I thought it would be fun to track Jose Reyes this season as well as his replacement Ruben Tejada. It will be an interesting case study to see exactly how much the Mets actually lost offensively and defensively by replacing Reyes with Tejada, and if that difference is worth the $106 million dollars it would have cost to retain him.
The great thing about this from a fairness perspective, is that they both bat leadoff and play the same position. That puts the comparison on a very level playing field with no foul calls from either side.
The offensive categories I chose to monitor are as follows: Hits, Extra-Base Hits, Walks, Runs, RBI, Stolen Bases, Batting Average, On-Base Percentage, Slugging and OPS.
No shortstop comparison is complete without some defensive measures. It’s far too early to compile enough data to effectively compare Reyes and Tejada using UZR/150, that will come later in the season. For now we’ll stick to some of the dated, but still somewhat useful old standbys: Fielding Percentage, Assists, Double Plays and Errors.
Here goes Round 1 of Shortstop Wars:
Offense: It’s practically a clean sweep for Ruben Tejada who beats Reyes in every category except stolen bases. One thing to note is that Reyes was also caught stealing twice which actually gives him one net steal. The real kicker here is that Tejada has over 150 points more in OPS than Reyes. I don’t think anyone could have predicted that, even this early in the game.
Defense: Wow. Four errors already for Jose Ryes, this could get ugly. What’s noteworthy here is also the double plays. We all know what great arm Reyes has, but young Tejada is holding his own there.
Scorecard: These are very preliminary results and while it’s fun to see these two shortstops go head to head like this, a lot can change between now and September. But make no mistake, Ruben Tejada unanimously takes Round 1 in this bout. He was the clear winner on all the judges’ scorecards. Reyes wobbles back to his corner of the ring and collapses on his stool as his trainer tends to his battered face. “Hey Mickey, my eye, you have to cut my eye”.
Round 1 – Ruben Tejada
