Didi the Diamondbacks make a Gregorius mistake?

Phil Gurnee ♦ September 12, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

Much has been made this summer and last winter about the Arizona Diamondback deal that sent SS Dansby Swanson and others to the Braves for Shelby Miller.  While Miller has been the worst pitcher in baseball, it is too soon to tell if Swanson can turn into that beautiful Swan or not.

Meanwhile a few years ago the Diamondbacks traded a different shortstop to the NY Yankees in a three-team deal. The Diamondbacks at least got back Robbie Ray in that deal, and Ray has become a solid part of the Diamondback rotation. Just the other day he put the Dodgers on their ear with his strikeout performance. 

Didi Gregorius was considered a defensive first shortstop with limited offensive skills. Those limited offensive skills have provided forty-seven extra base hits this year. Only four shortstops in 2016 have had at least 30 doubles and 15 home runs. Cory Seager, Carlos Correa, Jonathan Villar, and Didi Gregorius.

I hope the Diamondbacks are happy they kept Chris Owings, and Nick Ahmed instead.

Per fangraph, Didi’s overall numbers would look better if he wasn’t currently mired in a horrendous slump over the past 30 days:

Name	wRC+	AVG	OBP	SLG
Gary Sanchez	216	0.351	0.439	0.784
Ronald Torreyes	188	0.395	0.439	0.632
Rob Refsnyder	151	0.333	0.455	0.444
Brian McCann	117	0.28	0.353	0.453
Chase Headley	112	0.265	0.338	0.471
Starlin Castro	109	0.284	0.296	0.514
Jacoby Ellsbury	106	0.266	0.327	0.457
Aaron Hicks	102	0.286	0.34	0.408
Brett Gardner	81	0.276	0.352	0.303
Tyler Austin	81	0.224	0.274	0.414
Mark Teixeira	72	0.196	0.274	0.375
Didi Gregorius	59	0.222	0.246	0.389
Aaron Judge	53	0.177	0.258	0.316

Name	PA	HR	R	RBI	BB%	K%
Gary Sanchez	114	12	17	20	13.20%	21.90%
Ronald Torreyes	42	1	6	4	4.80%	4.80%
Rob Refsnyder	11	0	3	1	18.20%	9.10%
Brian McCann	85	4	11	10	9.40%	12.90%
Chase Headley	77	4	10	10	10.40%	22.10%
Starlin Castro	115	7	15	14	2.60%	20.00%
Jacoby Ellsbury	105	4	16	13	8.60%	12.40%
Aaron Hicks	53	2	7	6	7.50%	20.80%
Brett Gardner	88	0	9	7	11.40%	11.40%
Tyler Austin	62	3	5	7	6.50%	35.50%
Mark Teixeira	62	2	5	9	9.70%	19.40%
Didi Gregorius	115	3	13	14	1.70%	19.10%
Aaron Judge	89	3	9	9	9.00%	43.80%

Hey, remember Ronny Torreyes? He’s the guy we traded last winter for Rob Segedin. Ronny got a brief run as the Yankee 3rd baseman in August and did quite well.  He’s been an excellent utility player for the Yankee’s so it looks like a nice win win for both teams.