Kaz-Jose comparison

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

YEAR/TEAM / POS KAZ 2005 2B NYM JOSE 2004 NYM 2B


GP GS INN TC PO A E DP FPCT RF ZR
44 43 365 180 68 107 5 19 .972 4.32 .748
43 41 352 196 75 117 4 26 .980 4.91 .866


Before last night's game, they had each played 43 games at second base with very different results. What's the same of course is

1) new position, moving from short to second with only an off-season to make the adjustment

2) Shea infield

3) Mets pitching staff (basically the same, Pedro instead of Leiter the main difference)

etc.

Remember, Jose was not deemed a miracle man at second base last year. He was good, he showed promise, but he wasn't the return of Charlie Gehringer. No one was marvelling over his phenomenal fielding, and his stats place him in the middle of the pack for 2004 secondbasemen. Kaz's stats place him at the bottom or close to it in all major defensive categories. Look at the range differences between Kaz and Jose. How many extra plays did Jose make that Kaz isn't getting to? Jose was making close to a play per game that Kaz is not making, and it shows up all over the chart above, with many if not all of the same explanations applying.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Matsui's gotta hit beyond his limitations at 2B, no doubt. It's a shame he hasn't done it.

[nymr83]

The question I ask now is what do Reyes and Matsui compared at SS look like? is the difference as great as it is at 2B?

Those numbers are terrible, and look even worse when you consider Mientkiewicz at 1B for most of Matsui's games and god knows what (Piazza, Valent, etc.) at 1B for Reyes' games.