December 07, 2008
Defensive Charts
The defensive charts for 2008 are now available here. These provide a nice visualization of the probabilistic model of range. Chase Utley's charts, for example, shows how well he does on ground balls toward first base.
I wonder if part of Utley's success on balls towards first is because of positioning. Utley thinks/knows that Howard does not have great range, so he (Utley) cheats towards the hole.
Does your model take teammates' play into account? For example, Albert Pujols is excellent on balls hit to his right. Since the first baseman is always in front of the second baseman on those plays, Albert is taking chances away from his teammate. Would the second baseman be "penalized" in this case?