The Great Debate Between Infield and Outfield

I’m tired of hearing how a Centre fielder is better than a third baseman.

Both last year and this year, Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays have been compared to each other as the MVPs of the American League.  Both players are among the best in the game when it comes to offensive numbers and once again this year, their stat lines are almost identical!

So how does someone decide who the most valuable player in a league is when on paper they are basically the same?  Well in Major League Baseball, it’s not all offence (unless you’re a DH of course), there is defence as well.  With all of the new stats coming into the game to rank players, defensive stats are getting better, but they aren’t there yet.  Sure for Pitchers, there are a plethora of stats, but for the rest of defence, there just isn’t much. 

Comparing a Left fielder to a Right fielder or a Second baseman to a First baseman would be pretty easy.  How many errors have they committed, Wins Above Replacement, and those kinds of stats could tell you who the better player is. But what happens when you have to compare, say, a Centre fielder (Trout) and a Third baseman (Donaldson)?  Many people immediately say, “Centre field is a premium position.” I disagree!

A Centre fielder has a lot of ground to cover, even in the smallest of ball parks, so they have to be athletic and fast.  What major-leaguer isn’t athletic though?  Let’s break it down to two of the very basic fundamentals of baseball; throwing and catching.  In Centre field, you get line drives, fly balls, and grounders up the middle.  When you make those catches, more often than not, you throw it into the cut-off man and get ready for the next batter. Third base is a little trickier…

At Third base, many people think that there is not a lot of area to cover, and they would be right if we were talking about FAIR territory.  A Third baseman has a TON of area in foul territory to cover.  Also, many times, a Third baseman has to field bunts right in front of home plate and play Short Stop when infields move into the switch for left-handed batters.  They also have to deal with hard hit balls down the baseline, short hops, in between hops, different infield grasses, and the occasional broken bat to dodge!  That’s just fielding the ball.  When they do catch it, they have to make an accurate throw to First for an out, lead their Short Stop or Second Baseman for a double play, or look off a runner before throwing.    

My rankings for the hardest baseball positions to play defensively are:

1. Catcher – Physically and mentally demanding, involved in every play, knowledge of pitchers and batters

2. Short Stop – Cover most of the infield, turning double plays, able to play all infield positions

3. Third Base – See above

4. First Base – Catching errant throws from infielders, holding runners on

5. Centre Field – See above

6. Second Base – turning double plays

7. Left Field – Catching and throwing

8. Right Field – Catching and throwing

9. Pitcher – Only field balls that come directly to them

In my opinion, if you want to use where a player plays defensively to determine how much more valuable equal players are to their teams, a Third baseman is more valuable than Centre fielder.