Shaw's defense at 3rd

[Radar3454]

I've been very impressed with Shaw's defense at 3rd overall, but it is just my eye test. Any analytics about his defense and particularly his arm? Will he stay at 3rd or would be be better at 2nd? 

[Bertz]

Shaw's defense is actually pretty interesting because by the eye test he's pretty stellar, but Statcast hates him.

Fangraphs has two defensive stats: one from Statcast and another called DRS.  Statcast is purely automated, while DRS is based on people watching film and grading every play (very very similar to PFF grades in football). 

Statcast says he's been 3 runs worse than an average 3B this year, ranking 13th out of 16 qualified 3B.  DRS has him at +9 runs, second in the league to only Ke'Bryan Hayes.

Personally, I tend to trust Statcast completely in the outfield, while for infielders I think there's more nuance (tricky bounces, baserunning, etc.) and like to split the difference between Statcast and DRS.  That'd put Shaw as a +6 3B.  Well above average but not really in the Gold Glove discussion.  That lines up with the eye test IMO.

[Radar3454]

Appreciate the response - is his arm still a question for third?

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Radar3454 said:

Appreciate the response - is his arm still a question for third?

I think we over value arm at third. Personally, I consider arm "luxury" but something that is not required at 3b. The Cubs turned Nick Madrigal and his noodle arm into a plus defender at the position. Shaw's arm is below average, but much better than that of say Madrigal, as it sits around the 31st percentile league wide. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[javy knows my name]

He looks like a gold glover. So the knock on him is the arm. I see it. Even the throws he bounces are accurate as hell. 

Not getting one as long as Ke'Bryan Hayes is in the NL though 

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, javy knows my name said:

He looks like a gold glover. So the knock on him is the arm. I see it. Even the throws he bounces are accurate as hell. 

Not getting one as long as Ke'Bryan Hayes is in the NL though 

Just being an above average/good fielding 3rd baseman is good enough for this infield. They have good gloves all over the field. Not going to beat Hayes. Oh well. That is fine. Just be good at 3rd and hit above league average and that is a solid third baseman. And I think he can be better than just above league average with the bat. I think he could be a guy who hits .260 with 20+ homers and 20+ stolen bases and maybe even puts up OPS+ of 120. 

[champaignchris]

It’s wild that FG’s dWAR has him at 0.0 while BR’s dWAR has him at 1.1. 

That gap has actually closed a bit recently. As of last week FG had him with a negative value. 

[CubinNY]

42 minutes ago, champaignchris said:

It’s wild that FG’s dWAR has him at 0.0 while BR’s dWAR has him at 1.1. 

That gap has actually closed a bit recently. As of last week FG had him with a negative value. 

Measurement error. None of those defensive evaluations should be held tightly. They are only useful in the aggregate and perhaps at the tails. 
 

Shaw is playing solid defense. The best thing  is he can play either 2nd or 3rd. With his hitting profile he’s a perennial all star 2nd baseman and a solidly above average 3rd baseman. 

[mk49]

He's been good defensively, after he came back from Iowa.  He's been also good offensively, since the all star break.  I wish Craig uses him more like 99% of the games.