Blue Jays being let down by surprisingly porous defence

Many of the names synonymous with the current iteration of the Blue Jays have one thing in common: a reputation for great glovework.

Kevin Pillar. Russell Martin. Troy Tulowitzki. Josh Donaldson. A huge percentage of the club’s core are strong defensive players and even primary backups like Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney are undoubtedly glove-first players. As a result, our first instinct is to assume the Blue Jays are one of the best fielding teams in baseball.

Last season, they absolutely were. The 2016 Blue Jays ranked in the top 10 in defensive metrics like Ultimate Zone Rating, Defensive Runs Saved, BABIP against, and the difference between Fielding Independent Pitching and ERA. This year, not so much.

The Blue Jays’ sloppy defensive play got buried amidst the drama of Wednesday night’s heated 8-4 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, but it was a good example of the team’s issues in the field. Toronto committed three errors in the game, including an errant Joe Biagini throw on the game’s second batter that set the stage for a six-run inning.

So how does a rock-solid defensive unit encounter serious struggles with one turn of the calendar? Part of the answer — as it usually is with the Blue Jays this year — comes down to injuries.

Donaldson, Tulowitzki and Martin missing time isn’t going to help a team’s defensive performance. Even though their primary replacements — Barney, Goins and Luke Maile — are known for reliability in the field, some of the players who’ve tagged in like Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Chris Coghlan have been on the shaky side.

Goins has also been an interesting case as defensive metrics have been thoroughly unimpressed with his performance at shortstop so far despite his sterling reputation. By DRS he’s cost the Blue Jays six runs, while UZR has him at -3.2.

The 29-year-old has been thoroughly Derek Jeter-esque thus far. He’s only made a single error and has consistently made the routine plays:

On the other hand, he hasn’t done a great job at stealing hits, missing a lot of tougher — but not impossible plays — that the Blue Jays could really use from the utility infielder.

Goins is clearly a talented defender and none of this is to say he’s suddenly turned into a pumpkin with the glove. That said, contrary to popular belief, defence is like offence in its ebbs and flows and he hasn’t been as productive as he might be with the glove so far.

Beyond Goins, the Blue Jays also have issues in the outfield. Much has been made of Jose Bautista’s return to form defensively, but that’s largely on account of his arm, which has certainly improved since 2016. His legs, however, remain 36 and his range is questionable. As a result he has a -4 DRS and -1.4 UZR. The other corner has also been a problem area as Steve Pearce, whose best position at this point is first base, has logged 172.2 innings in left with a -1 DRS and -2.9 UZR.

For the most part, running out two players in the outfield with a combined age of 70 is a dubious strategy. That said, last year they made due with Bautista and a largely-immobile Michael Saunders. The difference in 2017 is that Pillar, for all his offensive accomplishments, isn’t having the same defensive impact as he’s done in the past. He hasn’t made any errors, but the 28-year-old’s range hasn’t rated out nearly as well as it normally does despite some typically spectacular catches.

When it comes to individuals there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about defensive performances in small samples. The metrics are far from perfect and they take a long time to stabilize into anything resembling a precise determination of value. Perhaps you think that Goins, Bautista or Pillar have been better so far than their advanced stats suggest. That’s absolutely a defensible position.

However, collectively the Blue Jays have played 3,336 innings in the field in 2017. As samples go, that’s plenty meaty and the results aren’t there yet. Given the season the Blue Jays are having, defence may feel like the least of their problems, but the inability to convert balls in play into outs is a significant component of their struggles.

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