Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. Unfortunately, as a fielder he could boot a ball a country mile as well. He didn't get much practice. He was just 37 years old. He also was terrible at first base and in right field. During his time in the National League, Dunn played left field, right field and first base, and none of them with any degree of skill. Is Derek Jeter overrated? Actually, he might be underrated. Braun fielded just .895, making 26 errors in 112 games, and made .57 fewer plays per nine innings than the average third baseman. No-hitter the latest feat in James Paxton's rise, Deal ends Matt Harvey's roller-coaster ride with Mets, Sizing up potential trade fits for Manny Machado, Real or Not? The last third baseman to put up equally putrid numbers was Ryan Braun in 2007 (-32 in comparable innings). Truly one of the more despicable people to ever play the game, Kingman could do one thing well hit for power. The Padres were third-to-last in the majors in defensive efficiency (percentage of balls in play turned into outs), so a lot of Padres defenders ended up with poor ratings in 1997. We should all know Greg Luzinski's name an elite power hitter who played 15 seasons in the majors and had over 300 career home runs. Jeter is the worst defensive player of all time by advanced defensive metrics, with a career Defensive Runs Saved total of -155. Sierra did eventually start putting more effort into it, but he never came close to being of Gold Glove caliber. Browning was a raging alcoholic who regularly played games drunk. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. He was a five-time World Series champion. In 2010, Dunn committed 13 errors at first base, second worst in the NL behind Ryan Howard. Make a guess now (Note: Baseball-Reference uses fielding runs below average, which can be drawn from two different sources depending on the year. But they happened. It is no surprise that this Top 10 list consists of many AL and NL All-Stars. worst defensive runs saved all time - cloverfieldnews.com Baseball Info Solutions tracked him with 30 good plays and 39 misplays and it's worth noting that ultimate zone rating had him at minus-23 runs and total zone at minus-31 runs. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Nick Castellanos, 3B, 2014 Tigers (minus-30). During his time with the Texas Rangers, Incaviglia's nickname was "Oops," primarily because of the way he patrolled the outfield. For many years with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Senators, Frank Howard was one of the premier power hitters in the game, leading the league twice in home runs and swatting 382 during his 16-year career. Errors have been moved to the same dustbin as pitcher wins, batting average, and rbi. The Worst DRS We've Ever Seen | FanGraphs Baseball In fact, Lugo in many ways represented the anti-Ozzie in terms of defense. For several years, outfielder Dante Bichette was one of the most popular and beloved players for the Colorado Rockies, and his offensive exploits in the Mile High City were certainly highly regarded. Defensive metrics aren't as foolproof as some other numbers, so let's dig deeper into what may have caused these poor ratings. Teams: Colorado Rockies (2004-10), Tampa Bay Rays (2010). Burnett was worth -13 defensive runs saved for the Pirates. Jose Lima was one of the more entertaining players in the major leagues throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. As you can see, the Royals are, quite literally, at the bottom of this list. Teams: Cincinnati Reds (197577), New York Mets (197781), Texas Rangers (1982), Montreal Expos (198285), Detroit Tigers (1985), Stats: 3,593 chances, 1,000 putouts, 2,483 assists, 110 errors. Thats worth something, too. Also note that there is some variation in DRS as presented on baseball reference sitesfor example, Baseball-Reference.com credits Adrin Beltr with a DRS figure of 201 for his career,[8] while FanGraphs credits him with 200. Did he deserve those Gold Glove Awards? It's a darn good thing that outfielder Ruben Sierra could hit a little bit, because he certainly wasn't kept around for his defense. He made his lone All-Star appearance in 2016 and parlayed that into a six-year, $83 million extension in 2017. Overall, things have worked out okay, but they havent worked out well enough to win, and win consistently. Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers (1992-98), Florida Marlins (1998), New York Mets (1998-2005), San Diego Padres (2006), Oakland Athletics (2007), Stats: 12,247 chances, 11,347 putouts, 768 assists, 132 errors. I dont remember the exact number but like 4 or 5 of the worst SS seasons ever have come from the Royals in the past 15 years. It was a league custom. Lasorda asked what else he was thinking. Yes, it's safe to say I'm not a card-carrying member of SABR.org. Teams: Cincinnati Reds (2001-08), Arizona Diamondbacks (2008), Washington Nationals (2009-10), Chicago White Sox (2011-14), Oakland Athletics (2014), Stats: 6,453 chances, 6,002 putouts, 331 assists, 120 errors. I didnt make up those numbers, and they didnt make up those numbers. Weeks has never had a good defensive reputation and in 2012 he started 152 games at second base and made just 4.08 plays per nine innings compared to the league-average range factor of 4.77. But over the last . Known as much for his flamboyant style on the mound and his singing (he was into merengue), Lima also was an awful fielder. And it should be clear that, at the very least, the Phillies defense has been a season-long weakness. These are the worst glovemen of all time at every position. Teams: Texas Rangers (1973), Chicago Cubs (1974-76), San Francisco Giants (1977-79), Pittsburgh Pirates (1979-85), Los Angeles Dodgers (1985-87), Detroit Tigers (1987), Stats: 4,941 chances, 1,694 putouts, 3,025 assists, 222 errors. Offerman's defense was so bad the Dodgers traded him to the Royals after his first All-Star season, in 1995. Twenty-eight of those 29 runs below average came as a center fielder, where he made 2.50 plays per nine innings compared to the MLB average of 2.76. Good plays and misplays runs saved: runs saved by heads-up-plays. Just cant field em. He was a huge dude and while his outfield defense wasn't terrible in his first few years, he soon became huge and slow. Rickie Weeks, 2B, 2012 Brewers (minus-30). Its one of the few advanced defensive metrics that exists. But there is *some* evidence. It's sort of unbelievable that Nate McLouth won a Gold Glove in 2008, because it wasn't even close to his best season as a center fielder. It's a good thing they don't look at defense. Gomez's range factor was actually higher than the MLB average, 4.63 to 4.58, and his fielding percentage was fine, so I'm not quite sure why he rates so poorly. For this calculation, we use a replacement level on defense is the league average. Saying Devers is worse than Andujar on the sole basis that he has more errors is like saying Mike Moustakas has been a better hitter than Mike Trout this year because he has more RBI (its true!). The 1965 American League Rookie of the Year and 1966 World Series champion with the Baltimore Orioles earned the nickname "Clank" from teammate Frank Robinson for his struggles fielding the ball. Johnnie LeMaster seemed to sum up Giants fans' feelings toward him and his fielding when he took the field at Candlestick Park during a July game in 1979 with "BOO" on the back of his jersey instead of his name. Spahn's defensive struggles seemed to be mostly early in his career, with a few blips as it went on. Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt certainly presents an interesting case this year. Could Mike Trout outproduce a tanking team's entire lineup? 2011 Best: 4.7 runs by Johnny Damon, 2011 Worst: -4.8 runs by Albert Pujols. In calculating DRS, points are either added or subtracted to a fielder's rating depending on whether or not they make a play on a ball that is hit towards them. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. As a fielder, Herman's life was an adventure. By just about every defensive metric available, Escobar is a much better defensive option. Teams: Oakland Athletics (197782, 1985), Milwaukee Brewers (198283), California Angels (1984), Stats: 2,440 chances, 952 putouts, 1,417 assists, 71 errors. However, at the major league level, while Jolley could hit a bit, he was clearly one of the most challenged players in the history of the game. Just to give some kind of a clue at just how bad Marv Throneberry was as a fielder, former manager Casey Stengel, who Throneberry played for with the expansion New York Mets, said to Throneberry on his birthday, "We was going to get you a birthday cake, but we figured you'd drop it.". The phenomena became known as the "Steve Sax Syndrome." The irony is that Andujar is definitely the better player this year, and perhaps in the future too. Well, he hadn't played the position much before that and isn't exactly quick to begin with, so it's easy to assume he combined a lack of range with a lack of experience. When Gary Sheffield first came up with the Milwaukee Brewers, he was primarily a shortstop. Ranking MLB Catchers by Total Runs - Bill James Online Thats what the table is showing you. When second baseman Steve Sax won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1982 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was regarded as a player with a lively bat, great speed and decent enough defensively. Jeter has been one of the worst defensive shortstops over the last decade by most statistical measures. Check. Butch Hobson was a former quarterback for the University of Alabama and legendary coach Bear Bryant, but Hobson had some legendary struggles fielding a baseball. Offerman was statistically one of the worst shortstops in history. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Entering Memorial Day in Cincinnati, they had the fewest defensive runs saved in the majors (minus-26), according to Sports Info Solutions, and were tied with the Reds for last in Statcast's outs above average (minus-17). ), 9. In both 2013 and 2015, Burnett had -5 defensive runs saved, but ironically, those were arguably his best. 51. