Omar Infante Ranked in Top Five Defensively in 2012

In previous posts, I looked at the Revised Zone Rating (RZR) and Out-of-Zone Plays (OOZ) metrics listed at FanGraphs.  Links to these posts are provided below:

• Overview

• Conversion of RZR, OOZ to runs

• Shortstops

Now, I'm going to to do the above conversion for second basemen.  Table 1 below contains the following information for 22 MLB second basemen 800 or more innings in 2012:

• Inn = Innings

• RZR = Revised Zone Rating

• OOZ = Out-of-Zone Plays

• PIZAA =  Plays in Zone Above Average

• OOZAA = Out-of-Zone Plays Above Average

• PMAA = Total Plays Above Average

• RSAA = Runs Saved Above Average

The MLB Runs Saved Above Average leader was Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney +23 follwed by the Yankees' Robinson Cano (+18).   The worst by far was Rickie Weeks of the Brewers (-34). 

Omar Infante, who played for the Marlins and Tigers finished fifth with +12 RSAA.  Some fans may be skeptical about Infante because he makes a lot of errors - second highest in the majors with 17 in 2012 - but he also makes plays.  Infante was especially good at turning balls hit into the second base zone into outs finishing 12 plays better than average.  He was also five plays above average outside the zone.  Other advanced statistics support his being a strong defender as he was +6 on Defensive Runs Saved and +4 Baseball Prospectus' Fielding Runs Above Average.  

Table 1: Runs Saved by MLB Second Basemen According to RZR, OOZ, 2012

Player	Team	Inn	RZR	OOZ	PIZ AA	OOZ AA	PMAA	RSAA
Darwin Barney	CHC	1,270	.836	65	10	20	30	23
Robinson Cano	NYY	1,343	.814	69	3	21	24	18
Jason Kipnis	CLE	1,293	.834	56	11	10	21	16
Aaron Hill	ARI	1,336	.831	57	10	10	20	15
Omar Infante	MIA/DET	1,246	.836	49	12	5	16	12
Dustin Pedroia	BOS	1,216	.830	49	8	6	13	10
Dan Uggla	ATL	1,348	.833	50	11	2	13	10
Mark Ellis	LAD	910	.896	25	20	-7	13	10
Brandon Phillips	CIN	1,251	.840	45	12	1	13	10
Ian Kinsler	TEX	1,265	.770	66	-12	21	9	6
Howie Kendrick	LAA	1,242	.813	48	2	4	6	5
Robert Andino	BAL	899	.790	41	-4	9	5	4
Dustin Ackley	SEA	1,259	.815	45	3	0	3	2
Kelly Johnson	TOR	1,179	.791	50	-5	8	3	2
Neil Walker	PIT	1,068	.821	35	5	-3	2	1
Danny Espinosa	WSN	1,069	.822	29	5	-9	-4	-3
Gordon Beckham	CHW	1,308	.793	40	-5	-6	-11	-9
Marco Scutaro	CHC/SF	955	.793	24	-4	-10	-14	-11
Jose Altuve	HOU	1,226	.763	43	-18	-1	-18	-14
Jemile Weeks	OAK	1,013	.767	27	-11	-9	-20	-15
Daniel Murphy	NYM	1,127	.787	21	-7	-19	-26	-19
Rickie Weeks	MIL	1,344	.735	31	-28	-17	-45	-34