Francisco Lindor. Photo by Roberto Carlo
New York Mets’ superstar shortstop had another terrific season in 2022. Francisco Lindor slashed .254/.336/.470, good for a superb .806 OPS. The highest of his career since 2019. He also belted 30 home runs to go along with 98 RBIs and 108 runs (second-highest of his career). Not to mention, he also stole 31 bases, giving him his first 30-30 season of his career and becoming only the fourth player in Mets’ history to do so.
All this culminated in a bWAR and fWAR total of 6.0. This number ranked 10th in the majors per Baseball Reference and eighth per FanGraphs. Of course, his offensive performances had a lot to do with these impressive figures, but Lindor once again had himself a terrific defensive season, something that was on display constantly throughout the season.
The Defensive Metrics
According to Baseball Reference, Lindor finished with a defensive value of 1.6. This ranked tied for 19th in the majors, ranking fourth among National League (NL) shortstops. Dansby Swanson of the Chicago Cubs (fourth overall), Ezequiel Tovar of the Colorado Rockies (10th overall), and Willy Adames of the Milwaukee Brewers (17th overall) all ranked better than the two-time Gold Glove winner.
Other metrics were also favorable to Lindor. Baseball Savant’s outs above average (OAA) metric has him in the league’s 90th percentile, while their fielding run value (FRV) metric has him in the league’s 78th percentile. Meanwhile, FanGraph’s defensive runs saved (DRS) metric ranks Lindor fifth among NL shortstops, their OAA metric ranks him eighth among NL shortstops, and their total defensive rating figure has him fourth among NL shortstops.
The most impressive statistic is Lindor’s 9.1 ultimate zone rating (UZR). This leads NL shortstops by a considerable amount, as the next closest posted a 5.9 rating, which was Dansby Swanson. Lindor’s UZR ranked fifth among all defenders in the league last season.
So, what exactly is UZR? Per MLB.com’s definition, UZR is, “quantifies a player’s entire defensive performance by attempting to measure how many runs a defender saved. It takes into account errors, range, outfield arm, and double-play ability. It differs slightly from DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) in its formula, but the concept is the same.”
With all that being said, how do the above figures compare to some of Lindor’s peers in 2023?
Dansby Swanson. Mandatory Credit: Larry Robinson-USA TODAY Sports
The Competition
When examining other NL shortstops and their defensive analytics in the 2023 season, five candidates emerge, including Lindor. Those consist of Dansby Swanson (CHI), Ezequiel Tovar (COL), Willy Adames (MIL), and Miguel Rojas (LAD).
Here are how each five stack up in several important and telling defensive metrics last season:
As you can see, each of the above five turned in tremendous defensive seasons. A simple practice to further visualize who was the most impressive out of the above five candidates as it concerns to the categories above is simply assigning what position they finished among the candidates and weighting that positioning across each category. The below is what you get when you do that:
- Dansby Swanson, 1.17
- Ezequiel Tovar, 2.33
- Willy Adams, 2.83
- Francisco Lindor & Miguel Rojas, 4.0
Final Thoughts
Make no mistake about it, Francisco Lindor was once again very strong defensively and since he entered the league has arguably been the strongest defensive shortstop in the game. Proof being the fact he owns the highest OOA and FanGraph’s defensive rating since 2015. However, this past season, the competition at the shortstop position for the Gold Glove is fierce.
Based off all the defensive metrics alone, Lindor may not be valued the highest. However, if you factor in how many innings he played, and how elite he was able to play offensively while not sacrificing any of the defense, the argument for awarding him his third Gold Glove of his career potentially arises.
Regardless, it will be very interesting to see who gets the nod for the award come November.
