White Sox...best defensive team in baseball?

[Mohoney]

According to Defensive Runs Saved, the answer is yes.

https://twitter.com/sportsinfo_sis/s...756777478?s=21

[voodoochile]

WIth Robert sucking up 60% of the OF and TA finding a groove at SS. The defense has been very solid recently. IF saved the no-no a couple times at least last night.

[FourGoldGloves]

WIth Robert sucking up 60% of the OF and TA finding a groove at SS. The defense has been very solid recently. IF saved the no-no a couple times at least last night.

And Abreu playing the best defense of his career. No coincidence that he and TA have the best numbers on the list for their positions. They help each other.

[ChiTownTrojan]

They also have the 2nd highest OPS and the 6th best team ERA in baseball. Unfortunately the ERA is only the 3rd best in the AL Central.

For all the talk of the shaky starting rotation, they've been very good, especially during the recent hot streak.

[Mohoney]

They also have the 2nd highest OPS and the 6th best team ERA in baseball. Unfortunately the ERA is only the 3rd best in the AL Central.

For all the talk of the shaky starting rotation, they've been very good, especially during the recent hot streak.

Off-days and inferior competition have helped, too. We still need another starter.

[BRDSR]

They also have the 2nd highest OPS and the 6th best team ERA in baseball. Unfortunately the ERA is only the 3rd best in the AL Central.

For all the talk of the shaky starting rotation, they've been very good, especially during the recent hot streak.

I was just thinking today that the defense has been considerably better than I had expected, but 1st in MLB by any metric is definitely a surprise. Good for them. Obviously the addition of Robert gets them a long way. Abreu's been great, Anderson has been good. I've even thought Eloy has been decent, notwithstanding his penchant for hurting himself (whether on defense or in celebration of a no-hitter). Grandal helps. When you add it all up, maybe it's not that surprising. I would be curious how much of the 3 at 2B is Madrigal vs. others, just to get a sense of how the metrics are evaluating him on defense.

As for the 6th best team ERA in baseball...yes, the starting rotation has been better than advertised. But they are buoyed by a lights out bullpen if we're talking team ERA. The bullpen has been just unreal. When starters are averaging 5ish innings per game, that's a big part of team ERA.

[HomeFish]

If anything the metrics underrate how good the Sox bullpen is. During the first part of the season, the Sox were giving relief innings to a lot of different guys, presumably to see how well their stuff would work in the majors. Some of these guys were lights out. Some were...very much lights on, high-beams. The latter group inflated the staff ERA significantly.

Once the Sox figure out who's reliable and who is not, this will be a scary bullpen.

[ChiTownTrojan]

I was just thinking today that the defense has been considerably better than I had expected, but 1st in MLB by any metric is definitely a surprise. Good for them. Obviously the addition of Robert gets them a long way. Abreu's been great, Anderson has been good. I've even thought Eloy has been decent, notwithstanding his penchant for hurting himself (whether on defense or in celebration of a no-hitter). Grandal helps. When you add it all up, maybe it's not that surprising. I would be curious how much of the 3 at 2B is Madrigal vs. others, just to get a sense of how the metrics are evaluating him on defense.

As for the 6th best team ERA in baseball...yes, the starting rotation has been better than advertised. But they are buoyed by a lights out bullpen if we're talking team ERA. The bullpen has been just unreal. When starters are averaging 5ish innings per game, that's a big part of team ERA.

I had the same thought regarding the split between the starters/bullpen. But actually their ERA for starting pitchers is also #6 in MLB. The only AL teams with a lower ERA for starting pitchers are the Twins and Indians. If you sort by WAR, which would penalize the starters for not lasting as long into games, they move up to #5 in MLB (and #2 in the AL behind Cleveland).

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...2-31&sort=16,a

[ChiTownTrojan]

If anything the metrics underrate how good the Sox bullpen is. During the first part of the season, the Sox were giving relief innings to a lot of different guys, presumably to see how well their stuff would work in the majors. Some of these guys were lights out. Some were...very much lights on, high-beams. The latter group inflated the staff ERA significantly.

Once the Sox figure out who's reliable and who is not, this will be a scary bullpen.

Yeah but all teams go through the same thing with their bullpen, so it's not like the Sox should get bonus points for that.

Bullpen ERA is #9 in MLB (bullpen FIP is #5 and xFIP is #3).

[Mohoney]

I was just thinking today that the defense has been considerably better than I had expected, but 1st in MLB by any metric is definitely a surprise. Good for them. Obviously the addition of Robert gets them a long way. Abreu's been great, Anderson has been good. I've even thought Eloy has been decent, notwithstanding his penchant for hurting himself (whether on defense or in celebration of a no-hitter). Grandal helps. When you add it all up, maybe it's not that surprising. I would be curious how much of the 3 at 2B is Madrigal vs. others, just to get a sense of how the metrics are evaluating him on defense.

As for the 6th best team ERA in baseball...yes, the starting rotation has been better than advertised. But they are buoyed by a lights out bullpen if we're talking team ERA. The bullpen has been just unreal. When starters are averaging 5ish innings per game, that's a big part of team ERA.

Madrigal is at break-even, Mendick is at +4, and Leury is at -1, for a team total of +3.

[Kilroy]

Off-days and inferior competition have helped, too. We still need another starter.

You rang??

[Mohoney]

You rang??

Still one more spot to fill...

[Tragg]

Look at Jose. And Mendick and Engel have been good players on this team.

[voodoochile]

I was just thinking today that the defense has been considerably better than I had expected, but 1st in MLB by any metric is definitely a surprise. Good for them. Obviously the addition of Robert gets them a long way. Abreu's been great, Anderson has been good. I've even thought Eloy has been decent, notwithstanding his penchant for hurting himself (whether on defense or in celebration of a no-hitter). Grandal helps. When you add it all up, maybe it's not that surprising. I would be curious how much of the 3 at 2B is Madrigal vs. others, just to get a sense of how the metrics are evaluating him on defense.

As for the 6th best team ERA in baseball...yes, the starting rotation has been better than advertised. But they are buoyed by a lights out bullpen if we're talking team ERA. The bullpen has been just unreal. When starters are averaging 5ish innings per game, that's a big part of team ERA.

One correction. Anderson has been on FIRE defensively during this stretch of games. He struggled early on, but he's been making great plays, great decisions and yes being helped by Abreu's nice glove work at first on occasion. He's becoming the SS we all wanted right before our eyes.

Edit: ESPN has his DWAR at 0.3 after 21 games played. That's on pace for a 2.0+ DWAR season and that's pretty freaking awesome.

[Kobo]

Moncada has also benefited from Abreu's defense.