2019 Angels Year in Review: Shortstop
11/8/19 - Jay Sheehy - Founder and Editor-In-Chief
There has never been a better defensive shortstop than Andrelton Simmons. There, I said it. And honestly, to all you Ozzie Smith, Mark Belanger and Omar Vizquel fans- It’s not even that close. What’s that, you don’t believe me? I thought you might say something of that nature. Let’s look at the facts.
Shortstop: The God of Fielding
The God of Fielding, Andrelton Simmons
Andrelton Simmons ($13 million) - If you peruse the internet for any length of time under the scope of finding the best defensive shortstop in Major League Baseball history, right or wrong, it usually comes down to this handful of names:
Ozzie Smith - The Wizard
Mark Belanger - The Blade
Omar Vizquel - Little O (I’ll be honest, I don’t remember this one. Thank you Baseball Reference.)
Cal Ripken Jr. - Iron Man
Luis Aparicio - Little Louie (Baseball Reference again. The Venezuelans do come in small at shortstop.)
While Andrelton Simmons is only 1,030 games into his career, Simba already boasts seasonal averages that blow the other names out of the water, according to Baseball Reference’s defensive metrics. The best defensive season in Major League history belongs to Simmons, 5.5 dWAR in 2013. But as you will see, the best stretches of defense belong to him as well.
Ozzie Smith is #1 all-time with 44.2 dWAR over 2,573 games played.
His best season was in 1989, where he had a 4.8 dWAR in 155 games.
The Wizard’s best three year stretch was 1988-90, where he accrued 10.5 dWAR over 451 games.
Best six year stretch: 1985-90, 19.1 dWAR in 920 games.
And his best ten year stretch was from 1980 to 1989, where he compiled 29.7 dWAR in 1,468 games.
His 44.2 dWAR over 2,573 games breaks down to 2.78 dWAR per 162 games.
Not too shabby Mr. Wizard, sir.
Mark Belanger is #2 all-time with 39.5 dWAR over 2,016 games played.
His best season mark was 4.9 dWAR in 1975, where he suited up 152 times.
The Blade’s best three year stretch was from 1973-75, where he totaled 12.4 dWAR over 461 ballgames.
Six year stretch: 1973-78. 23.4 dWAR in 893 games.
Ten year stretch: 1968-77. 32.1 dWAR in 1,461 games.
His 39.5 dWAR over 2,016 games equates to 3.17 dWAR per 162 games.
The Blade was incredibly sharp indeed. A strong case can be made that Belanger was superior to Ozzie Smith, in the field.
Cal Ripken Jr. is #3 all-time with 35.7 dWAR in 3,001 games. Iron Man, indeed.
Cal dropped a 3.6 dWAR in 1984 for his career high. How many games? You guessed it, 162.
1989-91 was his best three year stretch: 10.4 dWAR over 485 games (there must have been a rain out).
Six year stretch: 17.3 dWAR over 921 games (that damn Baseball Strike!) between 1989-94.
Ten year stretch: 1983-92. A total of 24.3 dWAR over 1617 games.
The 35.7 dWAR over 3,001 games means Cal earned 1.93 dWAR per 162 games.
The Iron Man had a little game to him. But, it’s quite obvious that he is a step behind the two people above him on this list. Of course, they were nowhere near him when it came to the batter’s box so I think that ol’ boy will be okay with his place in shortstop history.
Luis Aparicio is #5 all-time with 31.8 dWAR over 2,599 career games.
(Quick note: #4 is Joe Tinkler, who played from 1902-1916. Nah. He doesn’t belong in this conversation.)
Aparicio had a career high 3.8 dWAR in 1960, playing 153 games that season.
Three year stretch: 8.3 dWAR from 1958-60. Played in 450 games in that span.
Six year stretch: 14.1 dWAR, which he accomplished in 902 games from 1957-62 AND 898 games between 1960-65. That man could play.
Ten year stretch: 22.7 dWAR in 1,489 games from 1957-66.
Little Louie’s 31.8 dWAR over 2,599 games earned him 1.98 dWAR for every 162 games he played.
Aparicio, like Ripken Jr., comes in a step behind Ozzie and Mark. Yet, his fielding prowess, base-running totals and long career were enough to get him elected into Cooperstown in 1984.
Omar Vizquel is #7 all-time with 29.5 dWAR in 2,968 games.
(Note: #6 is Rabbit Maranville. His career spanned 1912 to 1933, and though I wanted to include the 5’5” 150 pound ball of grit…Nah. You can’t tell me he belongs here. Stop, you’re embarrassing yourself. Stop! You’re killing your father, Larry.)
Vizquel was good for a 2.5 dWAR in 1993. He played 158 games. Now, as someone who grew up with Vizquel, and marveled at his brilliance, this seems a little low. I’m going to go watch some film.
(Returns six hours later) You know what? He was as smooth as I remembered. BUT, and this hurts a little bit to admit, that range/arm combo is not something that can be confused with Smith, Belanger…or Simmons. It just can’t. While I’ll readily admit that the intricacies of defensive metrics definitely have their issues, in this instance they truly pass the eye test.
