It’s no secret that the Yankees are off to a rocky start this season and the defensive performance to date is not helping. The Yankees’ issues on defense is not a new problem, it’s something the Yankees struggled with all the 2020 season as well. Let’s dive into why.
For this analysis, I used defensive runs saved (DRS) and outs above average (OAA). The values in the table are the sum of those from the 2019 and 2020 seasons, as the sample size for 2021 is too small to consider.
Infield Defense
Starting with the infield defense, there are two scenarios: an infield with Luke Voit and an infield without. Voit is on the injured list (IL) and expected to return mid-May.
In the first scenario, Voit, Torres, and Odor are the weakest members of the infield defense. Torres seems to be receiving the most backlash for his performance thus far, as he is in the key position of shortstop. In addition to -12 DRS, he also has -16 OAA, which is the lowest on the team.
While Urshela has a positive 5 DRS, he also has a -5 OAA. I consider Urshela as an average defender, but since 2019 he has shown improvement at third base.
Outfield Defense
The outfield is in better shape than the infield, as Aaron Judge and Mike Tauchman are both plus defenders.
Tauchman, however, is not an everyday player. Since 2019, Tauchman actually leads the team in terms of outs above average with 10.
The weakest defensive position of the Yankees outfield is centerfield. Aaron Hicks has been the starting centerfielder, and he has a -9 DRS. He is below average in nearly every defensive statistic except arm, which is well above average.
Clint Frazier is a below average defender as well, but has been slowly improving each year. Since 2019, Frazier has -14 OAA, which is the second lowest on the team to Gleyber Torres. There is still progress to be made for Frazier defensively.
Defense at Catcher
Kyle Higashioka as an edge over Gary Sánchez defensively at catcher.
Higashioka is actually second in the league in terms of strike rate this season. Strike rate is defined as the percentage of pitches on the edges of the zone that were not swung at, and that were converted into called strikes.
Both catchers have average pop-time.
Concluding Thoughts
The Yankees were not built around defense.
The Yankees’ strength is their offense, but when their offense does not perform to expectation, it makes the defensive flaws stand out so much more. I don’t see the Yankees defensive issues disappearing overnight, it’s something they need to overcome in order to stay competitive. When their offense heats up, it will be up to them and the high risk/high reward starting pitching to start recording wins.
What do you think of the Yankees defense?