IN THE SHORT RUN
Curacao pals Didi, Andrelton rise toward elite SS status
THINK about the statistical improbability of it all.
Curacao is an i sl and of roughly 160,000 people. Didi Gregorius moved there from the Netherlands when he was 6. Soon after he joined a club baseball team called Marchena Hardware and recognized instantly the defens i ve wizardry of another kid, so he moved from his preferred shortstop to second base because Andrelton Simmons was on the team.
This went on for a decade — Gregorius and Simmons side by side at second and short. Baseball is popular in Curacao, but not close to the MLB pipeline of nearby Venezuela or the Dominican Republic. The club season lasted just 20 games after all. So consider the implausibility of simultaneously coming from that to share a field this weekend at Angel Stadium as two of the best shortstops in the world.
When I broached that subject with Gregorius, he retreated to his familiar public humility by interjecting, “I don’t know about the best.” But I pointed out that even if it were just two of the 30 starting shortstops overall, this was more unlikely than a 16th-seed beating a top seed in the NCAA Tournament or an expansion hockey team such as the Vegas Golden Knights winning a Stanley Cup.
And let’s table the modesty — Gregorius and Simmons are two of the best. The offensive growth of both players (against expectation from their early career profiles) has made it possible that the two former teammates from Marchena Hardware are vying to break into the top five shortstops in the game.
I t hink a consensus would form that the four best shortstops are Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager who — ready for more statistical improbabilities — were born within 10 months of each other in 1993-94, debuted in the majors within 25 days of each other in 2015 and who already have been core pieces of teams that have gone to the World Series, plus Manny Machado (now that he has moved from third base).
So there is a battle for fifth. Some might favor Boston’s Xander Bogaerts, San Francisco’s Brandon Crawford or Seattle’s Jean Segura. But the relentless advancement of Gregorius and Simmons, particularly at the plate, make them Nos. 5 and 6 for me.
Who is five? That is tough. Simmons is probably the best defensive player in the game and just might be the best fielding shortstop ever (apologies to Ozzie Smith). Gregorius is a defensive grade down from Simmons (everyone is at least that much at short), but still excellent.
It was the defensive acumen that had Simmons (then a Brave) and Gregorius (then a Diamondback) on the Yankees’ five-player shopping list to replace the retiring Derek Jeter following the 2014 season.
“Marrying all the evaluations and projections together for those guys, we thought they would be both above average to elite defenders,” said Billy Eppler, who, uniquely, was the Yanks assistant GM when they acquired Gregorius and also landed Simmons as one of his first major acts upon becoming Angels GM. “We liked that they were both physical and athletic. Andrelton had a longer major league track record, Didi had that he was left-handed. We thought there was more untapped offense. We saw the arrow pointing up for the next number of years.”
The offense did come, which is why they are in the battle for the shortstop top five. Both are in the midst of a fourth straight year in which their OPS has gone up — Gregorius, in fact, led the majors at 1.286 through Friday — his .490 improvement over last year’s .796 by far the biggest jump among qualifiers. They also were two of just 12 qualified hitters who had walked more than they had struck out in an era when swinging and missing is not the blight of the past.
Gregorius said he believes one reason that offense has evolved more slowly for him and Simmons is because of the short club seasons in Curacao. Gregorius said it is only now that the seasons are being elongated. That reflects, to some degree, the success of natives such as Gregorius, Simmons, Kenley Jansen, Jonathan Schoop and now Ozzie Albies. “It takes a while longer for us because we have to learn the U.S. way to play the game when we get here,” Gregorius said.
Gregorius is among those involved in trying to help grow the game back home. He continues to work out regularly in the offseason in Curacao
with his friend, Simmons, often with the assistance of the f irst player f rom t he country to break through into the majors, Hensley Meulens, the current Giants bench coach who last offseason interviewed for the Yankees’ managerial opening.
Meulens predicted to me shortly after the Yanks obtained Gregorius that he would make the steps offensively — similar to Meulens’ San Francisco pupil Crawford — and for the same reasons: He was a hardworking, elite athlete who just needed repetitions he had yet to get.
In fact, going i nto Saturday, Gregorius led the majors in Wins Above Replacement (which attempts to compile hitting, fielding and baserunning into one stat), slightly ahead of another player with whom he was sharing the field in Anaheim, Mike Trout, and those two led the majors with 10 homers. Machado was seventh in WAR, Simmons ninth and Correa 12th.
It is a reminder, good luck picking AL All-Star shortstops this year (even with Lindor getting off to a slow start, he will be in the conversation) and for seasons to come (with the only hope of thinning this herd being if Machado returns to third after signing as a free agent this coming offseason).
Simmons, who turns 29 in September, is the oldest of the group. This is just a great period for young shortstops, arguably the greatest ever. In fact, the only teams starting a shortstop 30 or older are the Giants (Crawford), Royals (Alcides Escobar) and Pirates ( Jordy Mercer). They are all 31.
Shortstop is so strong that the No. 1 prospect at the position via MLB Pipeline, Gleyber Torres, had to move to second because of Gregorius’ presence. Others prospects — such as San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr., Toronto’s Bo Bichette and Tampa Bay’s Willy Adames — are threatening to make the position even younger and deeper, and soon. Still, as large as the volume is of young, talented shortstops, think how improbable it is that two began as a double play combination at age 6 in Curaco for March
ena Hardware.