Posted by Brian Joseph on Friday, August 7, 2009 at 11:15 pm

In my look around the diamond at defensive worth, five positions are down and today it’s a look at right field with center field and catcher still remaining. A look at the other corner outfield spot put Seth Smith and David DeJesus at the top of the rankings of the defensive metrics in left field. Now, let’s see how the right fielders rank.

Before that, here’s a rundown of the previous positions covered:

• 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
• Diggin’ In The Defensive Dirt (Part 5) — Left Field

… Back to right field:

NATIONAL LEAGUE 

1. Randy Winn, San Francisco Giants
2 (tie). Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds
2 (tie). Brandon Moss, Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Jayson Werth, Philadelphia Phillies
5. Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks
6. Hunter Pence, Houston Astros
7. Ryan Church, New York Mets/Atlanta Braves
8. Jeff Francoeur, Atlanta Braves/New York Mets
9. Austin Kearns, Washington Nationals
10. Jeremy Hermida, Florida Marlins
11. Corey Hart, Milwaukee Brewers
12. Milton Bradley, Chicago Cubs
13. Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis Cardinals
14. Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
15. Brian Giles, San Diego Padres
16. Brad Hawpe, Colorado Rockies

ANALYSIS: For those who aren’t fans of Fielding %, here’s a great example of how having that particular metric included in the overall ranking doesn’t destroy the value of more sabermetrically supported metrics like UZR/150. Brian Giles, Randy Winn, Jeremy Hermida and Austin Kearns all sit with a perfect fielding % thanks to their error-free seasons in RF. In UZR/150, these players rank all over the place: Winn at #2, Kearns at #7, Hermida at #12 and Giles at #14. Even with their #1 ranking in Fielding %, Winn (to #1) and Hermida (to #10) move up while Kearns (to #9) and Giles (to #15) move down.

As previously mentioned, Winn ranked #1 in the overall picture followed by Brandon Moss and Jay Bruce tied at #2. Jayson Werth and Justin Upton follow at fourth and fifth and both are well recognized for their glove.

At the bottom of the list are Milton Bradley (#12), Ryan Ludwick (#13), Andre Ethier (#14), Brian Giles (#15) and Brad Hawpe (#16). Other than Ludwick, UZR/150 agrees these are the bottom five fielders this season and Bradley and Hawpe have never been celebrated for their defense. Giles’ defense seems to be fading as he ages (along with the rest of his game).

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1. Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers
2. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners
3. Gabe Gross, Tampa Bay Rays
4. J.D. Drew, Boston Red Sox
5. Alex Rios, Toronto Blue Jays
6. Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland Indians
7. Bobby Abreu, Los Angeles Angels
8. Nick Swisher, New York Yankees
9. Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles
10. Michael Cuddyer, Minnesota Twins
11 (tie). Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox
11 (tie). Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers
13. Jack Cust, Oakland Athletics
14. Jose Guillen, Kansas City Royals

ANALYSIS: Nelson Cruz was not expected to be a defensive force for the Rangers but so far this year he’s been excellent. #2 in UZR/150 and in the top 5 in every other metric (#1 in RF/9 and #1 in Fielding Value), Cruz has also collected 55 OOZ plays behind only Ichiro.

Speaking of Ichiro, Suzuki ranked fourth in UZR/150 but moved up to second overall in the defensive rankings with the other metrics evaluated. It’s doubtful anyone who has watched Ichiro in the field would have any issue with him being considered the second best right fielder in the AL rather than fourth.

At the bottom of the list is Jose Guillen who is brutal in every metric. Right above Guillen is Jack Cust at #13 who is also pretty bad in every metric. Coincidentally, both Guillen and Cust were mentioned in the Mitchell Report. Hmmmm…