Alonso Defense

[The Voice of IH]

So now he is playing left field. Shame on me for not knowing this until now. But regardless, how is he looking out there? Is he making the transition that everyone thought he could not? Or is he Adam Dunn esq.

Once again, sorry I did not catch on to this earlier.

[cinreds21]

Adam Dunn esq.

He has improved, but that isn't saying too much.

[GOYA]

I think a comparison to Dunn isn't quite fair. Dunn let relatively easy balls get past him. Yonder is pretty good as long as he gets to the ball. His only problem is getting to balls where route and speed are necessary.

[The DARK]

I think a comparison to Dunn isn't quite fair. Dunn let relatively easy balls get past him. Yonder is pretty good as long as he gets to the ball. His only problem is getting to balls where route and speed are necessary.

Hopefully route comes with experience, because he'll never have the speed. He's only had one error on the season, though.

[Blitz Dorsey]

I've heard he makes Jonny Gomes look like a Gold-Glove outfielder.

[dougdirt]

I've heard he makes Jonny Gomes look like a Gold-Glove outfielder.

You have heard wrong. Alonso isn't good out there, but Gomes is pretty dang on brutal. They are on the same level in my opinion. Gomes has more range because his speed is better, but he takes brutal routes and has no judgement so his range doesn't play better. Alonso has a decent arm and much better than you would expect from a first baseman.

[757690]

I've heard he makes Jonny Gomes look like a Gold-Glove outfielder.

Just for the record, Fangraphs has Gomes as a plus defender so far this year. +2.1 UZR and +9.6 UZR/150. Maybe Thom and Chris are right?

[fearofpopvol1]

You have heard wrong. Alonso isn't good out there, but Gomes is pretty dang on brutal. They are on the same level in my opinion. Gomes has more range because his speed is better, but he takes brutal routes and has no judgement so his range doesn't play better. Alonso has a decent arm and much better than you would expect from a first baseman.

I would bet over the course of a full season, you would see Alonso's UZR worse than Gomes.

[Scrap Irony]

Alonso's routes are horrid. Little League bad.

But he's gotten better since last season. So maybe there's hope he turns into a Gomes type defender. He does catch almost everything he gets to.

He also looks like he's going to be a better bat than Jonny. He'll need to go 850 or so as a LF to have positive value, IMO.

[dougdirt]

I would bet over the course of a full season, you would see Alonso's UZR worse than Gomes.

It is possible, but I don't think it would be by much. Alonso, much like Gomes, is going to catch what he gets to. Problem is, neither guy gets to a lot.

[Scrap Irony]

It is possible, but I don't think it would be by much. Alonso, much like Gomes, is going to catch what he gets to. Problem is, neither guy gets to a lot.

But Alonso, so far at least, gets to much, much less.

His UZR would be Dunn-ian. It could very well be worse than that. His routes are horrific-- much, much worse than Gomes. Add in his lack of speed and he's worse than anyone right now in the major leagues by a significant margin. (Think Dave Kingman in his latter years, without the arm, or Greg Luzinski.)

But he's improved a great deal in a year. He's beter now than I ever thought he'd be. And his bat looks to be better than Gomes by a significant margin. He'll have to OPS 850 (the 120 - 130 OPS+ range this season) to be a "good" choice overall.

Personally, I'd rather try Sappelt there, as he balances the lineup and should provide a much better glove. But Alonso looks like a better choice than Gomes at ths point, certainly.

[edabbs44]

His UZR would be Dunn-ian. It could very well be worse than that. His routes are horrific-- much, much worse than Gomes. Add in his lack of speed and he's worse than anyone right now in the major leagues by a significant margin. (Think Dave Kingman in his latter years, without the arm, or Greg Luzinski.)

I mean, could there possibly be a worse scouting report? I guess maybe if he compared him to a Bengie Molina in LF with a sprained ankle?

[dougdirt]

But Alonso, so far at least, gets to much, much less.

His UZR would be Dunn-ian. It could very well be worse than that. His routes are horrific-- much, much worse than Gomes. Add in his lack of speed and he's worse than anyone right now in the major leagues by a significant margin. (Think Dave Kingman in his latter years, without the arm, or Greg Luzinski.)

I don't think you watch Gomes play enough if you think Alonso takes much worse routes.

[Scrap Irony]

I don't think Gomes has been a good defensive player since being a Red. He's better this year so far, partly, IMO, due to the loss of weight and off-season work. Whether that continues or not is anyone's guess.

But, while Gomes' routes are indeed bad, Alonso's are postively Manny-esque. His routes are banana-shaped, which leads to even poorer range than his slow feet would allow. (They are better than they were when he started-- at that point, he'd run in semi-circles to where he thought the ball might land.)

[Caveat Emperor]

Just so we're operating with a full deck here -- has anyone actually watched Yonder play more than 2 or 3 times, or is this all based on "I went to a game a few Fridays ago and he looked terrible?"