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. [fn]John Dewan, The Fielding Bible, Volume II (Skokie, Ill.: ACTA Sports, 2009), 11-4. Now signed to a minor league deal with his hometown Texas Rangers, Hawpe is hoping to return to full form, although even with the surgery, it may not do much to help his porous defense. Gold Glove Awards: 5 (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010), Stats: 10,679 chances, 3,820 putouts, 6,605 assists, 254 errors. Defensive Runs Saved - Wikipedia Team Defensive Runs Saved. Yet UZR doesnt have information for pitchers or catchers. Theyll have a roster good enough to hang around. How did Duane Kuiper play 10 seasons in the majors? They moved him to third base the following season. It isnt perfect, and no one would tell you its perfect, but we can just get right to the point. While his fielding improved over the course of his career, you can point directly to his early struggles in the outfield as one of the reasons the Oakland A's traded him after three seasons and an average of approximately -20 total zone runs allowed in that span. In the November 1992 issue of the Baseball Digest, writer Glenn Liebman quoted a teammate of Herman, who said of him, "Babe wore a glove for only one reason. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. You just had to hope and pray that the other team didn't hit the ball back to him. He does write here, sometimes about the Mariners, but usually not. Despite a career filled with plenty of offense, Bichette's career WAR was 2.0, a telling sign of his defensive deficiencies. Michael Young, SS, 2005 Rangers (minus-32). The Phillies will need to evaluate whether they already have the right personnel. In his 11-year career, seven with the Cincinnati Reds, Taubensee was literally brutal behind the plate. Matt Kemp, CF, 2010 Dodgers (minus-37). The Padres made the playoffs with Gomez playing shortstop in 1996 and 1998, so they apparently didn't think he was awful there. The tradeoff? That leads us to his next record. During the eight-year career of utility-man Curt Blefary, he was given the nickname "Clank" by former teammate Frank Robinson, who claimed that the nickname represented the imaginary sound that the ball made when it banged against Blefarys glove. Hawpe managed to survive getting the axe over this stretch by posting his best seasons at the plate. Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers (1981-88), New York Yankees (1989-91), Chicago White Sox (1992-93), Oakland Athletics (1994), Stats: 8,624 chances, 3,617 putouts, 4,817 assists, 190 errors. January 25, 2018. No matter where he played, Samuel was a liability on the field. I checked Baseball-Reference.com for their list of worst individual fielding seasons and thought it would be fun to look at the bottom 10. Willie Mays, on the other hand, was arguably the best defensive outfielder ever. Young did seem to improve after that, perhaps with better positioning. Teams: Cleveland Indians (1993-2000), Boston Red Sox (2001-08), Los Angeles Dodgers (2008-10), Chicago White Sox (2010), Tampa Bay Rays (2011), Stats: 3,410 chances, 3,206 putouts, 129 assists, 75 errors. Castellanos' range factor was 2.10 per nine innings compared to the MLB average of 2.56, but of course he played on a staff that racked up a lot of strikeouts. He was good for one error every five games or so, had limited range and his arm waswell, let's just say that accuracy wasn't his strong suit either. The ability to handle a pitching staff, call a game, throw out baserunners and be a good receiver certainly can never be underscored. Teams: Detroit Tigers (197476), Seattle Mariners (197781), Oakland Athletics (198285), Stats: 5,259 chances, 4,562 putouts, 608 assists, 89 errors. He was pretty decent with his bat for most of his career, but his Total Zone Runs allowed of -65 is horrendous as well. For 13 seasons, Pete Browning toiled in the old American Association and National League, playing five positions overall and none of them with any skill whatsoever. He's the guy you definitely don't want the ball hit to when your team is pitching. Even this article gives a huge nod to the great caveat that must be uttered when serious people meet to discuss these advanced metrics. Teams: Boston/Milwaukee Braves (1942, 1946-64), New York Mets (1965), San Francisco Giants (1965), Stats: 1,279 chances, 222 putouts, 999 assists, 58 errors. Through the end of the 2021 MLB season, the highest DRS recorded in a single season was by shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who had a DRS of 41 in 2017, while the lowest DRS recorded in a single season was by center fielder Matt Kemp, who had a DRS of -33 in 2010.[10]. Top 100 Players All-Time Top 100 Players . [3] The statistic was developed by Baseball Info Solutions and the data used in calculating it first became available for Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2003.