Matt Duffy is the best third baseman you barely know - Beyond the Box Score

So I ask you, why wouldn't you expect a story with the headline "the best third baseman you barely know" to appear on a blog whose secondary tag line/description is " the best baseball blog that you have never heard of"?

And he's also a Giant, so there is that as well. Comps to Matt Carpenter and Nolan Arenado? Be still my heart. Next you'll have me posting stories with comps linking Andrew Susac to Buster Posey.

Wait......What???
from mercurynews.com
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/2015/06/24/extra-baggs-buster-posey-praises-andrew-susac-duffys-improvement-at-3b-etc/


from Beyond the Box Score:
Matt Duffy is the best third baseman you barely know - Beyond the Box Score:

His ascension to becoming a legitimate everyday third baseman mirrors that of another player, one with whom he shares a first name: Matt Carpenter. Both were drafted long after the pomp and circumstance of the first couple of rounds, and when they were called up, neither elicited much fanfare. Their minor league numbers were good but not gaudy. In their first seasons at the major league level, they became mainstays in their teams' respective lineups. While Duffy's statistics were shown already, his line is listed below along with Carpenter's 2012 season for the sake of ease.

	PA	HR	BB%	K%	ISO	BABIP	wOBA	wRC+	fWAR
Matt Duffy, 2015	233	7	5.2%	18.5%	.164	.339	.349	128	2.2
Matt Carpenter, 2012	340	6	10.0%	18.5%	.169	.346	.355	124	1.5

Barring an injury, Duffy will eclipse Carpenter's playing time from 2012, but if we ignore plate appearances for the moment and focus on the rate statistics, the similarities are clear. Their ISO values are separated by just .005 points; their wOBA by .007; and their wRC+ by just 4, however this time in favor of Duffy. It would seem that Carpenter had the better rookie season, if only slightly so, but according to fWAR, that's not the case. The difference in overall value stems from Duffy's superior defense, which ranks among the game's elite third baseman in 2015.

	Innings	DRS	RZR	OOZ	RngR	ErrR	UZR	UZR/150	Def
Nolan Arenado	622.0	15	.806	38	8.9	0.6	9.1	19.8	10.1
Josh Donaldson	617.0	6	.788	32	7.2	-0.4	6.1	12.8	7.2
Adrian Beltre	475.2	6	.733	21	4.8	0.5	5.7	17.6	6.5
Manny Machado	637.0	7	.816	36	5.5	-0.2	5.3	11.8	6.4
Evan Longoria	597.2	2	.737	31	2.3	1.6	4.4	15.9	5.4
Justin Turner	303.1	8	.769	17	3.6	1.2	4.8	22.1	5.4
Matt Duffy	393.2	5	.770	23	3.8	0.7	4.7	15.4	5.3
Todd Frazier	639.0	2	.743	19	4.6	-0.8	4.1	8.9	5.2
Aramis Ramirez	455.0	-3	.750	15	3.7	1.0	4.4	14.1	5.1
Mike Moustakas	580.0	7	.726	30	2.3	1.3	4.0	9.9	4.9

Duffy has logged just 393.2 innings at third base (the second lowest on this list) but ranks among the top ten in almost every defensive metric. He's made 23 plays that qualify as out of the zone (OOZ), which is good for the second highest total in the National League, behind the reigning Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado. His DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) of five may not seem that high, but it places him eighth in major league baseball for those with 200 innings or more at the position.

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