On the Defensive: McMahon Ranks No. 1 Among NL Players in Defensive WAR

During a summer visit to Coors Field as a member of a visiting broadcast team, there was a former big-league general manager who declared Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon to be “a well below average defensive player.”

Wonder what he thinks now.

McMahon ranked No. 1 among National League Players in Defensive War for the 2021 season, one of three Rockies to earn slots among the top 10.

Catcher Elias Diaz ranked seventh, and shortstop Trevor Story was eighth.

The growing focus on pulling pitches, lifting balls and trying to hit home runs is apparent in the batting averages of players in 2021. Only eight National League players, who qualified for the batting title, hit .300 or better.

A Memory

Former big league pitcher Stan Williams, who died on Feb. 21 this year, went to Denver East High School, and will always be known in the world of trivia for the fact he seemed to have something for towns named Lakewood. He grew up in Lakewood, Co. When he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers he lived in Lakewood, Ca. And when he was with the Cleveland Indians he lived in (you guessed it), Lakewood, Ohio.

Did You Know. . .

Current Rockies manager Bud Black not only has the best winning percentage (.493) in franchise history, but is the only manager to take the Rockies to the post-season twice.

Clint Hurdle, however, took the Rockies farther in the post-season than any of the six managers in Rockies history. In 2002, the Rockies swept Arizona in the NLDS and Philadelphia in the NLCS, but were swept by the Red Sox in the World Series.

Two of the six managers in franchise history did not advance to the post-season — Jim Leyland and Walt Weiss.