On this episode of the Replacement Level Podcast Vice President at Baseball Info Solutions and co-author of The Fielding Bible-Volume Three, Ben Jedlovec joined me to discuss the state of defensive metrics. Ben spoke about how DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) is calculated, and what goes into the individual components involved in making those calculations. Ben also compared the differences between DRS and UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating), and went into great detail about the reliability and accuracy of defensive metrics in general.
Ben and I also discussed the value of the defensive shift, if park factors can influence defensive performance, and the concept of a defensive peak with regard to a player’s age.
Defensive metrics can be a controversial subject even within the analytical community. This interview is an in-depth look at how they are calculated, why they sometimes conflict, and if they are being weighted properly with regard to a player’s overall value.
I hope you listen to and enjoy the interview. It can also be downloaded for free on iTunes.
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