3B is weird.
We have a half-dozen A-Tier performances, but no really clear demarcation between those and the lower ranks, and then another half-dozen C-Tier performers struggling to prove they deserve their place in the league.
And, oh yeah, a couple superlative players and a few true duds.
Balance?
#S Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | BRK | Ron Cey | 27 | 291/381/656 | 47 HR 105 RBI | .975 fPct 6.0 ZR |
| NL | KCM | Albert Pujols | 22 | 316/375/645 | 44 HR 122 RBI | 2.16 RF -5.3 ZR .950 dEff |
These top 2 are clear, as is the likelihood that 3B isn’t Albert Pujols‘ final position.
Obviously, you would rather build around Pujols given his age, but Ron Cey really did have a season for the ages, a key cog in Brooklyn’s championship team.
#A Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | SFS | Jimmie Foxx | 22 | 232/348/578 | 49 HR | |
| NL | HOM | Richie Hebner | 23 | 284/373/594 | 1.000 fPct | |
| AL | CLE | Evan Longoria | 24 | 287/351/578 | 36 HR 33 SB | |
| NL | PHI | Scott Rolen | 27 | 264/347/570 | 42 HR | 1.055 dEff |
| AL | NYY | Mike Schmidt | 29 | 239/350/564 | 45 HR | 5.3 ZR |
| AL | MCG | Gary Sheffield | 24 | 279/336/610 | 42 HR 27 SB | 1.046 dEff |
I don’t know what to do with any of these guys.
Evan Longoria is the biggest surprise here, moving from a struggle to find playing time to a legit power threat for a playoff team. Richie Hebner has the highest OPS, but played under 100 games, so he may even belong in the B Tier. And where is the line? There’s roughly a 50 point gap in OPS in this group, but are you really going to argue that Mike Schmidt isn’t an A Tier player?
Yah, me neither.
Jimmie Foxx played more at 3B than 1B, although perhaps he shifts across the diamond as time goes by.
#B Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | CAG | Dick Allen | 23 | 253/342/562 | 41 HR | .940 fPct 2.13 RF |
| NL | BBB | Eddie Mathews | 23 | 224/339/537 | 46 HR | .976 fPct |
| NL | HOM | Andy Van Slyke | 24 | 289/366/528 | 101 R 64 SB | 2.53 RF -4.2 ZR .944 dEff |
All solid performers, each with a significant weakness: Dick Allen and Andy Van Slyke are weak defensively (that’s not quite fair to Van Slyke, who looks excellent in the OF, just not at the hot corner) and Eddie Mathews‘ inability to make contact works against his immense power.
#C Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | DET | Bob Bailey | 29 | 253/345/506 | 30 HR | -3.8 ZR |
| AL | SFS | Sal Bando | 26 | 247/355/503 | ||
| NL | OTT | Adrían Beltré | 26 | 242/289/545 | 39 HR | .974 fPct 2.56 RF |
| AL | MEM | Wade Boggs | 26 | 287/351465 | 50 2B | |
| AL | BAL | Manny Machado | 24 | 241/289/520 | 44 HR | 2.58 RF |
| NL | HOD | Ron Santo | 21 | 244/311/518 | .948 fPct 1.92 RF |
Perhaps Adrían Beltré‘s defense should move him up (and perhaps Ron Santo‘s should move him down), but I’m good with this for now. Sal Bando isn’t a fulltime player, but his offense sure makes that argument. It’s hard to see a world where Beltré and Wade Boggs don’t improve, and at 21 Santo should, as well.
#D Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | POR | Buddy Bell | 26 | 274/304/487 | 8.0 ZR 1.051 dEff | |
| NL | IND | Chris Sabo | 29 | 246/295/559 | .937 fPct .953 dEff |
This may be a little unfair to Buddy Bell, who is fantastic with the glove and improved as the season went on.
This may be a little unfair to Chris Sabo: that’s a lot of offense to relegate to the D Tier.
#F Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | HOU | George Brett | 23 | 227/272/469 | ||
| AL | LAA | Doug Rader | 25 | 241/297/451 | 4.10 RF -19.8 ZR .917 dEff |
Doug Rader was in the MVP conversation last year, now he truly belongs here. Ouch. George Brett, on the other hand, overcame a miserable start to the season, and seems very likely to move dramatically up this list.
#Rookies
Jimmie Foxx (A Tier) and Chris Sabo (D Tier).
#Fielding Notes
We have our standard defensive stats here, with the leaders in bold and the worst performers in italics. Range Factor (RF) measures the number of plays made per game–the higher the better. Zone Rating (ZR) attempts to credit players for plays other fielders missed and ding them for plays other fielders made–the higher the better, and it has the benefit of being comparative across the position. Defensive Efficiency (dEff) measures the rate at which an individual fielder contributes to outs being made on balls put into play, with any score over 1.000 being a net positive impact. Finally, Fielding Percentage (fPct) reflects the percentage of times a chance was handled without a mistake–if someone made no errors, their fPct would be 1.000.
Of these, Range Factor is the most susceptible to the impact of the pitching staff and the ballpark, although none of these defensive ratings are perfect.