Defensive Miscues A Common Theme Throughout the NL East

The National League East was expected to be the most competitive division in all of baseball, up and down, heading into this season. To this point, that hasn't necessarily been the case as the New York Mets have experienced plenty of drama inside the clubhouse and in terms of overall politics, while the Washington Nationals have underachieved severely and not played to their full potential. On the other side of the coin, there's the Miami Marlins who continue their own rebuild, in hopes of being competitive in the next four or five seasons.

Although each team has sort of showed their own strength in a certain regard, there have definitely been weaknesses for all five clubs. Among those weaknesses outside of relief pitching and some underachievement from key players, one of the biggest has been defense. With the exception of the Atlanta Braves (they're not excluded entirely from the picture because they have had plenty of defensive miscues as well!), the defense has been flat out pretty lackluster for the other four clubs and likely a big reason why no team has run away with the division quite yet.

For more, let's take a look at some fielding statistics for each team and highlight certain weaknesses on each team among each position player group.

* Rankings from highest to lowest in each category. *

Philadelphia Phillies: 

Defensive Rating: 10.0 (3rd)
Defensive Runs Saved: -22 (T-23rd with the Rangers)
Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR): 1.0 (17th)
Errors: 32 Over 3,849.0 Innings (7th)
Revised Zone Rating: .790 (20th)
Defensive Efficiency Ratio: .686 (19th)

Defensive miscues are something that seemingly plagued the entire Phillies squad last season. Heading into this past offseason, it was something the front office vouched it would fix and while many of the metrics are a bit better in most regards, the defense still isn't necessarily the best in many of the categories that teams measure. One big area of concern around the diamond for the Phillies has been at first base with Rhys Hoskins. The entire goal of trading away former first baseman, Carlos Santana, this past winter was to open up first for Hoskins and give him an opportunity to shine at the position that he plays. However, he has committed the most errors (5) of any first baseman to date and has the second lowest fielding percentage (.987). You have to wonder, if the Phillies had a higher amount of Defensive Runs Saved, if their pitching staff would be performing at a more elite level and potentially be a Top 5 pitching staff. Definitely a legit question and one that the Phillies front office might be asking themselves.

Atlanta Braves: 

Defensive Rating: 2.7 (18th)
Defensive Runs Saved: +19 (9th)
Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR): -2.8 (21st)
Errors: 24 (T-13th with the Cardinals)
Revised Zone Rating: .823 (T-7th with the Orioles and Cubs)
Defensive Efficiency Ratio: .706 (8th)

Of the teams in the National League East, the Atlanta Braves probably have the best defense overall so far to this point. That's a big credit to their position player group and the athleticism that it possesses with the likes of Ozzie Albies at second base, Dansby Swanson at shortstop, Josh Donaldson at third, and the outfield trio of Ronald Acuna Jr., Ender Inciarte, and Nick Markakis. Out of that group, both Albies and Acuna Jr. are elite defenders and guys that any team would want to have on their 25-man roster. While the defense has been good (not necessarily great) overall, that doesn't mean that there hasn't been a weak point. Ironically enough, the player with the lowest fielding percentage (.950) is the aforementioned, Josh Donaldson, which puts him in the bottom half of third baseman around the league. However, Donaldson also has the eleventh highest Range Factor at (2.50), which is a credit to the athleticism and arm strength that he shows over at the hot corner.

New York Mets: 

Defensive Rating: -15.3 (26th)
Defensive Runs Saved: -35 (29th)
Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR): -4.7 (24th)
Errors: 35 (T-5th with the Blue Jays)
Revised Zone Rating: .794 (18th)
Defensive Efficiency Ratio: .680 (22nd)

When looking at the National League East as a whole, the New York Mets lead the charge when it comes to bad defense. If the Mets were going to contend this season, the defense is probably the thing that would ultimately end up knocking them out of the postseason and finding the exit door at an early point. At this point, it doesn't look like the Mets are anywhere close to contending, given the politics and drama that continues inside the clubhouse and surrounding skipper, Mickey Callaway, which is a disappointment considering how many viewed the squad heading into this year. While the defense has been sour in several different spots for the Mets, the biggest weakness has been at shortstop with Amed Rosario. Rosario was expected to potentially be the next best defensive shortstop in the game, but has fallen very short of that. Thus far, Amed Rosario has a cumulative fielding percentage of (.933), putting him just ahead of Seattle Mariners shortstop, Tim Beckham, who has the worst fielding percentage and Rosario has already committed the second most errors (22) at that position.

Washington Nationals: 

Defensive Rating: -11.0 (24th)
Defensive Runs Saved: -27 (25th)
Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR): -10.0 (27th)
Errors: 32 (6th)
Revised Zone Rating: .804 (T-14th with the Indians)
Defensive Efficiency Ratio: .668 (Last)

While the New York Mets take home the honor of having the worst defensive team in the division, the Washington Nationals are nipping at their heels and haven't been much better to this point either. For a team that many thought would not only win the division but make it to the World Series (we did on here), the defense is something that is less than appetizing and a reason why the Nationals currently sit in fourth place. For the Nationals, it isn't necessarily one individual that has been poor, but rather some of the anxiousness that comes with the young outfield duo of Victor Robles and Juan Soto. Both outfielders have shown moments where they haven't been among the elite defenders in the game, but that's to be expected given their ripe young age. With that being said, one weakness was when Trea Turner was on the Injured List and the team had shortstop, Carter Kieboom, slotted in at shortstop. During the 10 games that he started at shortstop, Kieboom committed (4) errors and had a Fielding Percentage of (.900).

Miami Marlins 

Defensive Rating: -4.7 (T-21st with the Yankees)
Defensive Runs Saved: -10 (20th)
Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR): -5.2 (25th)
Errors: 25 (T-12th with the Angels and Brewers)
Revised Zone Rating: .798 (17th)
Defensive Efficiency Ratio: .705 (T-9th with the Blue Jays)

For the rebuilding Miami Marlins, the defense hasn't been all that great despite the team having one of the better Defensive Efficiency Ratios in the game right now. As a fan of the Marlins, you would likely want the team to be playing better defense, as some of those young players start to groom themselves at the big league level, and start to develop those defensive instincts that all of the great players in the game have. However, that hasn't been the case and is a reason why the Marlins have the record that they do, along with the fact that they just can't flat out hit. It's hard to pinpoint one area of weakness for a rebuilding team, but according to the metrics, the defense has been awful up the middle at second base and shortstop. At second base, Starlin Casto has an overall Fielding Percentage of (.979) and has committed (4) errors, while Miguel Rojas hasn't been much better at shortstop posting a (.972) cumulative Fielding Percentage along with (4) errors thus far.