Dig by Dist: Defensive 2016 Postseason Teams

Credit the Phillies for trying. When he picked the worst defense among the teams in early July, the Cubs were next, scoring worse than any team other than the easily non-contending Rockies in the multi-metric methodology I’ve used over the past four seasons. But when the August 3 trade deadline arrived, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski took a step to improve that failing defense, acquiring second baseman Luis Arraez from the Giants and setting up a game of musical chairs that sent incumbent second baseman Bryson Stott to third base, third baseman Alec Bohm to first, and first baseman Bryce Harper to right field. The defense has improved the most in those areas, but last Thursday, with the Phillies in the midst of a 2-6 run that would almost certainly cost them a Wild Card berth, Arraez sprained his left ankle while trying to avoid a tag to first base. On Monday, interim manager Don Mattingly announced that the 29-year-old infielder would be included in the lineup for the team’s Wild Card series against the Braves.

How Mattingly will proceed with the line is uncertain. In the three games Arraez missed — including Sunday’s win over the playoff berth-holding Rays — Edmundo Sosa started twice at third base while Stott returned to second, while in the second game, Bohm and Harper returned to their former positions; they lost one 12-1.

Below, I’ll take a closer look at the Phillies’ underlying defensive metrics, but long story short, they have the worst defense in the game, just like they did last year and in 2013.