Good bat, but bad everything else @LoMoMarlins |

Logan Morrison attempts to catch a ball while looking less-than-confident / Icon SMI

Most fans only think about a player’s offensive production when judging his value. In 2011, though, there were 3 players to produce at least 10 Batting Runs (a component of WAR: see the Stats Glossary link above) while have an overall WAR of at most 1.0–these players had negative contributions from most of the other aspects of their performance.

Rk	Player	WAR/pos	Rbat	Rbaser	Rfield	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Lucas Duda	0.8	16	-1	-13	NYM	100	347	301	38	88	21	3	10	50	33	57	.292	.370	.482	.852	39/7D
2	Mark Reynolds	0.5	14	-1	-25	BAL	155	620	534	84	118	27	1	37	86	75	196	.221	.323	.483	.806	*53
3	Logan Morrison	0.2	10	-2	-16	FLA	123	525	462	54	114	25	4	23	72	54	99	.247	.330	.468	.797	*7/D3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/31/2012.

These three guys all did nice things at the plate but bad things on the basepaths and with their gloves.

This is the 3rd straight season that Mark Reynolds “achieved” this “feat”, of having negative baserunning and fielding contributions.

Here are the guys over the last 3 seasons who had -30 fielding runs (or worse) and +10 batting runs (or better):

Rk		Rfield	Rbat	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	David Wright	-36	54	26-28	403	1735	1511	235	429	98	7	53	236	195	398	.284	.364	.463	.828	*5/6D	NYM
2	Dan Uggla	-32	42	29-31	478	2014	1753	272	446	80	2	100	277	232	455	.254	.345	.473	.818	*4	FLA-ATL
3	Mark Reynolds	-47	28	25-27	455	1878	1611	261	367	74	4	113	273	234	630	.228	.331	.489	.820	*5/3	ARI-BAL
4	Aramis Ramirez	-30	33	31-33	355	1475	1336	187	382	70	3	66	241	105	202	.286	.344	.491	.835	*5/D	CHC
5	Adam Dunn	-39	40	29-31	439	1812	1519	202	357	81	2	87	250	268	553	.235	.354	.463	.817	*3/D79	WSN-CHW
6	Bobby Abreu	-31	45	35-37	448	1919	1638	238	438	100	5	43	241	259	358	.267	.365	.413	.779	*9D/7	LAA

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/31/2012.

Just what Adam Dunn needed…

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12 years ago

In 2008, Brad Hawpe had -41 fielding runs, the worst single season total so far this century. It turned his 2.4 oWAR into a -1.7 WAR.

Chris

Reply to Ed

When I saw this post, I immediately thought of Brad Hawpe.

Author

Andy

Reply to Chris

New post on Hawpe is up.

Jeff Allen

3 players in history have managed +30 Rbat and -30 Rfield in a single season. Ryan Braun (+33/-35 in 2007), Jason Bay (+31/-35 in 2008), and Adam Dunn (+34/-33 in 2009).

abarnold2

It’s these measures that make me want most of these guys for my fantasy teams and makes me glad they’re not Cardinals.

Did a bit more digging and it appears that Hawpe’s -41 fielding runs is the worst total ever. But what’s odd is that all of the worst totals for fielding runs are recent, with most of them occurring in the 90’s and 00’s. The only exceptions I can find are Rick Monday (-27) in 1974 and Alan Bannister (-29) in 1977. I’m not an expert with the play index so someone else should confirm this.

Richard Chester

@4
Ed:
From 1901 to 1989 there have been 6 players with Rfield of -25 or less. From 1990 to 2011 there have been 25 players.

From 1901 to 1989 there have been 57 players with less than -20 and from 1990 to 2011 there have been 73 players.

Hartvig

Reply to Richard Chester

I wonder if there’s a way to determine if that’s because overall levels of fielding have improved so that the marginal players stand out more or if it’s because the players at those positions don’t belong there…

Reply to Hartvig

Thanks for confirming what I found. It definitely calls out for some sort of explanation.

CursedClevelander

First guy I thought of (well, modern guy) was Ty Wigginton, but when you examine his career, he really only had one year where he could be considered a “good bat,” and that’s 2008. Still, career 11.8 oWAR, and -11.2 dWAR.

thomas

I never thought of David Wright as such a poor defensive player… though I try and avoid Mets games.

Frank Clingenpeel

I gotta admit, i was surprised that neither Dick Stuart — the original Dr. Strangeglove — nor Marvelous Marv Throneberry managed to sneek onto any of these lists.

DaveR

I keep seeing David Wright defensive highlights on TV. I suppose those are the only plays he makes.

Bells

Well, at least Adam Dunn rips it up with the bat.

Kahuna Tuna

In the photo, Morrison looks as if he might be wearing his glove on the wrong hand. He’s not, of course, but it’s just further proof that he’s not a good fielder.

Reply to Kahuna Tuna

Interestingly, there was no shortage of photos like this when selecting one for Morrison. In this Icon Sports Media database there were several where Morrison looked scared/awkward about fielding a ball, and several others where it was apparent that he had just missed a ball. The same is true for other bad fielders such as Ty Wigginton.

Dr. Remulak

Duda and Wright on the list with Daniel Murphy at 2nd base!?!? Where’s Mike Piazza to lend some defensive stability to the Mets?

I can still see Abreu flinching every time he touched the right field warning track at Yankee Stadium. Makes one appreciate O’Neill and Swisher.