Minor League Defensive Stats

First off, I am going to highly recommend that you visit www.minorleaguesplits.com any and every time you want to see more than just traditional stats for any minor leaguers. The site now has up defensive stats for players. It is broken down by innings, plays made (pl), plays made above average (+/-) and plays made above average per 150 games (/150). Below I posted defensive stats for some Reds prospects.

Jay Bruce

Pos	Team	Lg	IP	Pl	+/-	/150
CF	Dayton	MDW	362.0	98	11	42
RF	Dayton	MDW	452.7	90	1	2

With the speed that Jay has, I doubt he has played much, if any right field in a long time. He probably was not used to reading the ball off the bat at a completely different angle from right field. In centerfield, he was well above average. Comparably, BJ Szymanski who shared centerfield with Jay, was 2 plays above average in center, while Jay was 42.

Drew Stubbs

Pos	Team	Lg	IP	Pl	+/-	/150
CF	Billings	PIO	455.7	121	14	41

Drew Stubbs has been said to have Major League Gold Glove caliber defense right now. Well, like Jay Bruce, he was well above average, and was roughly 41 plays above average while in the Pioneer League. No one ever questioned his defense though.

Chris Valaika

Pos	Team	Lg	IP	Pl	+/-	/150
SS	Billings	PIO	572.7	171	9	21

Chris Valaika was the Pioneer League MVP thank in part to a league record hitting streak, but he played solid defense and was 21 plays above average.

Javon Moran

CF	Chattanooga	SL	109.7	21	-6	-82
RF	Chattanooga	SL	303.3	84	22	97

Javon Moran played right field quite a bit more than centerfield, and by the looks of the numbers, its a good thing. He was very below average in center, but well above average in right field.

Paul Janish

Pos	Team	Lg	IP	Pl	+/-	/150
SS	Chattanooga	SL	34.0	13	3	120
SS	Dayton	MDW	206.3	70	11	70
SS	Sarasota	FSL	725.3	219	2	3
SS	Total	FSL	965.7	302	16	22

Paul has always been said to be a very good, top flight defender. It is interesting that he was well above average in Dayton, but just slightly above average in Sarasota. One thing that jumped to mind was that Dayton has one of the best playing surfaces in baseball, and I am not so sure that Sarasota does. Overall at all three of his stops, Paul was well above average at SS.

Chris Dickerson

Pos	Team	Lg	IP	Pl	+/-	/150
CF	Chattanooga	SL	949.0	250	11	15

Chris Dickerson may be the best athlete in the entire system. He played centerfield for the Lookouts last season and played it pretty well. He was above average at one of the most important positions on the field. Chris made 15 plays above average.