This is the third post in a series. If you haven’t, check out the first two. Today, I’d thought I’d break down the fielding in the 2011 set.
For each position, I listed the best rated fielders as well as gave the numbers for each fielding rating.
Best of the Best
| Catcher | Def at C |
| Matt Wieters | 9 |
| Drew Butera | 9 |
| Carlos Ruiz | 9 |
| Yadier Molina | 9 |
The breakdown for all those rated at Catcher goes like this: C-9: 4, C-8: 19, C-7, 51, C-6: 32, C-5: 6.
| First Base | Def at 1B |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 5 |
| Justin Morneau | 5 |
| Mark Teixeira | 5 |
| Casey Kotchman | 5 |
| Lyle Overbay | 5 |
| Carlos Pena | 5 |
| Joey Votto | 5 |
| James Loney | 5 |
| Derrek Lee | 5 |
As a Pujols owner, I’m a bit disappointed, I must say. The breakdown for firstbasemen: 1B-5: 9, 1B-4: 17, 1B-3: 58, 1B-2: 87.
| Second Base | Def at 2B |
| Mark Ellis | 9 |
| Orlando Hudson | 9 |
Secondbaseman go like this: 2B-9: 2, 2B-8: 34, 2B-7: 58, 2B-6: 58, 2B-5: 7.
| Third Base | Def at 3B |
| Omar Vizquel | 5 |
| Jack Hannahan | 5 |
| Brandon Inge | 5 |
| Evan Longoria | 5 |
| Adrian Beltre | 5 |
| John Mcdonald | 5 |
| Placido Polanco | 5 |
| Pablo Sandoval | 5 |
Thirdbasemen breakdown: 3B-5: 8, 3B-4: 33, 3B-3: 129, 3B-2: 1
Yes, Jim Thome was the only player rated as a 3B-2. He probably deserved it. Thirdbase has historically been a lopsided position in terms of ratings distribution. Of the 171 rated at 3B, 129 were rated with the (almost) worst fielding rating.
| Shortstop | Def at SS |
| Troy Tulowitzki | 10 |
| J.J. Hardy | 9 |
| Alcides Escobar | 9 |
| Erick Aybar | 9 |
| Brendan Ryan | 9 |
| John Mcdonald | 9 |
| Alex Gonzalez | 9 |
| Jack Wilson | 9 |
| Paul Janish | 9 |
| Clint Barmes | 9 |
| Jimmy Rollins | 9 |
| Wilson Valdez | 9 |
| Ronny Cedeno | 9 |
| Cesar Izturis | 9 |
Only three middle infielders in MLB with the top rating. Can I gloat just a little if my team has two of them (Tulo and Hud)? The shortstops go like this: SS-10: 1, SS-9: 13, SS-8, 48, SS-7: 47, SS-6: 13.
Outfielders
Of the 235 players rated at OF, 48 were rated OF-3. In case you’re wondering, 68 were rated OF-1. In my opinion, that’s not a bad ratio considering how many of those OF-1s were DHs and subs.
While we’re on the topic of outfielders, let’s look at outfielders’ arms. I filtered the list down to players whose primary position was outfield and sorted by their MG game arm rating.
Here were the best:
| Outfielders | Arm |
| Ichiro Suzuki | 38 |
| Shane Victorino | 38 |
| Rick Ankiel | 38 |
| Nick Markakis | 37 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | 37 |
| Jeff Francoeur | 37 |
| Mike Cuddyer | 37 |
| B.J. Upton | 37 |
| Justin Upton | 37 |
| Jay Bruce | 37 |
| Brian Bogusevic | 37 |
| Matt Kemp | 37 |
| Carlos Gomez | 37 |
While I’m at it, these outfielders had the worst arms:
| Outfielders | Arm |
| Ben Revere | 25 |
| Johnny Damon | 26 |
| Juan Pierre | 28 |
| Jarrod Dyson | 28 |
| Jack Cust | 28 |
| Chris Coghlan | 28 |
| Joey Gathright | 28 |
| Brandon Boggs | 28 |
And speaking of arms…
| Catchers | Cat. Thr. |
| Ivan Rodriguez | 6 |
| Wilin Rosario | 5 |
| Jorge Posada | 4 |
| Kelly Shoppach | 4 |
| Taylor Teagarden | 4 |
| Miguel Montero | 4 |
| Tony Cruz | 4 |
| Ryan Lavarnway | 4 |
| Welington Castillo | 4 |
| Mike Rivera | 4 |
IRod still has it after all these years.
Be sure to check out the By the Numbers: Pitching and By the Numbers: Hitting posts I’ve done. I’ve had a lot of fun doing them. I’ll do one more to cover the miscellaneous, incidentals and maybe a little trivia. The fun stuff.
