Explaining Jeter's defense

This year, believe it or not, Derek Jeter’s defense has been great. His UZR of 4.4 is the fifth best in baseball, while his UZR/150 of 8.7 is the fourth best. His range has improved considerably after bottoming out in 2007 (the tremendous strides taken this year began in 2008). Jeter’s defensive game is something I’ve documented repeatedly (here and here) throughout the 2009 season. In fact, Bryan Hoch (MLB) also took note of Jeter’s improved defense and, in an article on the Yankees’ website, shed light on what has been a welcome situation.

According to Hoch, the Yankees actually discussed Jeter’s defensive decline with him following the ‘07 season. “Whatever weaknesses we may see develop in our players, we talk to our players about it,” noted GM Brian Cashman in reference to the discussion. “We look for ways to attack it. He changed his workout routine to improve his lateral defense, and that took place before last year. He’s been better the last two years.” Cashman is definitely right as Jeter’s defensive rebirth began in ‘08 when he posted a -0.5 UZR (average, essentially). The improvements, as Cashman noted, can be attributed to a revamped workout regimen with strength and conditioning coach, Dana Cavalea (A-Rod alluded to this nearly two years ago). Hoch also says that Mick Kelleher has really helped Jeter through “aggressive defensive positioning” (repositioned so that he’s playing deeper). In addition, Jeter is healthy this year—which obviously helps him range from left to right.

So, we finally have an explanation for the massive uptick in Jeter’s range rating. The workout regimen isn’t really new a piece of information and being healthy is self-explanatory in terms of its effect on defense. However, the stuff on Mick Kelleher is definitely a new development (Kelleher has brought a lot to this team). Assuming they hold up, it’ll be interesting to see how people react to Jeter’s defensive numbers in the off-season.

(props to RAB)