rowand’s bloop single in the eighth inning tied the game at 2-2 and set up Ryan Howard’s massive tenth inning home run to win the game. It was exciting to watch and yet another crucial victory for the Phillies in as many days in a vital series for them to win. The two wins have boosted the Phillies to just four games behind the Mets. If the Phillies do win the next two games, they are just two behind the Mets in the N.L. East race.

Good times to be a Phillies fan …

I wanted to take a quick gander at the Phillies outfield defense today. To be blunt, it is the worst in the N.L. According to Relative Zone Rating (RZR), the Phillies rank dead-last, sixteenth of sixteen teams in terms of Zone Rating in the outfield:

1. New York: .912
2. Washington: .896
3. Atlanta: .895
4. Chicago: .891
5. Arizona: .8906. Florida: .888
7. Los Angeles: .881
8. Colorado: .877
9. San Diego: .877
10. Houston: .869
11. Cincinnati: .867
12. Milwaukee: .865
13. Pittsburgh: .862
14. San Francisco: .856
15. St. Louis: .855
16. Philadelphia: .849
N.L. Average: .877

Zone Rating (ZR): Is a stat which measures a player’s defensive ability by measuring plays they should have made. Admittedly, this is a stat left open to subjective opinions.

Why so bad? Well, over in left field the Phillies have Pat Burrell, who is desperately in need to being traded to an American League team this off-season and becoming a DH. Burrell’s .779 RZR in left field is the worst, by far, I might add, of any NL left fielder. The Cardinals Chris Duncan comes closest at .792.

The best left fielder? The Diamondbacks Eric Byrnes at .927.

In centerfield, Aaron Rowand continues to disappoint. His .845 RZR is better than the declining Jim Edmonds (.841), but he compares much worse to his rivals: Andruw Jones (.931), Carlos Beltran (.917), Juan Pierre (.900), and Mike Cameron (.893). I’m not sure why, but Rowand seems to really struggle in the outfield and hasn’t played the same since being the best center fielder in the A.L. in 2005.

Right field is the only place where the Phillies are getting real production from their outfielders. Shane Victorino ranks fourth of eleven N.L. right fielders at .897 RZR. Combined with his impressive throwing abilities (ten assists), I think the Phillies have a legit shot at seeing Victorino win the 2007 Gold Glove for right field. We’ll see.

Alright, a pretty short update, but it is better than none. Still digging out of a time-consuming mess at work …

Labels: Burrell, Fielding, Outfield, Rowand, Victorino