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On this episode of the BSN Rockies Podcast, Drew Creasman tries to figure out how the Colorado Rockies move on after a tough series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. What can be done to fix the bullpen and has the offense really turned a corner? How can Colorado manipulate their roster before the trade deadline? Plus, predictions for the upcoming set against the Reds.
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Juan Pablo Zubillaga
I’d been wanting to ask you about Charlie in CF for a while, but now that you actually mentioned it, gives me a perfect excuse to do so.
He’s never been an elite defensive CF by any means, but I guess you could say he’s been slightly below average, which is fine by me, given his offensive value. I know that defensive metrics can undervalue Rockies OFs, but for the sake of the argument, we’ll go ahead and trust them. Let’s use UZR (which fangraphs uses for WAR), DRS (BB-ref WAR), and Outs Above Average (per Statcast). Here are the numbers for 2016, 2017 and 2018:
2016
UZR -3.9
DRS -2
OAA 0
2017
UZR -0.9
DRS -5
OAA -2
2018
UZR -6.6
DRS -16
OAA -7
Keep in mind that these metrics are cumulative, so if he keeps up the pace, it’ll only get worse for 2018.
As I said, up until this year, his numbers were passable, especially given his offensive output. However, this year’s numbers start to paint an ugly picture, and even the eye test (as you mentioned in the pod) is telling the same story.
So my question is: how long do you think the Rockies keep sending him out there, given how run-prevetion oriented they are? The logical thing would be to play Dahl in CF as you’ve suggested, and move Charlie to a corner spot, but that would mean Parra and CarGo losing significant amounts of playing time, which doesn’t seem to be an idea that Bud Black likes.
Do you think this move is plausible this season? Or do you think it would have to be after CarGo and Parra are gone.
Thanks for the constant flow of content. Keep it up.