The Red Sox recently picked up Alex Gonzalez and I’ve heard a lot of scuffling from Reds fans. A few Reds fans told me, if you’re expecting the same Alex Gonzalez you had in 2006, you’re going to be extremely disapointed.
A-Gon’s range has decreased substantially and his plate appearances have been awkward. So what did the Red Sox brass see in Alex Gonzalez? Allow me to ATTEMPT to break this down.
Alex Gonzalez IS clutch believe it or not. He is hitting .320 with runners in scoring position with 26 of his 29 RBI’s coming with runners in scoring position. He’s also batting .273 with 10 of his 29 rbi’s with runners in scoring position and two out.
With a few games under his belt the Rogers Centre has been good to Alex Gonzalez. He’s hitting .363 in 11 at bats (4 for 11). Against American League pitching Alex Gonzalez is hitting a solid .305 (18-59). Take away the Rangers and the Yankees from the AL, he’s batting a remarkable .410. Fortunately for Alex Gonzalez he’s only got three games left against Yankees pitching (not counting a possible playoff matchup). Compare these numbers to his numbers against National League pitching, where his average is just plain AWFUL (42-221) thats .190 for those who care.
I don’t really want to get into Alex on the defensive side of things. His UZR/150 is lower than Nick Green’s (4.0 to 4.9), Green has a stronger arm, etc. I still think Alex Gonzalez can be very valuable to the Sox. He’s no ADRIAN Gonzalez, but he might be just what Boston needs to win the Wild Card.
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I think he has better range than at the beginning of the year. It seems like the knee is not bothering because Francoma plays him everyday. I also think he is finally healthy from the elbow surgey which removed bone chips. I’m not saying that Gonzalez is great hitter, but maybe the Reds fans witnessed the performance of a player dealing with multiple injuries. Victor Martinez also had bone chips removed from his right elbow, and he had a pretty bad offensive year last season.
Three of my favorite little words: small…sample…size. He’s a very marginal shortstop and a terrible hitter. Just like Nick Green, he will return to his normal level sooner or later. Hopefully, he’ll have a Green-like hot spell that’ll last for a couple months.
Part of the reason he looks good is that shortstop has been such a black hole for the Sox all year. He’s a decent placeholder and, compared to the alternatives, I’m glad he’s here.
Yes tiny sample size I know. I hot he gets hot like Green too. We’ll see I expect something like .240 out of him with some RBI’s thrown in. If he hits over .250 for the next two months we’ll be in good shape essentially i was looking for stats to justify picking him up not trying to prove he’s going to be hanley ramirez.
I know that UZR has Green as a better defender and he does have better range and a better arm, but Gonzalez is just solid, he doesn’t make mistakes in the field, I think what was bother the sox about Green was his maddening propensity for erratic throws, it was starting to look like he caught the Lugo flu virus. Yes Gonzalez isn’t the best hitter out there and it is a small sample size, but I think the Sox can live with that if they don’t have to watch Green throw away games (literally)
Absolutely, Green has a CANNON for an arm but there’s a reason why he’s not starting. Having a strong arm like that causes Green to think he can make any throw, he ends up throwing a few into the stands and those types of plays prove to be very costly. It’s NEVER a good thing to turn an out into a double or triple. Allowing extra outs is not in the formula for championship baseball.
Defensive metrics are nowhere near as reliable or as sophisticated as offensive stats. I don’t care what his zone rating or whatever is — watch Gonzo for a game or two and it’s unmistakably clear that he’s a better defensive shortstop than Green (no offense to Nick; many thanks to him for his solid fill-in work this year).