Not a rain - just a slight drizzle ...
AL 2011 League Average Fld% for 3B = .955
VC Fld% for 3B career = .918
Added foundation ...
TEAM 3B F% ranged from .968 (Cle) to .949 (Min) ...
Oops, that left out the bottom two teams ... Oakland (.929) and Baltimore (.905!!)
Suddenly, it becomes waaaay clearer exactly why Reynolds basically produced no aggregate value despite his prodigious power. He only played 114 games at third, (44 at first), but had 26 errors ... 8 more than the second most in the league. While the pedestrian stats of errors and fielding percentage have gone the way of the Dodo ... it is possible to be so beyond the normal bounds of competency that the archaic can nail you.
VC had an error problem in the minors. His 2011 3B F% was .897. What was Reynolds'? You guess it -- .897.
Mind you ... I am NOT saying that Vinnie "cannot" fix this. But, I will say, a sub-.900 fielding percentage at 3B isn't going to cut it in Seattle any more than Baltimore. And in "some" cases, errors have zero to do with form, grace, artistry and athletic ability. I got to watch Upton play SS at Durham. The way he MOVED made Ozzie look stiff. That was why Tampa tried so hard for so long to fix Upton's fielding. Thing is - there was nothing to fix. So, he piled up 50 errors a year throughout his minor league career and "earned" a promotion to outfielder.
We can only hope that Vinne *WAS* clunky and slow and awkward and stiff and clumsy ... because you can actually fix mechanical stuff with good athletes. What you cannot fix is someone with great skills who just happens to greet every 10th play with a-plop -- (the evil twin of aplomb).
If the error thing is really a head thing ... playing in front of 25,000 instead of 2,500 will not help.
............
It has nothing to do with anything, that this looks like Bobby Fischer playing baseball. You gotta believe me.
.............
Four balls hit into his area, which is one more than average for a 3B in a major league game. About fourteen questions answered, which is about thirteen more than average for a 3B in a major league game.
To wit:
.
=== Play 1 ===
A RH hitter chopped a ball off the dirt around home plate. It bounded hard, with topspin, out to 3B, giving Catricala both a short hop and little time to judge the trajectory. This is exactly the play that eats Dr. D alive in softball.
Catricala scooted over easily. He misjudged the hop. He lowered his backside so far that, if he'd put three fingers to the ground and the glove out sideways, he'd have been a dynamic Spider-Man poster.
He reached down real low for the ball, bare hand doing an "alligator jaws" ... and his head was up as he caught the ball, looking at the catcher. Somehow the ball snapped against the dirt and bounded up hard into his glove, which was only about 8 inches from the hop. I couldn't believe that the ball even touched his mitt at all, but it nestled soundly right into the pocket.
A quick 3B would have charged in instantly and snagged the ball just before it hit the ground, like a SS would. A 35-year-old 3B would have angled behind the ball, taking it knee-high, maybe backhand. Catricala smothered it like a catcher blocking a pitch. Terrible instincts on that one.
But he caught it with discordantly soft hands, and then turned and shot-putted a prissy little throw over to Ackley at 2B, with a motion like punching an elevator button.
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=== Play 2 ===
A RH hitter launched a worm-burner over to Catricala's left, the ball hugging the ground on several hard, low bounces. This is a play that is tricky for young infielders, but routine for major leaguers. You can't botch this medium-difficulty play and stay on the field at, say, AA or above.
He glided over easily and the tall, angular Catricala stayed verrrrrrry low to the ground. His backside almost scraped the dirt. He reached out for the ball, top hand over the bounce, and when the ball hit his glove, Catricala gently moved his hands about one foot into himself, as though he were catching an egg. This is the definition of "soft hands."
After a barely-perceptible pause, Catricala went ahead and tapped his belt buckle with both hands. This is critical.
He lightly and easily shot-putted the ball over to Ackley with that elevator-button movement.
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=== Play 3 ===
Last play of the game, Catricala is playing in on the skin of the grass. Here comes a hard, high one-hopper, well to his left.
He jumps over lightly and snags the rebound, pivots, and cheerfully shot-puts the ball over to Liddi at 1B. The ball would have hit Liddi in the face if he hadn't caught it.
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=== Play 4 ===
Somebody smashed a hit off the 3B bag.
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Comments
last year just by working on it. And he wasn't clutzy. Third base is about reactions and not screwing up throws. Vinnie looks like he's being very careful with his throws this year, and honestly the couple of times I saw errors from him last year it looked careless rather than brain-cramp.
