Jones’ fielding woes don’t worry club
Brach picks up 2nd straight save; O’Day needs more rehab work
NEW YORK — In the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s 2-1 Orioles win over the Mets, as Mychal Givens was protecting a narrow lead, New York’s Jay Bruce hit a soft fly ball to center field off the end of his bat that fell in for a single.
The ball was hit softly enough that Adam Jones was able to barehand it on a hop, but he couldn’t get his glove on it before it fell in. While ultimately harmless because Givens stranded Bruce, it’s part of a troubling spell for Jones in the outfield. When the Orioles last played Saturday, he had a ball near the wall go off his glove for extra bases and committed a throwing error, both in the same inning.
Manager Buck Showalter skirted around the idea of whether he’s seen anything worth worrying about from his 32-year-old center fielder.
“If I had, I certainly wouldn’t broadcast it,” Showalter said. “I wouldn’t talk about it. Adam, he’s a guy that plays every day — obviously, not quite as much as he has in the past. But he’s made some adjustments in his positioning and what have you.
“Nobodyisasgoodastheywerewhentheywere[at age] 22, but there’s somethings hebrings with experience andwhathaveyou. It’s something thateverybodyhasapoint, all ofus— players, coaches, managers— where some adjustments have to be made in the way we approach things. But Adam is not in that phase yet. It’s not something that has been noticed to an extent. I like the way he’s been doing most things.”
Even when Jones was winning Gold Glove awards from 2012 to 2014, there wasn’t much consensus about him in the data community — his value came from the proverbial eye test. But over the past few years, even as Jones adjusted his positioning to accommodate some of the new data trends available in the game, he hasn’t been viewed favorably.
There’s plenty of noise in these measurements in a single season, let alone barely over two months of one.
But that’s just part of a statistical package that doesn’t like what Jones is doing in center field.
According to MLB Statcast data on BaseballSavant.com, Jones entered Wednesday 67th out of 72 outfielders with at least 75 chances with minus-6 outs above average, which takes the catch probability of a batted ball and either adds or subtracts that from a fielder’s total based on whether it’s caught.
Elsewhere, Jones is rated at minus-15 defensive runs saved and minus-19 UZR/150, both of which use similar formulas to estimate the run value of batted balls and assign the value to fielders based on whether they make the play. Of 23 qualifying center fielders in each category, Jones rates 22nd.
Jones is still providing plenty of value with his bat, entering Wednesday with a .284/.302/.470 batting line with 10 home runs that qualifies him as the second-best hitter on the club behind star Manny Machado. But as Jones nears free agency, his play in center field will become more and more of a factor in his evaluation. Brach continues resurgence: Closer Brad Brach continued his midseason turnaround with a second save in as many games in Wednesday’s 1-0 Orioles win against the New York Mets, increasing his string of outings without allowing an earned to 11.
He’s recorded seven saves in seven tries in that span, and put the early-season funk during which he blew a save Opening Day and had a 6.55 ERA on May1behind him.
“I think honestly, it’s just been confidence,” Brach said. “I let up a couple hits and runs there early and just had my confidence shaken for whatever reason. I just got back to throwing all my pitches for strikes. I think that’s been a huge key.”
Since he took the loss on May 1 in Anaheim, Brach has lowered his ERA to 3.13, striking out 12 with a 1.18 WHIP in 11 appearances. It hasn’t always been clean — his only 1-2-3 innings in that stretch have come in outings in which the Orioles were trailing.
But he’s worked around whatever trouble he’s come into using the knowledge from an early-season outing against the New York Yankees when he got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam without a run scoring.
He did that in Wednesday’s ninth inning, working around a leadoff single andsweating out a warning-track fly ball byJayBrucethat would have ended the game if it were a few feet farther but instead was caught by Joey Rickard in deep left-center field.
“I was hoping,” Brach said. “I know Camden [Yards], that’s probably gone, but sometimes it’s nice pitching in these bigger ballparks.” Injury updates: Reliever Darren O’Day (hyperextended right elbow), who walked three of the five batters he faced in his first rehabilitation appearance for High-A Frederick on Tuesday, will need at least another appearance, Showalter said.
“He felt good,” Showalter said. “One of [the walks] wasn’t, but he’s going to have at least one more outing. He felt good. Obviously, the command was off a little bit, but he felt good. He’s close.”
Also with Frederick, outfielder Colby Rasmus (hip) went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and still doesn’t have a hit in three rehab games.
Both O’Day and Zach Britton (Achilles), who had a scoreless 11⁄ innings Tuesday with Triple-A Norfolk, will pitch again for those respective clubs Thursday, Showalter said.