“He got a good jump on it.”
We hear those words after almost every time after an outfielder makes a running or diving catch. While the catch is the part everyone remembers, it would not be possible without that first step. Now, we have a way to measure who is best at taking those first couple steps.
When Statcast and Baseball Savant came on the scene in 2015, almost all of the new data dealt with hitters and pitchers. Since then, they have made great progress in measuring fielders in ways besides just errors and assists. While “Outs About Average” and “Poptime” haven’t entered the baseball world’s vernacular in the same way “spin rate” and “exit velocity” have, they have given us better insight for fielding prowess.