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Gon, baby, Gon
Alex Gonzalez is providing the sterling defense the Red Sox hoped for. (AP Photos)
When the Red Sox traded for Alex Gonzalez, I wondered whether he was actually an upgrade over Nick Green, based primarily on the Ultimate Zone Ratings at Fangraphs.com. The five games Gonzalez has played for Boston are a small sample size. But either Gonzalez was much, much worse all season in Cincinnati, or I need to lessen my faith in those numbers.
Gonzalez has played fantastic defensive, the best the Sox have gotten this season. Green made some great and athletic plays, particularly on double plays up the middle and pop-ups over his head in shallow left. But the consistency and grace with which Gonzalez plays is, as manager Terry Francona put it, “something to watch, isn’t it?”
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Gonzalez reduces improbable plays to routine events. His velvet hands look even better than they are because his subtle footwork allows him to make strong throws from any position. Last night, a ball deflected off of Mike Lowell’s glove and tricked toward left. Gonzalez quickly changed directions, swiped at the ball, and made a balletic, leaping throw for the out. In the ninth inning, he caught a double play relay facing right field. He twirled into a 180, like something out of The Matrix, and threw a strike to Kevin Youkilis. The throw arrived a hair too late, but the play induced dropped jaws and double takes.
“He’s awesome,” Dustin Pedroia said. “Anytime you get him the ball, it’s pretty much going to be turned. It’s definitely a comforting feeling when the ball goes his way.”
Gonzalez even makes the routine plays fun to watch. Doesn’t it seem like he never fields a grounder the same way? He’s got an innate sense of how to play every hop into an easy one. He could be talking on the phone and fixing a sandwich, and if a ball rolled toward him you’d bet on him turning it into a 6-3.
“You put a glove on him, it’s amazing how comfortable he is,” Francona said. “You hit him the ball, and you’re out. That’s a nice feeling.”
You probably cannot expect him to continue hitting like he’s been, but he’s also served as an adequate, lineup-turning cog at the bottom of the Red Sox’ order. After an oh-fer his first game, Gonzalez is 5 for 15 with a couple of clutch RBI singles.
Those UZR numbers are reliable, so Gonzalez's strong performance probably indicates something has changed. Gonzalez fought a miserable stretch of injuries for the first three months or so of the season. When he got to Texas, he said he felt 100 percent. Maybe his renewed health and the boost from moving from an irrelevant team to the middle of a playoff chase turned Gonzalez back into the out machine he was in 2006.
“Playing for this team is great,” Gonzalez said. “I feel lucky to be with them again, especially this month. They’re going for the playoffs, and that’s where I want to play.”
In a few hours, the Red Sox open their weekend series against the New York Yankees. Still 6 ½ back in the American League East, the Sox’ focus remains on the wild card. For this series to really mean something around 11:30 Sunday night, one team would have to sweep – the Yankees would just about slam the door, and the Sox would leap back to within striking distance.
Is sweeping baseball’s best team realistic for the Sox? They played some of their best ball of the year in Toronto, and their lineup, with all parties healthy and Victor Martinez in the middle of it, suddenly became really, really impressive last night. But then, the Sox were playing the Jays. They were bad. Very, very bad. Throwing-a-live-ball-into-their-dugout bad.
The answer? As usual, we’ll see.
“We excited,” Pedroia said. “They beat up on us pretty good at their place, so we’re going to come out and hopefully play a lot better.”
maybe his positioning is better as well (see Derek - Jeter) now with a different coaching staff. He also stopped some balls and didn't make a throw (legit plays) that Green probably would have made a throw on (and potentially a subsequent error). It's good to have both of them - what's the status on Jed?
He is just a natural at shortstop. You just can't teach that. It is fun to watch.
"...or I need to lessen my faith in those numbers."
bingo, fella...
fielding stats are a work in progress
Little did we know bringing back a lousy hitter when we needed offense might be the key to turn everything right again. And I sure hope I am not getting ahead of myself but that play he made with the ball that glanced off Lowell's glove was just so cool to see. A guy like that can have a massive riple affect with keeping me off base and helping out the pitchers. Looking forward to an awesome weekend of hankee spankee. GO SOX!
