BY SCOTT LAUBERLots to get to for tomorrow's News Journal, but since many of you have commented or e-mailed about Raul Ibanez's defense, I wanted to pass along some comments from Ibanez, Ruben Amaro Jr. and assistant GM Benny Looper.
Ibanez: "I think, I hope, that people will be pleasantly surprised. I think that, in this game, you get a label here or there, and it's very difficult to shake that label. People come up with whatever formula they can to prove that label."
Amaro: "Our scouts don't believe that he needs to be replaced [defensively]. Is he a Barry Bonds in left field? No. But he's certainly an adequate outfielder. If you know anything about Raul, if he has a challenge, he'll do what he can to improve. So, he'll be out there working at it. We're pleased to have him. He's not going to be a defensive liability out there. It's shorter [in left field] here. He's not a burner. He's probably slightly below-average running speed. But our guys say he's a solid outfielder. He's more of an offensive player, no question about that. But sometimes you have to sacrifice certain things."
Looper: "I don't see him as a subpar defender. He doesn't have as much range as he used to. I think he'll have average range, a little below-average arm. He takes good angles on the ball. I think he'll do well here. The left field in Seattle is huge. Huge. A lot of the best left fielders have trouble there."
And, we know from talking to Charlie Manuel yesterday, that the Phils don't intend to use a defensive replacement for Ibanez.
OK, must start writing. More later.
(Photo: Associated Press)
3 comments:
Thanks Scott! I'm keeping an open mind about it, and I'm certainly rooting for him, but I'm not sure I buy their explanations.
Just to clarify: Ibanez thinks that the dozen or so modern methods to measure defense that all rate him as approximately as poor defensively as Burrell are all secret conspiracies to prove that he personally is bad at defense? I always want to like any Phillie, but taking a shot at modern statistics, claiming that they are designed with the idea to screw him over is pretty whiny.
I think that the negative reaction to this move is largely exaggerated due to the availability of burrell, but his lefthandedness is an issue. I posted a study recently about the fact that Howard and Utley got 38% of their at-bats against lefties this year, despite the rest of the team getting only 28% of their at-bats against lefties. http://www.thegoodphight.com/2008/12/14/691943/phillies-vs-lhp-rhp They need to make sure that problem does not get worse with Ibanez in the lineup. Despite his hollow year of success against lefties, he does not have much success against them in his career and the numbers supporting his improvement reflect luck more than an improvement in skill-- his BB/K ratio or power numbers against lefties would have improved if he was actually taking better swings against them.
I don't know about Ibanez's range but 12 yearas and 25 E with a .985% is better than 8 years 47 E with a .976%.
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