Reds’ Phillips, Baker appear to be saber-rattled
MILWAUKEE — If Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips thinks he got robbed of a Gold Glove last year, wait till he gets a load of the process this time around.
At the very least, he probably won’t be able to blame oldschool managers and coaches for holding his flashy play against him and costing him the fielding award — as he did this spring, when he said he thought he was “getting punked” when told who won.
This time it could be the newschool sabermetricians who give the Cubs’ Darwin Barney the National League award at second base at the expense of Phillips.
“Barney’s done nothing to give his away, that’s for sure,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said of Barney’s defense of last season’s Gold Glove.
And with a statistical formula devised by seven sabermetrics experts making up roughly 25 percent of the vote for the first time, Barney might back up Sveum’s sentiments in a landslide. Ballots were sent out to managers and coaches Monday — as the Cubs coincidentally faced the worst-fielding team in the National League at Miller Park.
Of course, not much that happened in the Cubs’ game against the Brewers inspired Gold Glove visions on this night — with three Cubs and two Brewers making throwing errors in the first five innings alone.
None of them was Barney. And it’s not going to stop him from winning more fielding hardware, especially with the analytics component added.
In fact, that component could help high-ranking first baseman Anthony Rizzo and catcher Welington Castillo, as well.
“It’s nothing I can worry about or that anybody can worry about,” said Barney, who seemed more bothered by the possibility of three consecutive 90-plus-loss seasons than the likelihood of consecutive Gold Gloves.
But the fact is, Barney leads the league at his position in nearly every major fielding category, from traditional fielding percentage to the trendier range measures and wins above replacement.
“For whatever that’s worth,” said Reds manager Dusty Baker, who’s open to — but remains skeptical of — sabermetrics.
“All I know is that my eyes see plays and see things that save games,” Baker said. “Sometimes sabermetric stuff doesn’t really show what the guy’s really doing. There’ve been some guys with more errors than this other guy, but the other guy doesn’t have the range and doesn’t get to what this other guy can get to.”
Baker, who’s OK with the sabermetric component being “part” of the process, supports Phillips, a three-time winner.
Phillips has a definite knack for the spectacular, and it has gained him notoriety in the game and oohs and aahs from the crowds. But he gets low marks this year by most fielding metrics.
“It would be something I would be proud of, but if I don’t win, it doesn’t mean I’m going to look at my season, defensively, negatively,” he said. “Either way, I’ll still be happy with my year defensively.”