Simon: The best defensive units of the 21st century

From Mark Simon at ACTA Sports on April 30, 2020:

The last few weeks we’ve done pieces on Andrelton Simmons and the 2018 Diamondbacks as the best defensive player and team of the 21st century, respectively. We used Twitter polling to pick Simmons and our defensive metrics to choose the Diamondbacks.

But what if we broke teams up into component parts, specifically infield and outfield? Who would come out on top? Again, let’s use our metrics to find out.

Most of the teams with high Runs Saved totals for their infields have come from the last two seasons, due to the increased value that infield shifts are providing. However, the 2005 Phillies infield leads the way, as it saved 85 runs, the most of any team since 2003 (the first season for which Runs Saved were tracked).

Read the full article here: https://www.statoftheweek.com



Originally published: April 30, 2020. Last Updated: April 30, 2020.