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Whether you are a Sabermetric follower or not, everyone can agree that some positions on the baseball field are more difficult to play than others. There is an obvious difference in the overall athletic ability of Andrelton Simmons compared with that of say, David Ortiz. They're both great athletes, but it takes a more well-rounded skillset to play shortstop the way Andrelton does, than to play first base or step on the field 4 times in a game as a DH. There are going to be a lot more athletes who are capable of learning to hit at the major league level, without worrying about defense, than there are who are capable of playing a demanding position like shortstop while also learning to hit at the major league level. Sabermetrics calls this the defensive spectrum, and they rank each position by difficulty, which will also correlate to scarcity of players. There is more scarcity of players at the more difficult positions. You can read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_spectrum
Ideally you would have a dominant pitcher who can hit grand slams like little league and college baseball, and elite defenders at every position who can also hit like Barry Bonds in his prime on steroids. We will never see a team like this, but if you're a GM, that's what you should be shooting for. In reality you will only be able to achieve some percentage of this ideal team's production because of the scarcity of high skill position players who can also hit at an elite level. The goal should be to pack your lineup with as many of these dual-threat guys as you can find and afford.
Bryce Harper is a guy who is going to hit at the highest level in his prime, and is already showing us a lot as a 19 year-old in the big leagues. He is also a 5-tool athlete who can, and has played every position on the field except pitcher. Since that is the case, why wouldn't you play him where he can make the most difference on your team? That spot, after pitcher, would be catcher, according to the defensive spectrum. How many teams have their best hitter playing catcher? Maybe one or two, with McCann being up there. This gives you a huge advantage over a team that has to play Kurt Suzuki (.215/.256/.268) at catcher because they don't have a better hitter who can also play there defensively.
It also allows you to put someone in left field, the second easiest position, where there are many replacement left fielders who can play defense AND hit. You'll find them easier and cheaper, by a lot, than a Bryce Harper.
To be fair, the Nats have played him in center field a lot, which is the 5th hardest position to play (slash find players) but why wouldn't they play him at catcher to put their best possible team on the field?
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Well the obvious answer here is that catching involves a lot more than being athletic. You need to be able to command the game and call the right pitches. Bryce Harper might be able to do that, but I'd take a mediocre hitting catcher who makes my pitchers better over a mediocre game calling catcher who makes my pitchers a little worse.
ReplyDeleteBryce Harper has shown so far that he has all the talent and tools, but his maturity and understanding of the game at the major league level seems to need some work. With as many injuries as the Nationals have had though, might as well give it a shot though.
More than that is the fact that even though he gets a positional adjustment for moving to catcher he would play in, at most, 80% of the games. Most catchers play more like 65-75%, so while his bat plays more valuable at catcher, you lose the production in those mandatory off days. They should only move him to catcher if the nationals can find a player who can match his wRAA and be a true talent +20 fielder in left field. That's assuming Bryce is a league average catcher defensively. In reality, they'd be plugging in Rick Ankiel or Roger Bernadina who can't match his offensive production, and who pale in comparison to Wilson Ramos/Jesus Flores with the bat (which is hard to do). Also, putting Bryce in center may not be the best use of resources since the gain in positional adjustment is very likely negated by playing worse defense in center field. While he'd have to be 10 runs/162 worse in CF than in a COF, it's not unheard of, as Ichiro in his prime was a ~+15 RF, but only a +4 CF. Other examples include Carl Crawford (+18, +8) and Johnny Damon (+4, -9).
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