Mangini was a brain-cramper. I loved so many things about his game but he would do that 10th-play-a-plop thing. That and his health destroyed him with us. We have a couple other guys with the need to sharpen their focus in the field: Franklin and Miller. They have to do it at SS though. I have more faith in Franklin to do it than Miller, but I'm fine with where Vinnie looks like he's going.
If Catricala can't play third long-term then he can't. Like you said, running Mark Reynolds out there can be a huge defensive hindrance and take away from his value at the plate. Happened to Ryan Braun. Happened to Alex Gordon. If you can hit enough it's survivable. I think he's gonna be more like Aramis (.900 fielding % minors, better in the bigs) though, and be able to play there unless you feel a need for a glove man at the position and have a hole at a different corner.
So far the Ms are more than willing to keep him at 3rd, and I'm thrilled about it. We'll see how long they're willing to keep him in the minors if he keeps hitting like this.
~G
If the error thing is really a head thing ... playing in front of 25,000 instead of 2,500 will not help.
Hmm, the way I see it, if the issue is one of focus, and not ability, then playing in front of 25,000 may be just the thing indeed.
Look at Jesus Montero's struggles last year with AAA. Same type of thing. For some players it is playing under the lights, playing on the big stage, playing in front of the national audience, etc., that brings out the best in them.
Won't know with V-Cat until we give him a chance,
- Ben.
That his error rate, in 133 games (one short season) should cause concern, I can understand.
We're referring to the consensus (elsewhere) that this guy was a lost cause, that putting him at 3B was a bad joke. Those reports, and the guy I watched at 3B the last two days, come from different universes.
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Over the course of only 133 games, I'm not going to compare 90% to 92% to 94%. That's just the first few games of his career, and players evolve.
Ramirez had 413 games at 3B in the minors, with a fielding % of .900 - then went to the majors and bam, it's .950.
..........
Catricala could turn out not to be a 3B, but this stuff about his being a joke, that there's no point in giving him a chance, that was way off the mark. As Zduriencik and Wedge fortunately realized.
Pressure: some focus, others fold (Al Pacino). Good point Ben. ... we'll see on Vinnie. Certainly, with the promotion to AA last year, and what we have witnessed in the ML camp this year, he looks like he's in the "focus" category.
..........
The conditions in the majors are so much better. They're playing on a golf course out there - perfect hops every single time. Fielders can settle into their games, once they forget about the bad hops.
They're positioned right. The pitching is predictable. The coaching is wonderful.
Even I can shoot baskets well when I'm in a bigtime basketball arena. The venue begs for excellent performance.
...........
ARAMIS RAMIREZ: .900 minors, .948 majors.
PABLO SANDOVAL: .900 minors, .963 majors.
KEVIN YOUKILIS: .935 minors, .967 majors.
CHIPPER JONES: .919 minors (at SS, no less) .954 majors at 3B.
I'm sure you'd find dozens of 3B's who, in their first 150 games, fielded .900 and then were reliable fielders in the majors.
But remember that Major League first baseman are likely way better than the typical minor leaguer. As a Cub, Aramis Ramirez spent many years throwing to Derrek Lee who is certainly far superior at stretching for throws and picking balls out of the dirt than a random single-A schlub. That's likely a big deal for 3rd baseman and shortstops.
Honestly, my post was not intended to say VC *will* have problems --- just that the eye-test doesn't capture all variables. If he passes the eye test, then his errors and fielding percentage this coming year, (regardless where he plays), will be the critical issue to watch.
Consensus here suggests he looks good enough to stick at third. I'm just saying to keep an eye on the error count. You probably need a good 50+ games to start accumulating enough PT to start judging, because even bad fielders can have good spells ... which is precisely how someone really dreadful, (like Reynolds), can stick around. Coaches convince themselves they can fix "consistency". Sometimes they can offer suggestions that help, but more often than not, inconsistency is a chronic condition, not an acute one.
You cited Vinnie's minor league numbers but then compared them to major league stats. But go look at how infielders do in the majors compared to how they did in the minors. They routinely see a big improvement in Fld%. In Reynolds case he went from .881 to .930, a whopping .05 increase. So he was much worse in the minors than Catricala has been. Its possible that Cat's low end in the majors is .930, and if he brings a MOTO bat then he'll be a huge asset at third.