紅襪是時候該決定XB是否還要待在SS - 美國職棒

新聞連結：https://reurl.cc/vg53QL

Unless you're Derek Jeter or Barry Larkin, nearly every great offensive shorts
top of the last 50 years eventually ends up somewhere else.

Robin Yount began his career as an MVP shortstop and ended it as an MVP center
fielder. A little more than a year after breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive-ga
mes record, Cal Ripken shifted to third base. Nomar Garciaparra made his final
All-Star team as a first baseman. Alex Rodriguez transitioned from short to t
hird to DH to exile.

The two notable exceptions of this generation -- Hall of Famers Larkin and Jet
er -- clearly overstayed their respective welcomes in the middle of the diamon
d. To the extent that Jeter, technically a five-time Gold Glover, was ever a g
ood fielder, those skills had permanently abandoned him when he played 130 gam
es at short as a 40-year-old in 2014 and cost the Yankees a staggering 28 runs
, per Baseball Info Solutions. Larkin was a less extreme negative during his f
inal season, also at age 40, in 2004 with the Reds.

Tomase: Red Sox still in good shape in tight Wild Card race
You can probably see where this is headed. It brings me no joy to say it, but
if the Red Sox aren't urgently contemplating what's next for All-Star shortsto
p Xander Bogaerts, they're not doing their jobs.

Just a couple of weeks shy of his 29th birthday, Bogaerts remains an elite off
ensive force, a .300-.500.-900 superstar with 30-homer power, near-total plate
coverage (save for the occasional slider away), and a penchant for delivering
in big moments.

He has been described so many times as the heart and soul of the Red Sox that
the phrase sounds rote, but it's true. Whereas many of Boston's stars start sc
anning for exits as soon as free agency beckons, Bogaerts not only accepted le
ss money to stay, he then delivered.

He owns two World Series rings since debuting in 2013 and if next year's opt-o
ut doesn't get in the way, he'll anchor the next contending Red Sox team, too.
He was built to play here, he's homegrown, and with a little luck, he may nev
er don another uniform.

All of that praise established, here comes the sucker punch: He's a liability
at a primary defensive position. And the Red Sox must design a way forward.

Coming up short

Bogaerts' rank among 35 shortstops in outs above average (Baseball Savant)

34th

Variation

Single

That they can't play defense in 2021 has been long established. The latest ble
mish came Monday night, when Kyle Schwarber, playing out of position at first
base, booted a routine two-out grounder that set up the decisive three-run hom
er in a 5-4 loss to the Mariners.

You want bad defense, step right up to the buffet. Rafael Devers made every Ap
ril groundball an adventure. During his four-month slump before catching fire
in August, first baseman Bobby Dalbec fielded as poorly as he swung. The arriv
al of Schwarber and the hammer of COVID forced manager Alex Cora to reconfigur
e the outfield in ways that proved murderous defensively, because any alignmen
t other than Alex Verdugo in left, Kik? Hern嫕dez in center, and Hunter Renfro
e in right will cost the team runs.

Overlooked through all of the defensive struggles, however, is Bogaerts, maybe
because he's hitting .300 with 21 bombs, including one during Monday's futile
comeback. Or maybe it's because he's popular and we'd rather avert our eyes.

Of 23 shortstops to play at least 800 innings this season, Bogaerts ranks 19th
in defensive runs saved at minus-five, per Fangraphs. The advanced metrics at
Baseball Savant are even harsher, putting him 34th out of 35 shortstops in ou
ts above average at minus-nine, 27 runs behind leader Nick Ahmed of the Diamon
dbacks.

The problem isn't errors. Bogaerts is sure-handed and has only made eight of t
hem. It's range. While Bogaerts converted a highlight-reel play up the middle
over the weekend from his knees vs. the White Sox, ask yourself this: When did
he last wow you from the hole?

Like Garciaparra at roughly the same age, the 6-foot-2 Bogaerts doesn't cover
a lot of ground, particularly to his right. That's part of the reason Red Sox
pitchers have allowed a league-worst .324 batting average on balls in play, ab
out 35 points worse than average.

Tomase: Schwarber's bat creates pressing defensive question for Sox
Needless to say, every ball not converted into an out is another chance at a r
un, as the Red Sox have learned with disturbing frequency.

Their defensive issues are what they are and there's no way to fix them now. I
f they're fortunate enough to reach the playoffs, their stay will almost certa
inly be short, because teams that can't field can't last in the postseason.

The question is the future. Bogaerts played third as a rookie in order to crac
k the lineup, but when the Red Sox tried to move him back there midway through
2014 to make room for Stephen Drew, it did a number on him psychologically. H
e plays with pride and he considers himself a shortstop. Full stop.

If Chaim Bloom and Cora want to broach a position change, they'll have to do s
o delicately, particularly as he enters what is effectively a contract year. T
he good news is Bogaerts' bat plays anywhere. If management wanted to radicall
y realign the infield, Bogaerts could move to third and Devers to first. Anoth
er possibility would be going the Marcus Semien route and shifting to second b
ase, a move that will earn the former A's shortstop MVP votes with the Blue Ja
ys.

What's clear to anyone paying attention is that for all his leadership, charac
ter, and offensive greatness, Bogaerts' days as an everyday shortstop need to
end sooner than later if the Red Sox want to remake their infield defense.

There's certainly no shame in it. It's a fate reserved for virtually all elite
shortstops. Some just get there a little sooner than others.

重點摘要：
1.近50年來攻擊型SS明星選手只有Jeter跟Barry Larkin一直待在SS到退休
2.XB今年防守進階數據很慘，跟防守第一名的SS的DRS比較起來差了整整27分之多
3.XB問題不在失誤，而是他的防守範圍真的太小
4.紅襪本季投手的BABIP高達.323聯盟第一（第二金鳥.307）投手真的受防守拖累不少
5.如果轉換守位，可以讓XB守三壘Devers移往一壘，或者是循Semien模式移往二壘。

紅襪真的該認真思考XB的轉守位問題了
然後今年投手群的表現真的沒有帳面數據上這麼差
Nathan Eovaldi：ERA3.52/FIP2.78
E-Rod：ERA5.00/FIP3.46
Nick Pivetta：ERA4.49/FIP4.32
Garret Richards：ERA4.68/FIP4.72
Martin Perez：ERA4.88/FIP4.86

E-ROD本季BABIP高達.358
讓他ERA腫到生涯最高的5
不然他FIP3.46甚至生涯最佳
xERA也只有3.67



--