Defense and the ballpark

by Travis G on Aug 14, 2009 5:29 PM EDT in New York Yankees Analysis

While John Dewan (the Dean of Defensive Studies) says that Teixeira is not any better at scooping low throws than Giambi, it's his ability to field grounders that sets him apart:

The true difference between Gold Glover Mark Teixeira and Jason Giambi is in handling grounders. In the last two years Teixeira has saved his teams 18 runs fielding grounders, while Giambi has cost his team 18, a 36-run difference in Defensive Runs Saved.

Though the homerun rate is incredibly high at Yankee Stadium, the ball is not carrying any farther than a normal ballpark. It's the close fences that are causing the long-balls. So says Univ. of Illinois Dept. of Physics Prof. Alan Nathan (h/t to PA):

The clear winners (i.e., the easiest places to hit home runs) are Denver and Boston at just under 99 mph, and the clear losers are Atlanta and Arizona at about 103 mph. The spread between winners and losers is about 4 mph, corresponding to a distance of about 20 ft. Note that Yankee Stadium is in the "winner" category, with only five parks having a smaller mean v₀. This result, when combined with the below-average carry in Yankee Stadium, seems to suggest that the large number of home runs there are due to close fences rather than abnormal atmospheric effects.

If not for a misplay by Sergio Mitre (and Robbie Cano), the Yankees would be riding an 11-game win streak right now.

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For all Giambi's struggles

he was actually pretty good at scooping the low throw. Of course Teixeira is about a million times better in every other category.

by Rumplestiltskin02 on Aug 14, 2009 6:33 PM EDT reply actions

I'd say 2 million

I had suggested last week that I thought Tex saved around 20 runs this season that Giambi would have cost. Not a bad guess I suppose.

by Jaybat on Aug 14, 2009 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions

That's what I always thought about Giambi

he was pretty damn good at scooping the ball when getting the putout.

But Tex does that and much better too at it. He’s also better at everything else.

by FreeBradshaw on Aug 14, 2009 6:57 PM EDT reply actions

I’d say Giambi is just as good as scooping the ball out as Teixeira is. Giambi never really missed any scoops, and neither does Teixeira. But Tex is about 100 times better at EVERYTHING else that isn’t scooping. And Teixeira hits for average as well as power, where as Giambi hit .250 in all his good years.

by nyyrocks29 on Aug 14, 2009 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions