The era of Nolan Arenado (32, St. Louis Cardinals), who has reigned as the third baseman with the best defense in the American Major League (MLB) for the past 10 years, is coming to an end. Now, the third baseman who is recognized by everyone as having the best defense is Key Brian Hayes (26, Pittsburgh Pirates).
SIS Baseball, an MLB data provider, selected Hayes as the winner of the Fielding Bible Award as a third baseman. This is Hayes’ second win of the Fielding Bible Award since 2021. The Fielding Bible Award is an award that selects the best defensive player at each position regardless of the league, as voted on by experts.
In particular, Hayes was selected as the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year, which is given to the best defender regardless of position. This means that Hayes’ defense was evaluated as the best among all fielders.
In fact, Arenado was a regular customer of this award at the third base position. Arenado has won the award five times since his first win in 2015 until last year.
During this period, there were only two players who prevented Arenado from winning the award. Matt Chapman (30, Toronto Blue Jays), also known for his defense at third base, won the award twice, and the other time went to Hayes.
This phenomenon is being felt not only at the Fielding Bible Awards but also at the Gold Glove Awards, which are the most prestigious awards. Arenado has dominated the National League (NL) Gold Glove Award as a third baseman for 10 consecutive years from 2013 to last year. His 10 consecutive wins were the second-longest in MLB history, and the first limited to third basemen.
However, Arenado was also excluded from the three Gold Glove finalists this year. This is the first time Arenado has been eliminated as a Gold Gloves finalist since his debut in 2013.
This year’s three NL Gold Glove third baseman finalists were Hayes, Ryan McMahon (28, Colorado Rockies), and Austin Riley (26, Atlanta Braves). As can be seen from winning the Fielding Bible Award, Hayes is likely to win this year’s NL Gold Glove.
Considering that Arenado’s defensive ability this year has dropped significantly compared to last year and he will be 33 years old next year, it is difficult for him to show his previous skills. This is why it seems likely that the Arenado era will pass and the Hayes era will come.
In fact, Hayes’ defense has been famous since he was a prospect. On the ’20-80 scale,’ which evaluates a prospect’s talent as a high of 80 and a low of 20 (average of 50), Hayes’ defensive ability was rated 75. It means that it is the best talent that goes beyond the ‘plus-plus rating’.카지노사이트
And Hayes has been outstanding in his defense since his debut. According to Fangraph.com, a website specializing in baseball statistics, Hayes’ DRS (Defensive Run Saved, a record that calculates how many runs were prevented by defense) started at 4 in 2020, his debut season, and reached 16 in 2021, 24 in 2022, and 21 this year. It was at the top of the league.
In Statcast, a site that provides major league records, OAA (Outs Above Average (a record that calculates how many catches are lower than the average probability of being out)) has also maintained the top spot with 4, 12, 18, and 17 since 2020. This season alone, the OAA of Mikel Garcia (23, Kansas City Royals), second among third basemen, was 13, which was a large gap with Hayes.
This defensive ability was the reason why the Pittsburgh team, MLB’s representative small market, gave Hayes an 8-year contract extension worth $70 million (94.5 billion won) last year.
If Hayes can open a 10-year golden age like Arenado, Pittsburgh, which is currently rebuilding, can escape from its dark times faster. Pittsburgh fans are paying attention to whether Hayes can do the job on defense.