2014 APBA Baseball by the Numbers: Defensive Ratings

Yadier Molina: Tops in the 2014 set with a C-9 and Th-6

The 2014 APBA Baseball disk is out!  That means I’m crunching numbers.  For the last few years, I’ve been doing an overview of the cards as it were.  This year, I’ll start with the defensive ratings.  I’ll break down the ratings distribution and point out any standouts.  In the next couple of days, I’ll cover pitching and hitting as well.

The 2014 APBA defensive ratings were somewhat strange in that there WEREN’T any real standouts to speak of.  In years past, we would speak of the one 2B-9 or maybe the one shortstop that got a 10.  Not this year.  It was either feast or famine with the positions.  Either no player was blessed with the top rating or APBA handed it out like candy.  You’ll see what I mean.

Let’s look at each position individually…

Catchers

Here is the distribution of the catchers by fielding rating (these include all players who are rated at the position, by the way)

A pretty balanced set except for perhaps, the ten Catcher-9 backstops.  That used to be a rare commodity.

If you’re wondering, Victor Martinez is the one player rated as a C-5.  The top fielding catchers are Y. Molina, Butera, Lucroy, Martin, Perez, J. Molina, Ellis, Iannetta, Hanigan and Wieters.

Firstbasemen

On to the firstsackers…

The number of 1B-2 ratings may seem high but keep in mind that many are designated hitters who used to play the position.  According to the Master Game, 1B-3 is considered average fielding so they’re evenly distributed keeping that in mind.

The 1B-5s are Hosmer, Gonzalez, La Roche, Morneau and Loney.

Secondbasemen

Maybe it’s me but even six 2B-9 secondbasemen seems kind of high.  If you’re wondering, they are Ellis, Lemahieu, Solano, Cabrera, Kinsler and Pedroia.  Not too many surprises there.

Thirdbasemen

The third base category is always the strange one.

This is not an anomaly.  This year though, it seems more pronounced.  There are more Fielding 3 thirdbasemen than Fielding 2 and Fielding One combined.  This imbalance towards the 3B-3 has been happening for as long as I have been doing this “By the Numbers” series.  For a secondbaseman to have a 2B-5 or a catcher to be rated C-5 would be horrendous but it is totally acceptable to have a starting thirdbaseman rated 3B-3.

Maybe it’s time for the 3B-2 for the truly horrible thirdbaseman.

…and nope, no 3B-6 this year.

Shortstops

No top fielding shortstop either.

On the other hand, maybe the MLB is just getting that good because there isn’t that many SS-6 shortstops (I guess I’m too used to 1960s baseball).

Outfielders

…and finally the gardeners.

A slight imbalance toward OF-1 for the same reason as the firstbasemen (and quite frankly, it’s easier to be mediocre than great.  Rookies and has-beens fall into this category.

A few more stats to throw at you (no pun intended)…

Which players played the most positions?

APBA rated these players at five different positions.

Each of these players are rated at every position except pitcher and catcher.

Outfield arm ratings

APBA rated these outfielders with the best arm ratings.

Catcher Throw ratings

These are the best arms among the backstops.

Once again, Yadier leads the pack.

So no big surprises with the defensive ratings other maybe, than the fact that there were no big surprises.

Stay tuned the next couple of days when I have more fun with the disk numbers.  I’ll be writing up “Pitching by the Numbers” as well as “Hitting by the Numbers”.  Those should be exciting.  I usually throw in a catch-all mish mash one which turns to be pretty fun too.

[photo credit]