Matt Kemp, Gold Glover
November 11, 2009 at 9:48 am | In Matt Kemp | 14 Comments
Hey, that Photoshop job didn’t actually come out too badly! (Edit: happy now, you jackals? That glove is as gold as gold can be. Click here if you want to see the old green-ish version). (Edit 2: Reader Mike B picks up where I drop the ball. Amazing work!)
Anyway, it’s not verified yet, but Memories of Kevin Malone is reporting that Orlando Hudson is not the only Dodger Gold Glove winner – Matt Kemp wins one too, and in fact received the most votes of any outfielder.
Kemp probably doesn’t deserve this any more than Hudson did, as we mentioned yesterday. His UZR/150 of 3.2 was just 11th in the National League, far behind leader Nyjer Morgan’s 35.8 mark. Of course, the Gold Glove voting is a fantastically flawed process, which we should all know by now, and which Joe Posnanski clearly demonstrates in explaining the travesty of Adam Jones winning over Franklin Gutierrez in the AL. The same process is in play in the NL – Shane Victorino got the second-most votes, yet was a negative player based on UZR/150 (-4.2).
Still, whether he deserves this or not is immaterial. How many times have we read over the last few seasons that Kemp was an absolutely horrible outfielder? Hundreds? Thousands? From the Plaschkes and Oberjuerges of the world? Now, he’s a Gold Glove winner, and whether or not he really should be, it’s absolutely correct to have him in the conversation.
We’ve all seen the tremendous strides Kemp has taken from being a raw, yet talented, player who got by more on his own immense talent than his actual baseball skills. Sure, there were plenty of times in his first two seasons that he’d take a lousy route to the ball and either miss a hit that should have been caught, or use his outstanding speed to make a great catch on what should have been a routine play. But we don’t see much of that anymore, do we? There’s been constant improvement, and the stats make it extremely clear (his UZR/150 in his four years in the bigs, across all positions: -27.5, -8.5, -0.9, 3.2), but this is one case where we don’t even need to check the numbers. We’ve all seen it. This, more than anything, seems to be a testament to the hard work he’s put in towards trying to improve his baseball intelligence to complement his baseball skill set.
Congratulations, Matt. The voting is a complete joke, but that shouldn’t take away from the huge improvement he’s made. No longer can anyone question his defense based on lousy plays an inexperienced 21-year-old made in 2006.
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Not only have we seen some of his amazing throws, but for most of the season, he led NL outfielders in assists. That’s testament to his fielding ability. Congratulations to the Bison!
Comment by nsxtasy — November 11, 2009 #
I love ya, MSTI, but:
1) the glove looks more green than gold to me.
2) ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’; “recieve”
And as much as I agree with how ridiculous the Gold Glove voting is, I don’t have that much faith in UZR because I don’t hardly understand how they created it. On a similar but separate note, Deadspin has a great piece on the terrible work the Elias bureau’s did in figuring out Type and Type B free agent compensation. Like, stolen bases and Slg. pct. aren’t counted. WTF?
Comment by Mike Sharperson Lives! — November 11, 2009 #
1) Possibly. I’m on a crap monitor here at work. Still, close enough, right?
2) Dammit! I always do that. Thanks.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness — November 11, 2009 #
Next year — NL MVP (well, runner up to Pujols anyway)
Comment by Mr Falcon — November 11, 2009 #
Yup, it’s green, but it’s a shiny green.
Comment by John Clevenger — November 11, 2009 #
Hey, remember when Juan Pierre was our center fielder? Yeah, me neither.
Comment by Stephen — November 11, 2009 #
No, that glove is green. Frog green, bile green, not quite sure what to call it, but it is definitely something any leprechaun would be proud to flash on the field.
That is one crappy monitor, my friend. It’s time for the boss to pony up for some new equipment!
Comment by mk — November 11, 2009 #
Fine, fine. Check now!
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness — November 11, 2009 #
Hmm, I’d call that Toxic-waste Green now.
Alyssa’s skin is golder than Matt’s glove (and, man, those are some heavy come-hither looks from those ladies).
Comment by mk — November 11, 2009 #
But it’s getting MORE gold. In five or six revisions, we’ll be there. And no one will care.
Comment by Mike Sharperson Lives! — November 11, 2009 #
Up the yellow and orange saturation and luminosity. Bring down the green saturation.
Comment by Franklin Stubbs — November 12, 2009 #
I liked Dewan’s plus minus runs saved better than uzr, and while I definitely think both have their merits, both seem to fall way short on evaluating the closing speed of fielders, especially on fly balls. Fowler of Colorado has a good jump on balls, a good right step, takes solid routes, and flies to the ball and rates worse than Carlos Lee in uzr. That’s a joke. Kemp and Hudson both are underscored by the metrics, and Hudson didn’t deserve a gold glove, but Kemp at the very least should be in the conversation with his amazing closing speed in CF and the defensive butchers to the left and right of him, who he had to cover.
Comment by scott — November 12, 2009 #
Great job with the glove! I am now more satisfied with the photoshopping of the glove than the actual Gold Glove selection process.
Comment by Mike Sharperson Lives! — November 12, 2009 #
Of any NL outfielder in 2009 Matt Kemp deserved a gold glove, it’s not surprising he led all OF’s in GG voting. He sparkled all year in CF, using his amazing speed to get to balls at the fence and amazing arm to gun down any runner who dare run on him. Congrats Kemp!! The first of what will be MANY gold gloves.
Comment by Mike — November 12, 2009 #