[4][5]. There are just zeroes. Teams: Chicago White Sox (1986), Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-91), New York Mets (1992-95, 1999), Baltimore Orioles (1995-96), Florida Marlins (1997-98), Los Angeles Dodgers (1998), Atlanta Braves (2000), St. Louis Cardinals (2001), Stats: 5,144 chances, 3.045 putouts, 1,869 assists, 330 errors. It's never good to make a list like this early in your career, but Jorge Polanco has done just enough in six seasons to make the cut. So all the metrics agreed that he just didn't have much range in this year. Fielding percentage is the statistic that has traditionally been used to measure defensive ability,[6] but it fails to account for a fielder's defensive range. Now imagine if Stairs would've been able to field? And yet, Phillies pitchers have ranked 26th in baseball in actual wOBA allowed, while Braves pitchers have ranked third. Teams: Toronto Blue Jays (198991), Cleveland Indians (199193), Chicago Cubs (199394, 1998-2000), San Francisco Giants (199597), Seattle Mariners (1998), New York Yankees (2000), Anaheim Angels (2001), Stats: 1,586 chances, 1,488 putouts, 41 assists, 57 errors. Thanks for setting me straight. For once (anyone who mjakes a comment like that has a problem with it). So let me see: Wins will not factor into a Cy for Snell, assuming he gets it. They also rank 19th in actual wOBA on contact, with the second-greatest difference between the numbers in the league. "We think Mark is a lot better than he's shown statistically. You know what the Rangers thought of that Gold Glove? With 13 All-Star selections, 555 home runs and a .312 lifetime batting average, it's easy to see why outfielder Manny Ramirez clearly has numbers that should qualify him for Hall of Fame status. Teams: New York Yankees (1999-2003, 2013-2014), Texas Rangers (2004-05), Washington Nationals (2006), Chicago Cubs (2007-13), Stats: 5,823 chances, 3,456 putouts, 2,198 assists, 169 errors. Guerrero's 165 career errors make a lot more sense now. Martin had a horrendous -52 total zone runs allowed for his career, with a -39 mark in left field, where he started almost 843 games. It's a shame the rule wasn't in place earlier; the DH position was truly made for Howard. He ended up there because it lined up more with his offensive production than putting him at one of the corner outfield spots or at first base. UZR thinks this years Phillies have been very bad, but not exactly record-level bad. But Gleyber, at least, gets to balls for the most part. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. Adrin Beltr recorded the most defensive runs saved in Major League Baseball during the 2003-2021 seasons. Why is Eduardo Escobar a defender to watch in 2023? The infield has been a problem, and the outfield has been a problem, and when the both of those are problems, it can be a lot to overcome. He tried first base, third base, outfield and even catcher. As for his range, BIS graded him particularly weak going to his right. In doing a quick Google search concerning outfielder Greg Luzinski and his defense, here are just some of the phrases used: "Luzinski was a solid player, but contributed zero on defense. Jeff made Lookout Landing a thing, but he does not still write there about the Mariners. Moving elsewhere, heres the big-league landscape in terms of Outs Above Average, which is a metric for outfielders: The Phillies dont look good, again, and this particular metric doesnt consider outfield arms. Fielding Runs Fielding measures obviously have a lot of controversy surrounding them. Jeter, at minus-33 runs, was BIS's worst-rated shortstop over that two-season span; Ryan, at plus-45, was the best. 48. Kirby Puckett, CF, 1993 Twins (minus-29 runs), This one seems a little odd considering Puckett had won a Gold Glove the previous season. Gary Sheffield, 3B, 1993 Padres/Marlins (minus-31). Hill's play in the field inspired jokes among his teammates and coaches, including being compared to a fish trying to survive on dry land. February 1, 2018. ken scott actor after we collided. Still, that's nearly one fewer play every two games. The Phillies might just land Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, and then theyll have a better lineup. Robinson Cano made 26 errors in his first two seasons, and he too was a positively-regarded shortstop in the minors. Spahn still holds the MLB career record for wins for a left-handed pitcher with 363, was a 17-time All-Star and led the National League in wins eight times. Teams: Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals (199293, 2011), Boston Red Sox (1995), Oakland Athletics (19962000), Chicago Cubs (2001), Milwaukee Brewers (2002), Pittsburgh Pirates (2003), Kansas City Royals (200406), Texas Rangers (2006), Detroit Tigers (2006), Toronto Blue Jays (200708), Philadelphia Phillies (200809), San Diego Padres (2010), Stats: 3,414 chances, 3,159 putouts, 215 assists, 40 errors. UZR had Kemp at minus-26 runs that . The Tragedy of Derek Jeter's Defense - Grantland There might not be a good answer to this. Most notably, the Astros traded Kenny Lofton for Taubensee, straight up, after the 1991 season. What's strange is the lowest of his per position totals was at third base, where it was -12. worst defensive