Comparing the competition for short

From the Seats, January 25, 2005

MINNEAPOLIS - Right now the Twins have a possibility of three different players starting at shortstop this year. Juan Castro, Nick Punto, and Augie Ojeda will battle it out for a roster spot in spring training. Going by the numbers who would be the best?

 

Lets figure it out.

 

Nick Punto — Drafted by the Phillies in 1998 he made his major league debut in 2001 as a September call up. Since than, including last year with the Twins he has 115 games under his belt. That could be doubled and than some this next season if he were to win the job.

 

In a 162 game average, from what he has done over the past 4 years he would bat .237 with 4 HR, 23 RBI. Defensively he has put in 152 innings at short with a fielding percentage of .987 and has only made 1 error at short.

 

Juan Castro — Drafted by the Dodgers in 1991 and making his debut in the September of 1995 he has 10 years under his belt. At 32 he has the experience, he has been there done that, at least more so than Punto has. A .253 batting average in 2003 was a career high, a full season average gives him a .226 average with 6 home runs and 31 RBI.

 

Castro has more experience at short, with 287 career games there, 1,111 innings. He has made 21 errors for a fielding percentage of .975

 

Aguie Ojeda — Drafted by the Orioles in 1996 he made his debut with the Cubs in June of 2000. In 5 season he has played in 178 games. Last year for the Twins in 30 games he batted a career high for a season of .339. His 162 game average brings him down to .219 though, he also has an average of 5 HR, and 28 RBI.

 

On the field half of his time has been at short where he has a fielding percentage of .982, making 5 errors in 581 innings.

 

In comparison Christian Guzman — In 6 seasons Guzmans full season average batting average is .266 with 8 HR, 56 RBI and 29 stolen bases.

 

In 833 games at short, 6,121 innings he had a fielding percentage of .972, 102 errors in that time.

 

To do the best at closing the gap of losing Guzman it appears that Nick Punto might be the best on paper to start at short stop this next season. A .237 batting average would be a 30 point drop, but Punto can bunt, something Guzman couldn't do to save his life. Guzman’s School of Bunting was into teaching the very difficult infield fly on a bunt attempt. Since Punto can bunt that gives more options of what you can do with him at the plate. And a full season at the plate should increase his average.

 

Punto would also be a defensive improvement over Guzman or the other competitors. Of course this is all by the numbers. Although things can look good on paper they mean nothing on the field come this spring.

 

My projections for shortstop starting day is: Nick Punto