I found a chart online showing Ultimate Zone Ratings for the middle infield positions of all the Central League teams. (It was compiled by Norio Torigoe, who also wrote the book “Hanshin Tigers: Actually Strong” which used sabermetrics to prove its points.)
You should first know that Ultimate Zone Rating is a show of a player’s defensive skills, based on: (a) how many runs they prevented with their throws, (b) how many double plays they helped complete, (c) how many balls they were able to reach compared to the average player at their position, and (d) how many errors they commit.
First, here is a chart that puts the numbers in perspective:
So a zero score means you’re average in the field. How did our guys do? Here’s a look at the middle infielders’ official stats – this would include Takashi Toritani (shortstop) and the combination of Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Yamato and Fumiya Hojoh (second base).
| Central League Defensive Data 2016 (through May 15 games) | Central League Middle Infielders UZR 2016 | |||||||||
| Team | Ground Out % | Grounders | Outs | Double Play % | DP Chances | DPs Gotten | Infield Hit % | Team | 2B | SS |
| Yomiuri | 82.78% | 540 | 447 | 11.45% | 323 | 37 | 7.00% | Yomiuri | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Chunichi | 84.75% | 531 | 450 | 7.35% | 313 | 23 | 4.43% | Chunichi | 7.0 | 1.5 |
| Hiroshima | 81.32% | 589 | 479 | 10.31% | 320 | 33 | 7.37% | Hiroshima | 4.7 | 1.1 |
| Hanshin | 75.61% | 488 | 369 | 4.68% | 299 | 14 | 7.54% | Hanshin | -4.0 | -12.9 |
| Yakult | 83.64% | 538 | 450 | 8.97% | 301 | 27 | 5.08% | Yakult | 1.1 | 0.2 |
| DeNA | 82.88% | 520 | 431 | 10.37% | 299 | 31 | 4.62% | DeNA | -1.6 | -2.2 |
What do you see? I see that our shortstop is far and away the worst defensive player at his position in the Central. So the question remains: when will Kanemoto have the guts to bench him? The argument has always been “who can replace him, though? We have no one!” Oh yeah? Can it get *worse* than this?
Nice work T-Ray. We can all see if he is terrible but now your stats confirm what we are watching If this was anyone else on the team he would be on the bench. The problem is that Kanemoto also was horrible in his position for several years before he finally benched himself. I think Toritani will need to do the same as it not likely Kanemoto will intercede even is the situation gets worse, which it will.
Indeed. And I wonder how long Tori will be too stubborn to sit himself down. He really needs to just can the stupid full-innings streak. I don’t mind if he pinch hits a couple times a week to keep his games streak going, though… maybe giving his legs some rest is just what the doctor ordered.