runs saved all time His Rtot and dWAR numbers certainly suggest that a minor league replacement player would have put up a better defense at first than Giambi, known to have limited range and mobility, and hands that were not exactly soft in nature. Puckett's defensive metrics don't match up to his reputation -- he won six Gold Gloves -- as Baseball-Reference grades him out as 14 runs below average for his career. The Worst A.J. which combined with poor range gave him minus-37 defensive runs saved. Teams: New York Mets (1966, 1968-71), California Angels (1972-79), Houston Astros (1980-88), Texas Rangers (1989-93), Stats: 857 chances, 220 putouts, 547 assists, 90 errors. During his 12-year career spent with six different teams, outfielder Pete Incaviglia was hit-or-miss as a hitter, leading the American League in strikeouts twice, and hitting over 20 home runs in a season six times. However, one accolade that will never be attached to Giambi's is that of fielding genius. There's no doubt that third base is a tough position to play, but former MLB player Butch Hobson made it look like the toughest job in all of professional sports. Here, then, is a list of 40 of the worst defensive players in MLB history. And his career fielding percentage of .964 is atrocious. The above numbers represented Samuel's career primarily at second base, although he played six different positions during his career. Jeter has the worst Total Zone Runs allowed of any MLB player, ever, with a staggering -186 runs allowed. So the two kind of balance each other out. 40 Worst Fielders in Baseball History - Bleacher Report Diamondbacks primed to bury Dodgers, Losing Corey Seager leaves Dodgers' season on the brink. In 2009, he did make a high number of good fielding plays (48), according to Baseball Info Solutions, although that was countered by 33 misplays. Except for catchers, Plus/Minus represents the majority of a player's DRS. However, some would say he was a big hurt defensively as well. Yet they have just seven games left, and theyre already nine runs worse than the 2005 Yankees. Errors just are not a complete measure. In the great history of Major League Baseball, there were guys who were born to hit, guys who were born to run, guys who were born to throw a baseball with dazzling accuracy and power, and guys who were born to perform every skill with magnificent ease. He's also the source of one of the greatest quotes on fielding in the history of baseball. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted Knoblauch makes the list for throwing problems that dogged his career starting in 1998, where he inexplicably came down with one of the more famous cases of the "yips" or "Steve Sax Syndrome" in baseball history. In baseball statistics, defensive runs saved (DRS) measures the number of runs a player saved or cost his team on defense relative to an average player. And JDMs 124 RBI will mean absolutely nothing in an MVP conversation. There is no question that numbers can at times be deceiving, as evidenced by the fact that New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has won five Gold Glove Awards during his career despite the negative numbers seen above. Previously, Baseball-Reference used Sean Smith's Total Zone Rating for all seasons. However, despite anyone's opinion regarding the use of analytics to measure a player's defensive worth, just about everyone on this particular list were and are just classically bad fielders, and while many of them were assets with the bat, they also were a complete liability on the field. When Juan Samuel first debuted for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983, he quickly became known for a solid bat and tremendous speed, stealing 72 bases and leading the league in triples in his rookie season. Outs Above Average (OAA) is the cumulative effect of all individual plays a fielder has been credited or debited with, making it a range-based metric of fielding skill that accounts for the number of plays made and the difficulty of them. He had to do most of that playing for the Cleveland Indians. Stat to the Future: Defending and dissecting Defensive Runs Saved Teams: Rockford Forest Citys (1871), Philadelphia Athletics (187275), Chicago White Stockings/Colts (187697), Stats: 25,160 chances, 22,572 putouts, 1,612 assists, 976 errors. Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates (1992-99), San Diego Padres (2000), Seattle Mariners (2000-01), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2003), Stats: 1,810 chances, 1,700 putouts, 54 assists, 56 errors. In his first few seasons with the Yankees, Gary Sanchez was as bad at blocking pitches behind the plate as almost anyone in the modern history of baseball. [1][2] Any positive number is above average, and the best fielders typically have a DRS figure of 15 to 20 for a season. McLouth was pretty much below average playing in the outfield his entire career. "Please, God, don't hit it to me," said Guerrero, who also played some outfield in his career in addition to first and third. Adam Dunn, 1B/LF/RF, 2009 Nationals (minus-43).