Len on Pierre

[CubinNY]

 

Here's the Scouts Inc. scouting report that ESPN attaches to every player's page, so take it for what it's worth:

 

"His defense remains a huge plus at spacious Pro Player Stadium. His range allowed the Marlins to get by with Miguel Cabrera and Jeff Conine flanking him for the first four months. Pierre's arm probably precludes him from Gold Glove consideration, but he never gives up on balls in the gap and makes his share of highlight catches. His resemblance to a young Mickey Rivers remains eerie."

 

Perfect example of my previous post, thanks. "Baseball" men who know "the game" likely wrote that.

 

Let's look at some objective data shall we?

 

Of qualified CFer in the NL:

 

Convential Stats:

He ranked next to last in fielding % (just ahead of Patterson)

He ranked second to first in errors (Just behind Patterson)

He was tied for 3rd in assists (7) but really in the middle of the pack (Jones lead the league with 11)

He ranked 3rd in put outs (but he did play a lot of innings too)

 

Non-convential stats:

He ranked dead last in range factor (put outs + assists)/innings (this time all the innings might have hurt him)

He ranked in the middle of the pack in zone rating (Zone rating. The percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS, Inc.)

 

Now none of these stats are all that good becuase they are reliant on other aspects, but overall, I would say my opinon is congruent with more objective data.

 

He is neither bad nor good as a defensive player. He is mediocre.

 

Who to beleive; objective data, opinon of some guy on a message board, or a scouting report from a "basball" man who knows "the game"?

 

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Not that I need to but I can tell you I lived in Doral Fl (just a short 10 min drive up the turnpike to ProPlayer) for two and a half years (01-04). In that time I probably went to 20 games and maybe watched another 60 on the tube. So I saw him play more often then most here.

[maandig]

I am sure this is covered elsewhere, but I happen to be reading this thread and will ask it here and would appreciate an appropriate referral if it has been discussed: how much of an impact does Florida's park have on his fielding stats? In the terms of reference used in this discussion, the decline in his range factor from Denver to Miami is significant and does not appear to correlate to a corresponding deterioration in skill.

 

Otherwise, his defensive stats seem to indicate that he is a better than average center fielder. His "zone rating" last year was approximately the same as Carlos Beltran and Jim Edmond's over the last two seasons and was slightly higher than what Milton Bradley and Andruw Jones posted in center field last year.

 

I will fully admit to not understanding how to interpret these figures, but Pierre seems to compare very well to other centerfielders, unless you focus solely on the "range factor" stat, where he put up a career low last year.

[ltb]

pierre has been below average in CF since 2003.

 

Rate:

2003: 91

2004: 93

2005: 96

 

at least he's "improving"

 

hopefully that goes a lot higher with a move to wrigley.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I am sure this is covered elsewhere, but I happen to be reading this thread and will ask it here and would appreciate an appropriate referral if it has been discussed: how much of an impact does Florida's park have on his fielding stats? In the terms of reference used in this discussion, the decline in his range factor from Denver to Miami is significant and does not appear to correlate to a corresponding deterioration in skill.

 

Otherwise, his defensive stats seem to indicate that he is a better than average center fielder. His "zone rating" last year was approximately the same as Carlos Beltran and Jim Edmond's over the last two seasons and was slightly higher than what Milton Bradley and Andruw Jones posted in center field last year.

 

I will fully admit to not understanding how to interpret these figures, but Pierre seems to compare very well to other centerfielders, unless you focus solely on the "range factor" stat, where he put up a career low last year.

 

Range Factor isn't a very good metric, since pitching staffs have a large impact on it. Going from Colorado to the strikeout heavy staff in Florida with Beckett, Burnett, and Co. probably had more to do with his RF going down than the Park. Going by BP's fielding metrics, Pierre went from being average to slightly above average in Colorado, to decidedly below average as a Marlin.

[CubinNY]

In the terms of reference used in this discussion, the decline in his range factor from Denver to Miami is significant and does not appear to correlate to a corresponding deterioration in skill.

 

I am not sure if I understand you question. But if you are asking is Proplayer a harder park to play defense in? I would say no. CF is deeper but a ball not gotten to is a ball not gotten to. It doesn't matter what park one plays in. Both parks are big but Coors is more symetical and perhaps easier. But I do not think that much easier.

 

Otherwise, his defensive stats seem to indicate that he is a better than average center fielder.

 

What makes you say that? To me they indicate he is an almost an exactly average CFer.

[maandig]

Range Factor isn't a very good metric, since pitching staffs have a large impact on it. Going from Colorado to the strikeout heavy staff in Florida with Beckett, Burnett, and Co. probably had more to do with his RF going down than the Park. Going by BP's fielding metrics, Pierre went from being average to slightly above average in Colorado, to decidedly below average as a Marlin.

 

Thanks. And a quick spot check shows that in moving from center field in Florida to Colorado, Preston Wilson went from being an above average center fielder (although his rating falls substantially in his last year with Florida) to a below average center fielder by BP's metric, so never mind.

[Jehrico]

Likes the deal. His view:

 

Pros - Career .305, good leadoff hitter (when he hits .300), contact hitter, tons of groundballs (w/b good at Wrigley), good bunter, tons of stolen bases, very durable (162 games a year), covers a lot of ground in field, hits the cut off man, good characater, nobody works harder.

 

Cons - No power, gets caught stealing a lot (25%), weak arm, doesn't walk a lot.

 

Yeah, but is he hitting the cut off man on purpose?