We continue our evaluation of the Orioles roster with a look at the infield. Early in the season, the team decided that Mark Reynolds had to be moved from third base over to first base because of his horrendous defense at the hot corner.  After Wilson Betemit was given a chance to hold down the job, the team decided that Manny Machado was ready to help the team at third base.  These two moves defined the Orioles infield this year, and led to the best infield defense we’ve seen from the team in quite some time.  On to the breakdown.

Catcher

Matt Wieters (.249/.329/.435) .331wOBA  4.1 fWAR

Matt Wieters started 132 out of a possible 162 games for the Orioles this year at catcher, and played an additional 9 games at DH.  This season, Wieters played as much or more than any other catcher in the league.  While Wieters hasn’t turned into the demi-god that many predicted when he was in the minors, he has turned into one of the 5 best catchers in the league by the age of 26.  His wOBA declined by about .010 points from last season, but he did set a new career high in walks this season with 60.  With the lack of patience shown by many members of the Orioles offense, his 10.1% walk rate is extremely helpful.  He also threw out 38.6% of baserunners attempting to steal against him, and led the league in caught stealing percentage for the second year in a row.  Catcher defense is still one of the areas that sabermetrics has yet to completely figure out, but by most accounts Wieters is one of the better defensive catchers in the league.  When you put the whole package together, Wieters is one of the core players in the organization and someone the team can build around going forward.

Taylor Teagarden (.158/.226/.316)  .240wOBA   -0.3 fWAR

With a starting catcher that plays as much as Matt Wieters, there isn’t much of a need for a strong backup catcher.  That said, Teagarden certainly found ways to contribute when he got onto the field.  He only had 9 hits on the season, but it seemed like every one of them won a game for the team.  Of course, this wasn’t actually the case but Teagarden found a way to add value when he was on the field.

2013

Wieters will certainly return as the starter.  He’s under team control for 3 more seasons, and is arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason.  Teagarden is eligible for arbitration as well and will most likely be brought back at a small salary to be the back up catcher.

First Base

Chris Davis (.270/.326/.501)  .352 wOBA   2.1 fWAR

Chris Davis started the season as the first baseman for the team before becoming the designated hitter in the middle of the season and ending the season as the right fielder filling in for Nick Markakis after his hand injury.  He spent more time at DH than at either position for the O’s, which is fitting since his best position is hitter.  At the plate this season, Davis set career highs in home runs, runs and RBI’s.  As a result of his 30% strikeout rate, he needed to BABIP .335 just to have his batting average finish at .270.  He should spend his offseason finding a way to make more contact at the plate so he could let his natural power play more often.  When Davis hits a home run, it often looks like he doesn’t even use all of his strength in the swing.  His raw power is truly massive.  However, as we saw in the playoffs his approach at the plate could use some work.

Mark Reynolds (.221/.335/.429)  .335 wOBA   0.5 fWAR

Mark Reynolds certainly had an interesting year, didn’t he?  He began the year as the Orioles third baseman, but the team decided that his 6 errors in 15 games were more than they could take.  He filled in at DH for a while, before settling in as the Orioles first baseman.  He ended up playing a total of 108 games at first base this season.  Offensively, his season was very similar to his previous two.  Tons of strikeouts, a low batting average, but also a decent amount of home runs.  His 23 home runs this year were his fewest since his rookie year of 2007 with the Diamondbacks when he hit 17.  Also, Reynolds finally got his strike out rate under 30% for the first time (29.6%)!  Reynolds has established his level of offensive performance at this stage of his career and is fairly consistent from year to year.  The question lies in his defense.  By all accounts, he was a butcher at third.  However, many analysts opined that Reynolds played much better at first base.  The numbers say he was still slightly below average on the easier side of the diamond.  I’m inclined to split the difference and say that he was about league average defensively at first.

2013

Reynolds has an $11 million team option with a $500,000 buyout for the 2013 season.  If the team turns down the option, he is eligible for arbitration one last time so the team could attempt to save some money by not picking up his option and extending him an arbitration offer.  I don’t think the team will non-tender him and risk losing him for nothing.  The team will find a way to bring him back and he’ll enter next season as the starting first baseman.  Chris Davis will most likely begin next year as the DH for the club.

Second Base

Robert Andino (.211/.283/.305)  .265 wOBA   -0.6 fWAR

According to FanGraphs, Robert Andino was worth about half a win less than a replacement player this season.  Considering he posted an ugly .588 OPS and a .265 wOBA, that’s not too surprising.  The league average wOBA was .315 this season.  Furthermore, his 23% strikeout rate is way too high for a middle infielder without any real power.  He only had 21 extra base hits on the season.  The defensive numbers say he was just slightly below average this season, but considering that the last 3 years he was right around average with the glove, I’d venture to say he’s a league average second baseman.  When you put average fielding together with positional versatility, and a poor bat you end up with a good utility player.  He also has the ability to play third base and the outfield in a pinch.  More than likely, he’ll be brought back to be a reserve next season.  He was a little exposed in full time second base duty this year.

Ryan Flaherty (.216/.258/.359)  .270 wOBA   -0.4 fWAR

By the end of the season, Flaherty had worked his way into the larger half of the second base platoon in which he was starting against right handers.  He ended up showing decent power for a second baseman hitting 6 home runs in only 153 at bats.  However, his approach at the plate really held him back this season.  His strikeout to walk ratio was ugly (43 k’s/6 bb’s).  His inability to draw walks limited his on base percentage to .258, which is not an acceptable total for a starting position player.  Flaherty will have to work on his plate approach if he wants to avoid a trip to Norfolk next season.  The Orioles had to keep him on the big league roster this season to avoid losing him back to the Cubs as a Rule V selection, but that’s no longer the case next season.  Flaherty doesn’t appear to be anything more than average defensively.

