Adam Jones was officially awarded with his first Gold Glove today.
Jones is an extremely capable fielder, who glides easily to the ball, and has an outstanding arm. The Gold Glove is confirmation that Jones’ reputation has been firmly established around baseball.
While I am happy for Jones recognition, nearly every measurable defensive stat showed a regression for Jones in 2009 vs. 2008. Of course I do believe defensive metrics have some inherent flaws.
Whether he deserved the award or not, I do think he has all the attributes required to regularly be considered for the honor.
I think in 2009, Jones’ burned himself several times due to ego. Camden Yards has very limited power-alleys. There is not a lot of room for a CF to run down balls to his left, or right. Where you can flash your skills (and challenge yourself), is by playing shallow and running back on the ball. It seemed to me that there were times Jones was playing so shallow, that he was basically telling the opposition they could not hit it over his head.
Several opponents during the season showed that they could. I would like to see Jones play a few steps back this year, and avoid giving teams extra-bases. Additionally, while he does have an outstanding arm, he needs to be more cognizant of game situations, and not allowing baserunners to advance, as he attempts to make the miracle throw home.
What I think is an interesting question is how much better (if at all) is Jones vs. Pie in CF?
While Pie has more dead-run speed, I think Jones gets a better read on the ball. Pie seems better equipped to make an adjustment during a play, but Jones gets to balls with less effort.
Pie’s arm might be almost as strong as Jones’, but his main defensive issues are almost the exact opposite of Jones. Jones gets the ball and fires home because he believes in his abilities, and that is his reactionary default. Pie gets the ball, and begins to process where he should be going. This leads to him looking indecisive. Pie would be well-served by the Little League adage of thinking about the play you are going to make, if the ball comes to you.
In his 2nd-full season in the Majors, Jones went to his first All-Star game, and now has his first piece of hardware. I could ride the fence on this topic, but I will say my own opinion is that I do not think Pie is a better CF than Jones. I am interested in seeing if Jones makes adjustments though this coming year.
What do you think?
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