Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Aren't Concerned About Isiah Kiner-Falefa's Defense

Kiner-Falefa made a tremendous play at shortstop on Friday night, but his numbers on the season aren't exactly appealing.

Max Goodman

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NEW YORK — As soon as Jordan Montgomery made contact with his glove, tipping a sharp ground ball back to the left side of the infield, it looked like Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez had himself an infield single. 

That's when Isiah Kiner-Falefa changed direction, snagging the deflection with his barehand before firing an off-balance strike to first base in one fluid motion, a pretty play with an assist from a stretching Anthony Rizzo.

That play in the top of the sixth on Friday night was a sparkler from Kiner-Falefa. In fact, there have been a few stellar plays from the first-year Yankee this season. A few days ago in Boston, the shortstop slid deep into the hole to rob a base hit from Xander Bogaerts.

When you dive into Kiner-Falefa's metrics on defense, however, those flashes fade away and ugly numbers come into focus.

Kiner-Falefa has made 11 errors this season at shortstop, tied for the second-most errors by any position player in Major League Baseball this year. FanGraphs gives Kiner-Falefa plus-three defensive runs saved at short this year, but Statcast's Outs Above Average statistic isn't as kind—the shortstop is in the league's 9th percentile with minus-four OAA (tied for 26th out of 36 qualifying shortstops around the league).

Whether you swear by advanced metrics or rely on the eye test when evaluating a defender, everyone can admit Kiner-Falefa has gone through some rough patches at shortstop this season. In fact, there have been a slew of plays that should've been ruled as errors that have gone down as base hits.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone views Kiner-Falefa's defense in a different light, though.

"I think with everything we look at, he's been a really good defender," Boone said. "I would say he's had probably four or five errors this year that were kind of like bad errors. But looking at the body of work of what he's been defensively, he's been one of the game's best defenders at shortstop."

Kiner-Falefa's season overall has been fascinating. He was acquired this spring from the Twins in the Gary Sánchez trade, filling in at shortstop after New York elected not to sign any of the top-tier players at the position in free agency. Despite a plan to incorporate more power in his offensive production, the 27-year-old doesn't have a single home run in 296 plate appearances. He has only two barrels all season.

And yet, he's continued to be one of the best contact hitters in the game. Kiner-Falefa is fourth on the team with 74 hits, leads the club with 13 stolen bases, he rarely ever strikes out (only 13.7 percent of the time) and almost never swings and misses (he whiffs just 12 percent of the time).

Overall, what's stood out to Boone is how Kiner-Falefa has responded to those poor performances, owning up to his mistakes and flushing them, always focusing on his next opportunity.

"He bounces back really well," Boone explained. "That's what I've seen. We've even talked about that, he is tough on himself. He expects a lot of himself. He demands a lot of himself and he gets upset when he doesn't make a play that he knows he can make. But every time he's done that, he's bounced back. It doesn't carry over and that's been really good to see, especially coming here to this environment. And I think that's part of his toughness."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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