In 2010 when Naps had the most reps at 1st, Fan Graphs & UZR had him as an above average defender. He will only be playing first, is it hard to think he could reproduce or improve on 2010 , especially when he won't be catching?

 

i think people overblow defense at 1B.. i mean, if fielder, papi and other giant, lumbering players can hold their own at the position then Naps definitely can. especially if he's not bangned up from catching.

UZR is unreliable for one season.  In Napoli's case, he has 118 starts at 1B in his career.  I don't see how you could even make a projection, as little as he's played 1st.

In response to Joebreidey's comment:

what about projecting his offense off a 72 AB sample size at Fenway?

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Yes. He is a given negative on defense no matter where he plays... even at DH! (LOL)

Not catching will help as far as injury is concerned. However nothing can be predicted for his D at first. Just remember Youk at first great D and no injuries put back at third D was OK and multiple injuries.

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In response to moonslav59's comment:

yeah, he just doesn't have much range going to the left of the bat rack :-)

Watched his video chat with Silva, and he almost had me convinced that he will work on 1B and improve his defense there, until they showed him playing catch and missing a soft toss from Lackey.  Ouch!!!

Yes

In response to mef429's comment:

And I think people underestimate the value of good defense at 1b.  This guy is involved in every ground ball hit to infielders and the ability to stretch and pick balls out of the dirt can make a difference between several outs and errors over the run of a season. 

The fact that Fielder and Papi can hold down the spot at first base says more about their offense than their defense. 

S5,

Many people certainly do underestimate the value of having a good first baseman.  Gonzalez was exceptional defensively at first base and Napoli is not going to be as good.

But, that does not mean that Napoli is going to be a complete liability either.  Not catching will give him much more time to work on improving at first base. 

He is a professional player and certainly knows that his next contract is going to be based on his defensive improvement this year at first base (catching is over, and he knows it) as much as his hitting and his injured hip(s).

You have to think having catching skills and experience may translate well to first base, when it comes to catching or blocking bad throws.  His range will very likely be suspect, but with Pedey on the right side that may matter less.  Hopefully he can be servicable at 1B and earn his pay with the bat.  When talking defensive liability, Gomes name is the only one that comes to mind on this roster.  OK, maybe Salty too.

In response to phxvlsoxfan's comment:

drew is a question mark defensively, i'm hoping to hear from someone who's at ST to give us some info on how he is moving. I think he will end up being about average-slightly above average defensively (and that's best case scenario IMO).

i don't really consider Salty a defensive liability. he has done a lot of work behind the plate and has improved immensely.

Gomes defensive prowess (or lack thereof) is minimized playing in LF so i don't worry about him much.

I think he will be fine.

Defense does matter a lot at 1b. Guys like WMB are going to throw a few errant balls in the dirt and Naps will have to be able to make some tough scoops. He needs to know where to be with certain cut-offs etc..

All these things are very important for 1b defense. I too am hoping that some of his catching skills will translate to 1b.

In response to EnchiladaT's comment:

I would disregard that.  I would consider park effects in general, say Beltre going from Seattle to Boston, but 72 ABs is maybe 6 weeks of a season.

In response to HelloItsMeAgain1's comment:

Not sure why you'd have believed that.  Fenway doesn't help lefties hit HRs.  this isn't YS.

In response to S5's comment:

I agree, the importance of 1B fielding is often overlooked. Someone once posted a list of World Series winning 1Bmen, and one thing really jumped out at the reader: how many were excellent fielders (at least at some part of their career).

 

Middlebrooks has one of the most inconsistent arms to 1B I have ever seen - he rarely makes a clean, straight throw to first (its either low, high, and even often off the bag/in the dirt) That is the only thing that truly scares me about him...I think his plate discipline will obviously get better and he will adjust to pitching adjustments in his sophomore year - but he need to find that center when throwing/extending his arm....its not yet a case of Salty yips but i hope the sox coaches nip it in the bud...

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