Placido Polanco

[rdonahue]

Placido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers did not commit an error in 7 chances today. That extends his ML record by a 2Bmen to 705 straight chances without an error. He also completed his 143rd straight game without an error which ties a ML record set by Luis Castillo.

[NYMets523]

He's one of the most underrated players today.

[rdonahue]

He's one of the most underrated players today.

Yes he is. He's also 3rd in the AL in batting, the toughest hitter in baseball to K, he has a 127 OPS+, more walks than K's, and of course the great defense...what more could you want?

He doesn't hit for much power, but 7 HRs isn't bad for a middle infielder who hits second.

I was glad to see him be named an All-Star this year.

Then of course there's my personal favorite Polanco stat:
He's fallen behind 0-2 82 times this year. He has more hits than K's in those situations....FIVE TIMES as many hits as K's (35-9). He's batting .455 and slugging .584 after falling behind 0-2. Maybe he should swing and miss at the first two pitches of every AB...

[2Chance]

...and one of the great steals of all time.
The Tigers got him for Ugueth Urbina, currently in prison.

[geezer]

...and one of the great steals of all time.
The Tigers got him for Ugueth Urbina, currently in prison.


What a coincidence, one of the most bizarre trade effects ever!!!!

[TonyStarks]

He's one of the most underrated players today.

Amen to that.

Guy gets no respect!

[NYMets523]

He gets respect, just not as much as he deserves.

[Old Sweater]

Placido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers did not commit an error in 7 chances today. That extends his ML record by a 2Bmen to 705 straight chances without an error. He also completed his 143rd straight game without an error which ties a ML record set by Luis Castillo.

That is really quite incredible. It is 4.93 chances a game. Just that many accurate throws is something.

[rdonahue]

That is really quite incredible. It is 4.93 chances a game. Just that many accurate throws is something.

The total chances record is more impressive in my opinion. The guys on Baseball Tonigh made it seem like it wasn't that big of a deal - "a good defender gets to more balls so he'll make more errors".

That's not entirely true. If you make a great play to get to a ball/ keep a ball in the infield but have no play and do nothing, it's a base hit and "almost a great play". The only time you get an error is when you make a great play to get to a ball and then throw it away to totally take away from the great play.

Polanco broke the consecutive chances record against Oakland back when Tata got a win which was about 10 games earlier which means Polanco is getting to more balls than Castillo did during his run so his range can't bee all that bad despite what Steve Phillips tried to imply.

Obviously range is important, but the notion that you should have lots of errors to be a good fielder just isn't true in my opinion. If you have no range and get to no balls and make no errors (i.e. put David Ortiz in CF) that's one thing, but when you get to at least an average amount of balls and make no errors, that's impressive.

Oh yeah, if anyone is wondering, Polanco has a RF9 of 5.13. League average for a 2Bmen is 5.00. I don't pay that close of attention to defensive statistics so I don't know how good 5.13 is, but it's at least better than average. According to ESPN.com, his RF9 is ranked 5th amongst the 12 AL qualifiers.

One last note, 27 different AL 2Bmen have made an error this year (some with as few as 5 TC)....none of them are named Placido Polanco. Amongst those who qualify, Luis Castillo has 3 errors (he's now in the NL) and 3 others have made 4 errors. If thsoe guys make 0 errors from here on out, Polanco could still lead the league in fewest errors.

One last note X2: The record for fewest errors in a season by a 2Bmen is 3 by Jose Oquendo in 1990. The AL record (which has happened 4 times) is 5....upon further research, these records require 150+ games played which is quite a lot. Mark Ellis had 2 errors last year in 123 games. Jose Lopez was the only AL 2Bmen to play 150 games last year. Does anyone have the records for say 100 games played?

[Old Sweater]

The total chances record is more impressive in my opinion. The guys on Baseball Tonigh made it seem like it wasn't that big of a deal - "a good defender gets to more balls so he'll make more errors".

That's not entirely true. If you make a great play to get to a ball/ keep a ball in the infield but have no play and do nothing, it's a base hit and "almost a great play". The only time you get an error is when you make a great play to get to a ball and then throw it away to totally take away from the great play.



I agree with you. That is why I mentioned the throws, especially when the 2nd baseman is turning a DP and Polanco has 69 DP's this year alone.

[Neilios]

He needs to hold an offseason summercamp for short accurate throws to first. It should be mandatory for Detroit's pitching staff.

[BaseballDude89]

He is also a great hitter. 3rd in the MLB with a .346 average, behind only Maggs and Ichi.

[tigers527]

Well, he has set the record.....I wonder what the overall record is....gotta be some OFer that played in like 300 games without an error eh????