How much will our new defense help us in '08?

[adambr2]

So, we did a seemingly good job of improving our defense in the offseason, the real weak point from last year. The way I see it, we improved or stayed the same at every position except LF. I'm not saying we'll be a defensive jaggernaut now, but no reason we shouldn't at least be the middle of the pack in the NL.

 

LF: Braun '08 vs. Menchkins '07

This is the only place we slighly regressed, at least on paper. However, it's arguably the least affected position by defense and it's not a given that Braun won't do well, maybe even well enough to have no real difference between '07 and '08. Jenkins was a solid defender. Mench was servicable at best, not covering a great deal of ground out there.

 

CF: Cameron '08 vs. Hall '07

No contest. It's not like Hall was a butcher in CF, but no comparison to Cameron's gold-glove skills.

 

RF: Hart '08 vs. Hart '07

Hart is already a good defensive player. If he does at least the same, which he should, we're fine.

 

3B: Hall '08 vs. Braun '07

Another no-contest. Defensively, Hall is pretty average at 3B, which will be a huge improvement over Braun.

 

SS: Hardy '08 vs. Hardy '07

I like to think we might improve here as well. Hardy had a little bit a of a down-year defensively at SS, and I think he can do better.

 

2B: Weeks '08 vs. Weeks '07

Hopefully the extra year under his belt again improves the defense of Weeks, like it did last year.

 

1B: Fielder '08 vs. Fielder '07

Just like Hall and Weeks, it'd be great to see if the extra hours spent on defense with Seder pay off.

 

C: Kendall vs. Estrada

Estrada was pretty much garbage defensively, but Kendall isn't a major upgrade by any means. He can't really do worse, though.

 

So as much as we all like to see better defense out on the field for us, the only thing I really care about it and the only thing that really matters is -- how many extra wins will it amount to? If it amounts to 5 extra wins over the course of the season, that upgrades us to an 88 win team on defense alone -- playoff territory.

[ozzybourne]

keep hitting--D is ok-but until we make playoffs--keep hitting.

[logan82]

adambr2 wrote:

C: Kendall vs. Estrada

Estrada was pretty much garbage defensively, but Kendall isn't a major upgrade by any means. He can't really do worse, though.

I am hoping that Kendall is good with balls in the dirt. I think Estrada was really poor in that aspect and I think it may have caused our pitchers to avoid pitches in the dirt. I think he is going to get run on. Until I see otherwise.

[lukevan]

keep hitting--D is ok-but until we make playoffs--keep hitting.

Ok, but he didn't ask about hitting. He asked how much our defense will help this season. Good recap Adam.

 

I think it will decrease our team ERA by 0.20. Other factors will shift our team ERA around as well, but that's my guess on how much impact it will actually have.

[logan82]

Might be a bigger impact than we think. Hopefully our starters go deeper into games which should limit the innings pitched by roster filler relievers.

[bork]

The difference between Braun and Jenkins will likely be range vs errors. Jenkins rarely committed errors, but didn't have great range. How much is Braun's ability to get to more balls worth?

 

Among starters this spring, Weeks has really been the only week link. Fielder has 1 error and Braun has one (that someone said should have been charged to Weeks). No one else has errors besides Weeks.

[TooLiveBrew]

SS: Hardy '08 vs. Hardy '07
I like to think we might improve here as well. Hardy had a little bit a of a down-year defensively at SS, and I think he can do better.

 

I recall someone posting that Hardy feels like he can play deeper up the middle with Billy at 3B. That alone should make JJ look a lot better, and I think we'll see some tangible improvement overall.

[RyGuy671]

Still averaging about an error a game in ST, athough some of those are from guys who won't be playing much. But 2 more today from our starting infield is not the type of improvement I was hoping for. I do think our D will be better once the regular season rolls around, and I'm definitely excited about it. The Cameron signing is looking better and better, just for the improvement in defense alone (moving Braun and Hall).

 

Edit: Chalk up another error, this one on Prince.

[logan82]

I recall someone posting that Hardy feels like he can play deeper up the middle with Billy at 3B. That alone should make JJ look a lot better, and I think we'll see some tangible improvement overall.

Mostly based on a quote by Bill Hall in the Wisconsin State Journal.

 

"We can already see it in spring training," he said. "J.J. told me he's able to play way more up the middle because he knows a former shortstop playing third base has some range. So he's more up the middle. I'm getting balls in the six hole and he's getting balls up the middle. That's got to be 15 to 20 more outs a year."

 

 

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/brewers/275735

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/viewtopic.php?t=11206

[apirk]

I think Kendall is a nice improvement defensively if you take into account how he calls the game. Neither can throw out a base runner to save their lives but I think the way Kendall will help the pitching staff will be very valuable.

[RyGuy671]

Chalk up 3 more errors today. Only one by a true starter, though (Weeks).

[bork]

Chalk up 3 more errors today. Only one by a true starter, though (Weeks).

Weeks is really the only regular I'm concerned about right now. He's been pretty bad. All of the other starters are doing pretty well defensively.

[logan82]

I will be worried if this continues into the regular season or if they are throwing errors. The fields in spring training play differently than MLB fields. They are harder and sometimes not as well maintained.