Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Tuesday Morning Food For Thought: Kelly Johnson, Third Baseman

16 games, 118.0 innings.

That's all the experience Kelly Johnson has at third base.  And all of it came last year with the Rays.  Maybe I'm just dumb, but I didn't realize that was all he had at third.  I assumed he had spent a little more time there throughout his career.  Turns out he hasn't, and now that it sounds like he's going to be the mostly everyday starter there in place of A-Rod, the Yankees want him to spend more time this spring getting used to the position.

For what it's worth, Johnson registered 1 defensive run saved and a 24.4 UZR/150 in his 118 innings at the hot corner last year.  Based on that small sample size, he seems capable of handling the job.  As is the case with other players and other roles this season, we won't truly know if he is until we see him do it every day.

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