http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sunday-notes-twins-red-sox-padres-cubs/

 

A lengthy musing on Hicks, and Pelfrey's take on Xander Bogaerts.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sunday-notes-twins-red-sox-padres-cubs/

 

A lengthy musing on Hicks, and Pelfrey's take on Xander Bogaerts.

 

Excellent find. Usually an article that has "Notes" in the title is anything BUT "note-"worthy. Not so in this case- more like a Sunday Opus. Pretty meaty stuff, especially regarding Hicks. Let the debate reignite about Hicks' defense. TR says one thing, Baseball Info Solutions says the opposite, Gardy is apparently positioning him in a way that hurts his value, and the "adroit" Hicks possibly goes from "overruled young outfielder" to "more forthcoming source" all within one paragraph while analyzing the situation.

 

I've been concerned about his reaction time and the routes he sometimes took last year. If he's got that chalked up to a nightmare season and it's all behind him now, I'd like to see if he and the Skipper can come to an understanding and see if he can start cheating in a little more regularly.

Let the debate reignite about Hicks' defense. TR says one thing, Baseball Info Solutions says the opposite, Gardy is apparently positioning him in a way that hurts his value

 

The piece makes reference to playing deep perhaps accounting for a higher BABIP, but then goes on to say that getting burned while playing shallow may hurt you worse. Makes me wonder, why have I never heard of OPSBIP, or at least SLGBIP?

Usually an article that has "Notes" in the title is anything BUT "note-"worthy. Not so in this case- more like a Sunday Opus. Pretty meaty stuff, especially regarding Hicks.

 

That's what I was thinking when I opened it, figured there would just be a handful of Twins-related quick hits, but not so. The Hicks portion was nearly an article all to itself.

“One reason Aaron Hicks may appear to be a better defensive center fielder than his Defensive Runs Saved (plus-2, 20th-best at the position) total indicates is that his negative value is all range-related,” said Spratt. “We have him as costing the Twins five runs due to Plus/Minus. On the other hand, Hicks saved the Twins two runs with his arm and five runs with Good Fielding Plays/Defensive Misplays, mostly due to his 13 unexpected fly ball or line drive outs and his two home run robberies. In other words, Hicks rarely made poor decisions or poor plays on the balls he could reach, which is the easier part of defensive play to visually evaluate.”

 

Every time I watch Hicks, including today when he scored on a Dozier hit in the 1st inning, I'm stunned by how slow he looks. Makes sense to my eyeballs that range would be Hicks' biggest weakness.

 

edit: inb4 Hicks takes long strides so his slow running is an optical illusion