Brian Roberts (.182/.233/.182)  .193 wOBA   -1.1 fWAR

35 years old this October and limited to 17 games this season, the body of Brian Roberts has failed him the last few seasons.  Roberts hasn’t been able to play a full season since 2009.  In 2012, he didn’t have a single extra base hit in 74 plate appearances.  There’s not a whole lot we can tell from the 17 games he was able to play this season, but Orioles fans will be surprised if he’s able to help the team next year.  As sad as it is, it looks like his career is just about over.

2013

Unfortunately, the team can’t count on Brian Roberts being healthy enough to contribute next season during the last year of his 4 year, $40 million contract.  If you put together the performance that the O’s got out of second base this season, the team accumulated about 2 wins below replacement level.  That is unacceptable, and should not be allowed to continue.  If the team were able to find just a league average second baseman next season, that would be a 4 win swing.  The team should look to sign a veteran stop gap second baseman to play next season until they determine that Jonathan Schoop is ready.  Schoop is a natural shortstop but has been playing a lot of second base in the minors.  If his bat develops further, he could be the long term answer at the position.

Shortstop

J.J. Hardy (.238/.282/.389)  .290 wOBA   2.8 fWAR

Even after uber shortstop prospect Manny Machado was promoted from AA this season, J.J. Hardy didn’t budge from his position, playing 158 games.  Hardy didn’t have quite as good of an offensive season this year as he did in 2011, but he still provides above average offense for a shortstop.  His on base percentage and batting average were hurt by his .253 BABIP.  For his career, his BABIP is .275.  Almost 4,000 plate appearances into his career, you can begin to say that .275 is close to his true talent BABIP.  If Hardy’s BABIP were his normal .275 and we only credit the extra hits as singles, he would’ve slashed .256/.303/.407.  Still not great, but a more acceptable line than he produced.  The real value that Hardy provides to the Orioles however, is on defense.  This was the fourth year in a row that his UZR/150 was around 10 runs above average.  So he provides a full win above a replacement player with his defense alone.

2013

Hardy is still under contract for 2 more seasons with the Orioles at $7 million per season.  Because of his stellar defense and decent offense, I believe that he will serve as the Orioles shortstop throughout his contract.  For those calling for Manny Machado to be shifted to shortstop, I don’t believe that’ll happen until 2015.  The quality of Hardy’s defense is too high to warrant a move off of the position.

Third Base

Mark Reynolds (.221/.335/.429)   0.5 fWAR

It’s almost hard to fathom now, but Mark Reynolds began the season as the Orioles third baseman.  After he made 6 errors in 15 games and looked terrible doing it, he was quickly moved to a combination of DH and first base.  He eventually settled in as the Orioles first baseman.  For a more complete review of his season, see his profile above under first base.

Wilson Betemit (.261/.322/.422)  .324 wOBA   0.7 fWAR

After Reynolds was moved off of the hot corner, the position was primarily manned by Wilson Betemit.  Betemit posted a just about league average 101 wRC+ this season.  He’s a perfectly acceptable role player who is simply unable to play every day.  The reason he can’t play every day is because he is absolutely atrocious versus lefties.  He had a .191 wOBA versus lefties and a .370 wOBA versus righties.  Against lefties, he hits like a pitcher while against righties he’s extremely effective.  If he can be managed to completely avoid facing left handed pitching, he can be a valuable piece of the roster being mixed in at third base, first base and DH.  It seemed that Buck Showalter finally realized Betemit had no business facing lefties about July this year.  He’s not a great defender by any means but he can be passable at the infield corners.

Manny Machado (.262/.294/.445)  .317 wOBA   1.3 fWAR  

To the great surprise of Orioles fans, the Orioles called up Manny Machado from AA Bowie on August 9.  Dan Duquette explored the trade market for a third basemen such as Chase Headley, but found it to be more expensive than he wanted to pay.  Surprisingly, at only 20 years old Manny Machado produced about league average offense with a surprising amount of power.  No one will forget the beginning of his major league career when he hit 3 home runs in his first 4 games in the majors.  Many weren’t expecting the sort of success that Machado experienced this season after his very ordinary minor league numbers (.266/.352/.438).  But he produced those numbers as a 19 year old competing against players 3 and 4 years his senior.  Production at that level at 19 years old in AA usually foretells much greater success as the player gets older.  Furthermore, the defensive metrics looked kindly upon his defense at third base.  He compiled a 13.2 UZR/150 in his 51 games at third base.  He has an absolute cannon for an arm and most analysts agreed that he performed well defensively.

2013

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun recently wrote an article trying to figure out if the team will bring Reynolds back next season.  He might as well write one about Wilson Betemit too.  Betemit is signed for next season at $1.75 million, with a $3.2 million option that kicks in with another 324 plate appearances.  That said, I see Betemit coming back to the team as a role player being worked into the lineup occasionally versus righties.  Barring a surprising trade of J.J. Hardy, Manny Machado will return as the every day third baseman.  One of the most exciting things to watch in 2013 will be the continued development of Machado.  The future for him is extremely bright.

Note: Discussion of this post can be found here.

Kevin Ebert
Kevin Ebert

Kevin was the owner of the Orioles blog Eutaw Street Blues. He had operated the site since the beginning of the Orioles magical 2012 season. He tends to focus on sabermetric analysis of the Orioles and their minor league affiliates. He balances his analysis between what he sees with his eyes and what the analysis of the data says. The Columbia, MD native attended the University of Colorado at Boulder while obtaining a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration. He also attended Loyola University Maryland obtaining the degree of Masters of Business Administration. When Kevin is not reading or writing about baseball, he finds time to work at M&T Bank.

X