Posted by Brian Joseph on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 3:29 am

On Tuesday, Jack Wilson and Marco Scutaro joined the best of the best after ranking MLB’s short stops in the key defensive metrics. Those two rounded out our look at infield defenders throughout the Majors.

In Part 5, it’s time to move our look at the key defensive metrics in relation to outfielders. This edition looks at left field with right field and center field to follow. When looking at corner infielders, bF2O% (measuring bunt fielding exclusively) was used. When looking at middle infielders, DPR (Double Play Runs Above Avg.) was used. Neither makes much sense when looking at outfielders so it is replaced by ARM (Outfield Arm Runs Above Avg.) found at FanGraphs.

Before looking at position #7 in the scorecard, here’s a link to the previous parts:

• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 1) — First Basemen 
• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 2) — Second Basemen
• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 3) — Third Basemen
• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 4) — Short Stops

With those positions in the books, here’s a look at the top left fielder by playing time from each time and how they rank in the key metrics:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

1. Seth Smith, Colorado Rockies
2. Nyjer Morgan, Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Juan Pierre, Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Laynce Nix, Cincinnati Reds
5. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
6. Chase Headley, San Diego Padres
7. Fred Lewis, San Francisco Giants
8. Gerardo Parra, Arizona Diamondbacks
9. Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia Phillies
10. Garrett Anderson, Atlanta Braves
11. Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs
12. Gary Sheffield, New York Mets
13. Chris Duncan, St. Louis Cardinals
14 (tie). Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins
14 (tie). Carlos Lee, Houston Astros
16. Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals

ANALYSIS: Typically, it is easier to start at the top of the list but this time it is worth going bottom to top. Watch enough baseball and the bottom third in the rankings is not a shock: Gary Sheffield, Chris Duncan, Chris Coghlan, Carlos Lee and Adam Dunn. For the UZR/150 folks, the bottom third UZR/150 is: Chris Duncan, Chris Coghlan, Carlos Lee, Gary Sheffield and Adam Dunn. Look familiar? Both groups are the same although UZR/150 is a little harsher on Gary Sheffield when compared to the rest of the group. Sheff’s RF/9 and RZR are in the top half of all NL left fielders which pulls him up in the overall rankings.

Since the Gold Glove is awarded to outfielders and not required to specifically recognize a left fielder, it is no surprise that there isn’t a Gold Glove winner in the group. But it’s interesting to look at Ryan Braun’s metrics. Overall, Braun rates fifth with top three ratings in ARM, RZR and OOZ and anywhere from 5 to 8 in five other metrics. Then there’s Braun’s +/- of 18, tied with Lee for the NL’s worst. Error-free in his first 190 games in left field (Braun became a left fielder in ‘08), Braun is considered decent in left but his +/- supports that he has hurt his team in left. Braun also has accumulated negative numbers in UZR/150 and Fielding Value (UZR not adjusted for playing time).

The top three in the group of left fielders were Colorado’s Seth Smith, Pittsburgh’s Nyjer Morgan (now with Washington) and Los Angeles’ Juan Pierre. Smith and Morgan are basically interchangable with Pierre in at third. Pierre has always been considered a solid but unspectacular fielder which is reflected in his very good 1.000 fielding %, 13.0 UZR/150 and his below average 24 OOZ plays. it also shows that being workmanlike in a position that often attracts iron gloves and lead legs can actually put you in the upper echelon of defenders.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. David DeJesus, Kansas City Royals
2. Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays
3. Juan Rivera, Los Angeles Angels
4. Josh Anderson, Detroit Tigers
5. Wladimir Balentien, Seattle Mariners
6. Matt Holliday, Oakland Athletics
7. David Murphy, Texas Rangers
8. Scott Podsednik, Chicago White Sox
9. Nolan Reimold, Baltimore Orioles
10. Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox
11. Ben Francisco, Cleveland Indians
12. Johnny Damon, New York Yankees
13. Delmon Young, Minnesota Twins
14. Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays

ANALYSIS: David DeJesus! He may not be ahead of Josh Anderson or Juan Rivera in UZR/150 but DeJesus’ overall ranking is well ahead of anyone in left field and his domination of the metrics is the biggest gap from #2 of any position anaylzed in any league by far. DeJesus’ worst metric is +/- where he is ONLY +3 and fifth overall. He tops the Fielding %, RF/9, ARM and Fielding Value metrics.

Carl Crawford is a distant second and is actually fifth in UZR/150 but anyone who has watched Crawford track down flies in left knows of his superior glove. His 72 OOZ plays are the most of any left fielder in the game — 18 more than DeJesus at #2 overall.

Juan Rivera and Josh Anderson are the top two in UZR/150 with Anderson far superior to any other left field option with a 30.0 UZR/150 but rank third and fourth respectively when combining the rankings of the metrics. Now that Anderson is a Royal, it will be interesting to see how he is used defensively since they already have a superior defender in DeJesus in left.

The bottom three were Johnny Damon (12th), Delmon Young (13th) and Adam Lind (14th). Young is by far the worst according to UZR/150 and, the difference between Young at 13 and Lind at 14 is negligible.