That "almost" game-ending double play yesterday had me jump out of my seat. It was just beautiful to watch because I haven't seen that kind of grace from a Sox shortstop since...hmm well let's see...2006. Also, I'm sure Pedie is happy now that he has a double play partner that wont make him bang his head against his locker after a losing game.
Couldn't agree more. GonBabyGon Rocks!
what's the status on Jed?
Who Cares!
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At this time last week there were posts galore on here against bringing gonzalez back, most citing these ridiculous websites and over the top stats about fielding zones and range charts..."Studies show Gonzalez bowel movements have been less frequent since 06, so clearly he should retire and never pickup a glove or a bat again"!!!!
Stat nerds\geeks are the ruination of sports!
Adam, one of the biggest caveats emphasized by Mitch Litchman about UZR is this: "You can't reliably predict fielding performance based on UZR unless you have a really large sample size." In small samples, it's really nothing more than a record of performance, not useful for drawing any conclusions about fielding skill.
UZR doesn't lie, but it can't tell the whole story. It's entirely possible that Gonzalez had a much tougher time in the field earlier in the year when he was coming off his injury and that he's been able to regain mobility and confidence since then.
Was Alex a ballerina before, he sure looked like one on the potenial game ending double play...
S-A-M-P-L-E S-I-Z-E
Gonzalez has played great, but evidence from 70+ games in a weaker league should tell us more than 5 games
UZR ratings are heavliy influenced by sample size, and since Gonzo has missed a significant amount of time this season, you shouldn't give too much weight to this year's UZR ratings.
His foot work is amazing. Fred Astaire SS.
nick green won 1 game with his bat. he lost 4 with throwing errors. Gonzo wont lose games with errors, and he wont win you games with his bat. the way i see it, he is already +3 over Nick Green. great move by the sox.
Gonzo was in 2006 and still is the premier shortstop in the game. He was stiffed in 2006 when he didn't win the gold glove. Hopefully the Sox rectify the mistake they made 2 years ago and lock this guy up!
The first two games the pitching balance is with the "Bankees", we might get a "W" with Beckett if he doesn't pitch like he did in his last outing.
The first two games the pitching balance is with the "Bankees", we might get a "W" with Beckett if he doesn't pitch like he did in his last outing.
This guy is an amazing shortstop, plain and simple. He's a pleasure to watch.
"NOT A HUGE UPGRADE", those words were from the story ,announcing the trade that got him . " bad bat, not the same player on defense" .......ha ha,...... like i posted at that time, you guys dont know what your writing about...or your clowns.
Why bring Nick Green into this? This guy is obviously hanging on by his fingernails in the major leagues. Of course Gonzo is better. But, Nick Green wasn't even supposed to make the team and is giving 100%.
The real question is why Theo let Gonzo get away the first time. Theo apparently made the same mistake he made with Cabrera and Rentaria - dumping a guy who was perfectly adequate for a high-priced, good-hitting, bad-fielding shortstop who subsequently lost his hitting skills with the Sox. (Great.)
Good news. However, it's also good news that the Sox got Green in a lot of AB's...might need him down the stretch.
I love A-Gon and hope he stays. Note to Theo: Defense is the #1 concern at SS, not hitting. Getting the .238 hitting Lugo to replace A-Gon was so stupid. But then, Orlando Cabrera should never have been set free in the first place. Keep A-Gon until he loses all of his range. I know you don't listen to the fans, but you need to accept that some of us mere fans know our stuff. Defense at SS matters, dude. Big time.
They're almost equal as shortstops now, with Green saving roughly the same number of runs in slightly more times. My guess is that Gonzo's made some pretty difficult plays that UZR liked (if a play is made less often, it's worth more if made, and doesn't hurt as much if not made), or Green hasn't made some easy plays recently.
Also, in limited time at 2B, Green has cost the Sox half as many runs as he's saved at SS - so maybe don't have him play 2B when Pedroia's out?
@Chris Simoneau - that is the completely wrong way of looking at players. You're only looking at the obvious results, and not the underlying process.
I'm a Sox fan but I'm not getting too excited about going into the NY series having swept the Jays. We swept Baltimore before losing losing 6 straight to TB and NY. Maybe home-field makes a difference but we'll see. I'm a little more concerned with Texas at this point. and the wild card. If we make the playoffs, the dynamic changes and we could do damage. That said, I have a mystical, strange feeling that Penny will shine tonight.
@Bat Insider
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