Denard Span has quickly emerged as one of the best Minnesota Twins. With his first appearance in the majors occurring last season (he filled in for Michael Cuddyer after he hit the disabled list), Span became the team’s regular right fielder. Having played 104 games last year, he played over 80% of them in right field.
During 2009, however, Span has been all over the place. Due to lineup changes and a logjam at the outfield positions, Span has been swapped around through the course of the season.
Thus far, Span has played 40% of his games in left field, 40% of them in center field, and 20% of them in right field. Far less games in right field in 2009 than in 2008. Like any baseball player, he’d be best suited at one outfield position, which would give him the best chance to get acclimated there.
What position Span will field is still in question, but there is one of the three that Span fields best, and it just might work perfectly. According to the numbers, Span’s best defensive position is left field; with 23-year old Carlos Gomez the hopeful future in center field and Michael Cuddyer currently a mainstay in right, the question may answer itself.
The UZR measures a player’s range at each position. The UZR is measured in runs and shows how many runs a player has saved or cost his team.
This season Span has a UZR of 7.0 in left field, -3.5 in center field, and -1.2 in right field. With only 12 starts in right this season, his right field statistic may not beaccurate(he had a rating of 7.1 in right field last season), but his numbers in center and left have a much largersampling.
The UZR 150 measures the same exact stat, but over the course of 150 games. Here, Span’s UZR is 17.6 in left field, 7th best among all baseball players at the position. This is a very telling stat.
Span is a talented young force in the majors, and an exciting player to watch. The Twins clearly realize that he must be a starter, and it’d benefit him to find a home at one position. We’re hoping it’s left.
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