How big of a step back are the Reds taking in 2014? - Part 1 Position Players

Over the winter I have read many words on how big a step back the Reds are taking in 2014.  Most of the analysis is based on the loss of Shin-Soo Choo in Center Field.  Let's look beyond Center Field to get a complete picture.  I'll use the Reds 2014 Steamer projections available on Fangraphs  to get a sense of how big of a drop off we should be expecting.    I will look first at the position players then the pitchers in a future post.

1B Joey Votto:  (-.5 to -1 Wins)

Last year Joey played in 162 games and was worth 6.2 WAR.   Steamer has him hitting for a .400 wOBA which is exactly the same as 2013.   Steamer has him at 5 wins only playing 138 games.  Given Votto is not Cal Ripken I assume the Reds will lose .5 to 1 WAR at First due to injury.

2B Brandon Phillips:  (Even)

You would not know it with his 103 RBIs but Brandon has been in a three year decline offensively.   He was worth 2.6 WAR in 2013 making up for below average hitting with above average defense.  Steamer says he’ll bounce back to league average on offense which sounds reasonable but his defense takes a hit to offset the gain and end up with 2.5 WAR.  This sounds reasonable and so I’ll put him as even.

SS Zach Cozart: (Even)

In 2013 Cozart was worth 2.1 wins.  In 2014 Steamer has him at 2.2 WAR.  He is 28 to start the 2014 season so no reason to predict anything but the same production.

3B Todd Frazier (Even)

Todd Frazier was a league average hitter in 2013 putting up a 100 wRC+.  Thanks to good defense this was enough for 3.3 WAR.    Steamer has him at 2.6 wins in 118 games but I see no reason he won’t play 150 games again if he can be worth 3 wins.  I’d call him even in 2013.

C Devin Mesoraco (+1.5 wins)

In 103 games last year Mesoraco was worth .4 wins.  Steamer has him this year 2.2 wins in 118 games.  He should play even more games now that Hanigan is gone.  Hanigan was replacement level and Brayan Pena should be also.  So I’ll put this down as 1.5 win gain.

LF Ryan Ludwick / Chris Heisey (+1.5 wins)

Lf was a disaster in 2013.  Heisey was worth 1.2 wins.  Ludwick worth almost -1 win.  Paul/Robinson both were right about replacement level.   So let’s call the Reds left field in 2013 replacement level.   Steamer has Heisey about the same at 1 win in 60 games.    Steamer has Ludwick at .5 wins in 118 games which seems like a reasonable bounce back for him.  So I’ll call this a 1.5 win gain in Left Field.

CF Billy Hamilton (-3 to -4 wins)

Here is the big drop off.  Choo was worth 5.2 wins in 2013.  Steamer has Hamilton in 135 games playing to 1 win.    It has him at a 77 WRC+ while paying a league average CF and adding 3.1 runs on the basepaths.    I’d give him two wins by upping his contribution on the basepaths and playing more games.  So I’ll put this down as a 3-4 win drop off.   One thing to note on Choo is Steamer has him at 3 wins in 2014 due to regression.  So while this is a big drop off probably 1-2 wins of drop off should have been projected in even if he stayed.

RF Jay Bruce (Even)

Jay Bruce is known for being steady. He played 160 games with a WRC+ of 117 and 4.1 wins in 2013.  Steamer has him at a 122 WRC+ in 2014 worth 3 wins in 133 games.  Given Jay has played over 150 games the last three years I’m going to push his 2014 projection up to 4 wins.  I’d say he lives up to his reputation with another steady season.

Overall Position Players:

We lose three to five wins from center and not counting on Votto to play 162 games.    But the good news is the Reds Catching and Left Field situations were so bad in 2013 that just getting to below average at both positions will give the Reds a significant gain to offset the losses.    Based on this analysis I’d put the Reds as projecting 1-2 games worse on the position player side of the team.    

We’ll look at the Reds pitching in the next post.