He is completing the routine plays and those that require more effort. Suddenly, Fernando Tatis Jr. achieves a superb performance in a defensive position in which he is still going through the adaptation phase.
Prior to this, he entered the season fresh off a steroid suspension and found the personality of Xander Bogaerts planted at shortstop for the San Diego Padres.
He was out of the woods preparing to take over right field, but there’s no doubt he passed the test. At least until now. He looks comfortable and confident, if inelegant; the first ingredients give you what you need.
Ever since he appeared on the top prospect lists, the skills of speed and powerful arm stood out in the pages of the Petromacorisan. That conjugation determines the virtuoso fielders … and it happens with him.
He records shots that travel to the infield at 95.3 mph on average, allowing him to top the position average by nearly three points. In search of perfecting the context, he is third in a list of 26.
But it’s only the minor part, things get more color when we add the range and reach. Indispensable in defensive evaluations, since they form the most important part of said section.
The Dominican’s grades are also outstanding, considering he covers three feet over the average outfielder on the move.
These elements together allow him the sum of four outs above average (OAA), a statistic that compares performance with the average of the position, using the location and velocity of the balls to indicate superiority or inferiority. .
“El Niño” in action from the prairies
Other metrics provide favorable judgments regarding the work carried out by the Dominican, as we see it expressed in the amount of 4.9 runs saved according to the final zone score (UZR).
The latter adds in its formula the location of each connection in relation to defensive positioning and evaluates the probabilities of outs in each specific situation.
Even traditional metrics substantiate Tatis’ strong performance after committing the minuscule number of two errors in 344 2/3 innings.
The option of turning the man from Dominican Republic into an outfielder arose as a response to finding a hole where he could quickly acclimatize, but, undoubtedly, nothing better could have happened.