Three year: 7.1 dWAR in 436 games from 1991-93.
Six year: 11.4 dWAR in 729 games from 1989-94.
Ten year: 16.8 dWAR in 1,321 games from 1990-99.
This whole thing is hard to take. Little O seems to be a half-step behind Aparicio and Ripken Jr given these numbers. His 1.61 dWAR per 162 games has the caveat that he played until he was 45 years old. If we stop it after his 40-year old season, Vizquel only raises that to a 1.69 dWAR per 162. The reality is he had issues from 33-35 years old before regaining his greatness as a 36 year old in the 2003 season (where he had a solid 1.4 dWAR over 64 games).
What about Andrelton Simmons, you ask?
Andrelton Simmons is the #11 ranked defensive shortstop by way of dWAR. He’s played in eight seasons for a total of 1,030 games. He already has a 27.3 dWAR. It took Ozzie eleven seasons to get there. Belanger needed more than four hundred more games. The other three didn’t have a ten year stretch that was ever that high. As mentioned before, Simmons posted a dWAR of 5.5 in 2013, that is the highest single season in the history of the sport. What else?
Simmons has six different three year stretches in his career. The best is 13.0 dWAR from 2013-15, in 450 games. The worst, however, is 9.3 dWAR over the last three seasons (2017-19) where he has only played in 407 contests. That 9.3 is higher than the best three year stretch for Aparicio and Vizquel.
Andrelton’s best six year stretch produced a 22.9 dWAR in 878 games between 2013-18. This is the first instance where an argument can somewhat be made for Belanger because his six year stretch of 23.4 dWAR is better. Belanger played fifteen more games and had 0.5 dWAR more. So it was microscopic in its victory.
Since Simmons hasn’t played ten seasons yet there is no reason to compare him with the other members of this argument since…oh, wait a second, you know what, scratch that. Only Belanger and Ozzie have a ten year stretch as good as Simba’s eight year. The 27.3 dWAR that he has earned over 1,030 games breaks down to 4.29 dWAR per 162 games. Let’s recap.
Simmons: 4.29 dWAR per 162 games played.
Belanger: 3.17 dWAR per 162.
Ozzie: 2.78 dWAR per 162.
Aparicio: 1.98 dWAR per 162.
Ripken Jr.: 1.93 dWAR per 162.
Vizquel: 1.61 dWAR per 162.
Whoa. That’s not even that close. Now, something should be said about the ability to play day-in and day-out, and what that wear and tear does to you throughout a full season. Yet, it would be hard to argue against Simmons being the best defensive shortstop because his 162 game average would be the 12TH BEST DEFENSIVE SEASON EVER!!! At any position! There truly is no one else like him on the defensive side of the ball…and there never has been.
The End.
Wait, this is about the shortstop position for the Los Angeles Angels in 2019 (boy, did I get off track). Simmons only played in 103 games, unfortunately, and he regressed at the plate to the tune of a .264/.309/.364/.673 line that earned him a terrible OPS+ of 80. Over the prior three seasons he was a 101 OPS+ so hopefully this had more to do with a small sample size and his injuries more than anything else. Simmons defense was as breathtaking as ever, however, so the offense barely caused a ripple. Fletcher and Rengifo both played some short while Simmons was hurt, as did the next entry on our list.
Baseball Reference credited him with a 2.1 WAR. FanGraphs credited him with 1.7 WAR.
Wilfredo Tovar ($555,000) - Little Fredo (it’s okay, he’s Venezuelan) was brought up in a pinch when Angels players started dropping like flies. While he was more than adequate defensively, Tovar had major issues in the batter’s box in 2019. His story is one of determination as he hadn’t been in the majors since 2014 with the New York Mets, but every story of grit doesn’t end with victory. Tovar’s .193/.239/.253/.492 line earned him a OPS+ of 32 and a one way ticket back to Salt Lake when everyone had recovered from injury.
Baseball Reference: -0.1 WAR. FanGraphs: -0.1 WAR.
The Angels are set at shortstop for the 2020 season. The God of Fielding is here. When the season ends, however, there will be some difficult decisions to be made. Andrelton Simmons will be an unrestricted free agent who just turned 31 years old. Furthermore, the Angels have multiple options in the minors who play the position: Will Wilson, Jeremiah Jackson, and Kyren Paris. Also, David Fletcher and Luis Rengifo have played there and played there well. Let’s be clear, however, that none of these people play the defensive side of the ball with anything near the artistry that Simmons does. It’ll be a difficult decision to make when the time comes but I guess that’s why they pay Billy Eppler the big bucks. While I’ve seen multiple baseball writers suggest Simmons could be traded this season if the Angels struggle, that path seems highly unlikely. When you have someone who does something so important on the baseball field, and he does it better than anyone who has ever played the game, you keep that player as long as you can. Andrelton Simmons plays shortstop as if the position was created only so he could come along a hundred plus years later and show the world his brilliance. The Angels would be making a huge mistake in getting rid of him.