I need to get started with my Opening Day celebrations, so a few quick hits before the season starts. Reminder: “Out of Left Field” are occasional posts about matters that may not require 1,000 words of analysis but should be mentioned anyway.
As a longtime, and vocal critic of the Yankees’ front office, I must give credit when it’s due: Acquiring Jon Berti for nobody who will be missed is a great move. Berti has appeared at five positions over the past two seasons and fielded all of them at an either competent (OF) or better than average (IF) level. Combine that with 95th percentile speed and sound judgment on the bases and all you need is league average performance with the bat and you have a valuable player (4.3 fWAR in 235 games over the past two seasons.) Essentially the Yankees got an upgrade from IKF and the broken-down version of DJ we’ve had for all by six months of the last three years.
And from the “this shouldn’t be important, but it is” department: I watched plenty of Miami Marlins baseball last season and Berti is going to be a fan favorite. He puts the ball in play, and he runs fast.
Similarly…
As much as I dragged Anthony Volpe’s inability to hit MLB pitching last season and the Yankees’ mismanaging of the position over the past, I don’t know, five or six years, something didn’t get talked about enough coming into the 2024 season:
Despite being the second easiest out in MLB last year, Volpe played a premium position at somewhere between an average to better than average level depending on who you ask. Combine that with his much better than average baserunning contributions and you have – at the absolute worst – a league average shortstop, which isn’t going to hurt you over 162 games. Considering that he’s more likely to improve than regress, we may be looking at a 3 or 4-win player this year, which would be a huge boost for the team.
Finally, I can’t finish without talking about stats. Here’s a friendly reminder: There’s nothing new in this game. Every stat we use to measure players’ contributions today, folks talked about in the 19th century. Henry Chadwick had a version of WAR during the Civil War and told baseball fans this around the same time about defense:
“The best player is he who makes the most good plays – not the one who commits the fewest errors.”
Again, players with plus range who make a few errors are more valuable than players with no range who make very few errors. It was true in 1861 and it’s true today.
(The above was taken from “The Numbers Game: Baseball’s Lifelong Fascination With Statistics”. It’s the best book on the history of baseball statistics I’ve ever read – you should read it too.)
Happy Opening day, here’s looking at a great season!
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