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Steven Duggar Finally Solidifying the Defense in Center Field

By Sean Bialaszek

PHOENIX, AZ - AUGUST 02: Steven Duggar #6 of the San Francisco Giants catches the fly ball in the sixth inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 2, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - AUGUST 02: Steven Duggar #6 of the San Francisco Giants catches the fly ball in the sixth inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 2, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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It’s been a while since the Giants have had good defense in center field, but Steven Duggar is finally solidifying the position.

Center field defense has been lacking for the San Francisco Giants for a long time, but since Steven Duggar’s debut on July 8th, Giant fans have been able to experience a good defender in the middle of the outfield.

In 27 games (25 starts) and 239.1 innings in center field in his young career (small sample size alert), Duggar has been worth four defensive runs saved (DRS) and a 2.8 UZR/150. Compared to other major league center fielders, those numbers aren’t excellent. They’re solid, but not quite excellent. Among the 52 players with at least 200 innings in center field this season, Duggar is 14th in DRS and 23rd in UZR/150.

However, when compared to a lot of the guys that San Francisco has put in center field in recent years, those numbers start to look elite. This season, Duggar leads in both categories by fairly wide margins. Gorkys Hernandez is second in both metrics, with -1 DRS and -7.1 UZR/150. 

Over the past 10 years, only two Giants’ center fielders have matched Duggar’s metrics, both doing so in 2013. In 550 innings, Gregor Blanco was worth seven DRS and 11.1 UZR/150. In only 142 innings, Juan Perez put together a 6 DRS and 66.8 UZR/150 season.

(Sidenote: Perez was really, really good in limited time that season. 86 players accumulated at least 100 innings in center field in 2013, and Perez led them all in UZR/150. The Cardinals’ Shane Robinson was second, nearly 30 points behind at 38.6.)

So many of the guys who have played the position, especially in the last couple years, have been terrible. In 2015, Angel Pagan finished dead last among qualified center fields in DRS (-20) and UZR/150 (-11.1). His performance was so poor that he was moved to left field, and Denard Span was signed to play center field. That didn’t work out either.

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In 2016, his first year with the Giants, Span was one of the worst defensive center fielders in baseball. Only three players put together worse years by DRS than Span’s -7, and only one was worse than Span’s -10.0 UZR/150. Things only got worse in 2017, when Span finished dead last in DRS (-27), while his -8.7 UZR/150 was third-worst.

Again, the Giants moved their incumbent center fielder, this time trading him to the Tampa Bay Rays, and signed Austin Jackson to play the spot, at least on a temporary basis. Surprise, surprise, that didn’t go well either. For a long time, Jackson was last in DRS (-10), but he hasn’t played center field much lately and has since been passed by Charlie Blackmon and Adam Jones. His UZR/150 is still the worst, so there’s that.

Jackson was also traded, allowing the Giants to bring up their center fielder of the future, Duggar.

When Duggar made the final catch in Sunday’s win on a 99-mph line drive off Elias Diaz’s bat, he made it look like an easy play. Giants fans have seen so many times recently, though, that plays like that are anything but easy. Too often, those low line drives hit directly into center field would fall in front of the Giants’ defender, or they would be misplayed and turned into doubles. Seeing Duggar getting a great jump and have the speed to make that catch is a breath of fresh air.

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    • Duggar has been able to make tough catches look easy, and he can make the extremely difficult catches that Giants’ center fielders haven’t been able to make for years. Take the catch he made against the Diamondbacks on August 4th. David Peralta crushed a ball into the right-center field gap, and Duggar, who was shaded toward left-center, ran 112 feet and reached a top sprint speed of 30.3 feet/second to chase it down. In the past, that’s an easy triple against most Giants’ center fielders, but Duggar is not most Giants’ center fielders.

    Duggar’s glove was supposed to be his calling card, and so far, it has lived up to the hype. But the bat hasn’t been half-bad either. So far, he owns a more-than-respectable .273/.324/.384 slash-line, and has put together a lot of good at-bats. His 26.9% strikeout rate is a tad high, but he’s done extremely well in cutting down on strikeouts as he gets more plate appearances. In 10 August games, Duggar has struck out seven times in 38 plate appearances (18.4%).

    Next. Minor League Major Performers: 8-13-18. dark

    Right now though, Duggar doesn’t need to be a great offensive player. He’s already giving the Giants something they haven’t had in a long time by playing above-average defense in center field. He’s earned his time, and is earning the trust of his pitchers in center field. Rightfully so, Duggar really does look like the center fielder of the future.

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