Posted by Brian Joseph on Monday, August 3, 2009 at 4:05 am

Yesterday, we took a look at the defensive statistics of first basemen in the AL and NL. After crunching the numbers of nine different defensive metrics, Casey Kotchman and Paul Konerko were rated out as the best each league had to offer at first base and Joey Votto and Carlos Pena bottomed out as the worst fielders in 2009 at first base.

Today, it’s time to look at baseball’s second basemen and how they stack up based on eight of the nine defensive metrics used to measure first basemen with the addition of DPR (found on FanGraphs) which replaces bF2O% (a statistic found on Baseball-Reference for corner infielders).

Let’s talk a look at the rankings and the raw data:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Craig Counsell, Milwaukee Brewers
2. Clint Barmes, Colorado Rockies
3. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
4. Felipe Lopez, Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Freddy Sanchez, Pittsburgh Pirates
6 (tie). Anderson Hernandez, Washington Nationals
6 (tie). Kaz Matsui, Houston Astros
8. Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
9. Mike Fontenot, Chicago Cubs
10. Orlando Hudson, Los Angeles Dodgers
11. Kelly Johnson, Atlanta Braves
12. David Eckstein, San Diego Padres
13. Luis Castillo, New York Mets
14. Skip Schumaker, St. Louis Cardinals
15. Dan Uggla, Florida Marlins
16. Emmanuel Burriss, San Francisco Giants

ANALYSIS: Seeing Craig Counsell at the top of the list isn’t stunning although it’s doubtful a guy like Counsell will ever win a Gold Glove. However, you don’t stick around for 14 seasons with average offensive numbers if you are terrible in the field. Once an everyday short stop, Clint Barmes ranking out at #2 isn’t a shcok. His fielding % is below average but every other metric has Barmes in the top half of all second basemen and, in most cases, Barmes is in the top 3.

Former Gold Glovers Brandon Phillips (8th), Orlando Hudson (10th) and Luis Castillo (13th) all rate out poorly and none of the three shine in UZR/150 either. Hudson and Castillo’s age could be a factor in their decline but it’s hard to explain Phillips’ slip. Phillips’ has a defense-first mentality and will likely get a lot of support in the Gold Glove voting this year on reputation alone.

Both Hudson and Phillips are in the top 3 in OOZ plays which has a way of growing a player’s fielding reputation since many of those types of plays are highlight reel-worthy.

The one thing that jumps off the page with this data is Emmanuel Burriss and the guy the Giants traded for to replace him, Freddy Sanchez. Burriss’ defense is universally poor in every metric and is 16th of 16 overall. Sanchez rated 5th and has always been considered to have a very solid glove.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
2. Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays
3. Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers
4. Jamey Carroll, Cleveland Indians
5 (tie). Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays
5 (tie). Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
7. Howie Kendrick, Los Angeles Angels
8. Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
9. Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles
10. Chris Getz, Chicago White Sox
11. Jose Lopez, Seattle Mariners
12. Alexi Casilla, Minnesota Twins
13. Alberto Callaspo, Kansas City Royals
14. Adam Kennedy, Oakland Athletics

ANALYSIS: Sure, Ian Kinsler is #1 but, for the most part, the top six are interchangable. Of the six, Ben Zobrist is the one name that jumps out as a surprise. Ranked #2, Zobrist’s UZR/150 is off the charts at 25.9. Placido Polanco (#3) and Dustin Pedroia (#5) are former Gold Glovers and Jamey Carroll (#4) have both been known for their defense.

Nothing about the order of this list is particularly out of whack. Alberto Callaspo would probably be one that some contend shouldn’t be considered a below average fielder but there isn’t a metric available that supports the claim he has a plus glove, at least this year. He has a reputation for mental mistakes in the field so that might be the case this year.

Talk of Adam Kennedy’s defense slipping reared its ugly head when he was still playing with the Cardinals and with him being no higher than 12th in eight of the nine metrics utilized and eighth in Fielding Value — his strongest category — the numbers support Kennedy being the worst the AL has to offer. By far, Alexi Casilla rates out the worst in UZR/150 but his awesome RF/9 of 5.1 and solid DPR of 0.4 brings him off the bottom and all the way up to… 12th of 14. (That’s not very good, if you still weren’t sure.)

Next Up: Third Basemen!