Defensive Replacements

[Edgy MD]

On multiple occasions this year, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has sought to strengthen his late-game defense by either (a) putting José Iglesias in for Mark Vientos at third, ( putting Jeff McNeil in at second and sliding Iglelsias to third; or © putting a quality outfielder in the outfield, bringing McNeil in to play second, and sliding Iglesias over to third.



They made a similar move yesterday, only putting Eddy Alvarez at second, after he entered the game as a pinch-runner at third.



I don't yet know Eddy Alvarez from Adam Ottavino, but I have much respect for McNeil's defense, and admire how he has kept his head in the game on defense during some extended slumps on offense, but isn't it a stronger alignment to just put McNeil (or Alvarez)at third and keep Iglesias at second?



I know McNeil hasn't played there in a while, but refamiliarization shouldn't take all that much. (Alvarez has played 10 games there this season and 88 in his career.) Iglesias to my eyes is the best defensive second baseman the Mets have had in a long time, and probably as good a combination of hand skills and foot skills as they've ever had. He's pretty much what we were hoping to see from Roberto Alomar when he came over.



While Alfonzo and Flynn remain the Mets best secondbasemen (to my mind) by virtue of making a science out of the position, the only Mets comps to Iglesias I can think of — as far as combining speed, coordination, and manual dexterity at the position goes — are maybe Felix Millan and Sandy Alomar, Sr. (the latter of whom nonetheless hit his way off the roster).



So why not leave him right where he is late in games?



[fimg=360]https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,height=1200,fit=cover/app/uploads/2024/06/20212048/GettyImages-2158190895-scaled.jpg[/fimg]

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: On multiple occasions this year, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza has sought to strengthen his late-game defense by either (a) putting José Iglesias in for Mark Vientos at third, ( putting Jeff McNeil in at second and sliding Iglelsias to third; or (c) putting a quality outfielder in the outfield, bringing McNeil in to play second, and sliding Iglesias over to third. They made a similar move yesterday, only putting Eddy Alvarez at second, after he entered the game as a pinch-runner at third. I don't yet know Eddy Alvarez from Adam Ottavino, but I have much respect for McNeil's defense, and admire how he has kept his head in the game on defense during some extended slumps on offense, but isn't it a stronger alignment to just put McNeil (or Alvarez)at third and keep Iglesias at second? I know McNeil hasn't played there in a while, but refamiliarization shouldn't take all that much. (Alvarez has played 10 games there this season and 88 in his career.) Iglesias to my eyes is the best defensive second baseman the Mets have had in a long time, and probably as good a combination of hand skills and foot skills as they've ever had. He's pretty much what we were hoping to see from Roberto Alomar when he came over. While Alfonzo and Flynn remain the Mets best secondbasemen (to my mind) by virtue of making a science out of the position, the only Mets comps to Iglesias I can think of — as far as combining speed, coordination, and manual dexterity at the position goes — are maybe Felix Millan and Sandy Alomar, Sr. (the latter of whom nonetheless hit his way off the roster). So why not leave him right where he is late in games? [fimg=360]https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,height=1200,fit=cover/app/uploads/2024/06/20212048/GettyImages-2158190895-scaled.jpg[/fimg]

You lost me at the third paragraph. Isn't McNeil out for the rest of the season?

[Edgy MD]

Well, it came up again, as I wrote above, because the manager is deploying the same strategy now with Eddy Alvarez.

[Fman99]

Well, Eddy A was already in as a pinch runner.



My guess would be we see more scenarios where Eddy Alvarez comes in late to play second and pushes Iglesias to third. This is probably due to Eddy A not being able to play third? Gets both their gloves on the field that way.

[Edgy MD]

Eddy Alvarez https://www.mlb.com/video/eddy-alvarez-makes-play-at-3rdplays third.

[MFS62]

Eddie's range factor per game is better than league average at second and marginally below league average at third.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alvared01.shtmlhttps://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alvared01.shtml



Later

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Just spitballing here, moving a great-hands guy to 3rd is a more radical upgrade than whatever slight downgrade you might get by going from Iglesias to McNiel/Alvarez. And errors at 3rd base are almost always catastrophic in late innings



I don't know shit about Eddy as a 3B or 2B. Maybe he's really good

[Edgy MD]

I don't either.



I've always understood second base to be to the right of third base on the defensive spectrum, and that's probably a big part of why this sticks in my craw, but the reality is that the defensive spectrum can shift over time.



Also, if you're improving a lesser position, but subtracting from a more important position, maybe it's still worth it if you're gaining more points in the former than you're losing in the latter.



But I'm finding compelling the notion Bucket posts above that, wherever the two positions lie on the defensive spectrum, late errors at third, which happen at the corner and therefore can result in multiple bases, are more devastating than late errors at second, which happen in the middle of the diamond and allow for more damage control.

[The Hot Corner]

I would agree with Lunchbuckets assertion. Shortstop and second base generally handle more chances in games, which is a big part of why defense a strong defense "up the middle" is important. However, an error at third base is much more likely to result in multiple bases.