On Gavin Cecchini's Errors (Last updated 7/19)

While Gavin Cecchini has been on fire offensively this year with the Binghamton Mets, his 23 errors may have fans concerned about his defensive abilities at SS. But you can’t assess defense by an error total alone, so his errors are presented here as GIFs.

Gavin Glenn Christopher Joseph Cecchini (his name is my name too…) has been one of the top hitters in the Eastern League over the first half of the season, slashing .305/.368/.440, with 18 doubles, 2 triples, and 7 homeruns, a 10.4 K%: 8.9 BB% through July 19^th. He’s always had solid peripherals in the minors, but his overall line has been brought down by a poor BABIP, which is up to .325 this year. Defensively, he’s always had a solid reputation at SS – he’s not flashy, but he’s got the range and arm to stick at SS. But, after only 13 errors in 85 games across his first two seasons at the rookie ball level, he had 27 errors in 113 games between the SAL and the FSL in 2014, and has 23 in 81 games so far with Binghamton. Without further ado, let’s get to the errors, and check out his page of good plays here.

In April, Cecchini missed 10 days with a tweaked groin, and when he came back he made 4 errors in 3 games against Portland. Per the ESPN Farm Report, Cecchini said of those initial errors,

“Not to make any excuses, but when you’re out for a week, it takes a little time, a few more days, to get back into the speed of the game. So my timing was a little bit off defensively with reading the ball off the bat and footwork and stuff. I made a few errors.”

Cecchini's first throwing error came after the rain had started falling in a game that would be suspended due to rain, but unfortunately the camera looked away from him before he airmailed the throw.

            After the B-Mets completed that game, they played a 7-inning game in the nightcap, and Cecchini made two errors in this game.

            He’d commit one more error in the Portland series finale, when he got one step ahead of himself on this grounder up the middle.

            Clearly, Portland must be doing something to the ball when they play, because his next error came when the Sea Dogs visited Binghamton on May 6^th – Cheech just overran this grounder.

            Cecchini had another streak of 4 errors in 3 games when New Hampshire visited Binghamton in mid-May.

From May 14^th – wonder if the shade/sun situation played a role in this error

From May 15^th – a little bobble with a speedy lefty running down the line was all it took

From May 16^th – two airmailed throws on this day

If you're going to take all of that time releasing the ball, you should make a better throw

His throw reached 1B at least a step ahead of the runner, so he didn't have to rush that much

            He reached the double-digit count on May 21^st in Harrisburg, airmailing another throw.

            His next error would come on May 25^th against Akron, and I think he made the right choice to try and get the runner at home, but his throw ran 3B side.

      Number 12 was another throwing error on June 4^th .

      ^{Cecchini added two more throwing errors to his total on 6/5
He really didn't need to make this first throw}

^{If picked at 1B, they record the out and it's a great play on both ends, but he got nothing on the throw, and might've been better off just pocketing it.}

^{He added another throwing error on 6/14}

^{Back in Portland, Cecchini airmailed another throw on 6/17.}

      His 17th error led to the only run of the game against Akron on 6/29.

      Error #18 led to one of only 2 base runners against Gabriel Ynoa on 7/2

      Another lazy throw led to an error on 7/8.

      A little bobble was all it took for Cecchini to reach the 20-error total in Portland on 7/10.

      His throw looks catchable here, and even the Portland announcers thought the umpires were wrong to award the base runner 2B on 7/11

      He added two more throwing errors to his total on 7/18, but neither were on throws to 1B.

            So that’s 15 throwing errors and 8 fielding errors, with Cecchini on the move for most of the plays, and two stretches of 4 errors in 3 games. Errors happen to everyone, so they don’t automatically suggest a player is overmatched for a position, and I think Cecchini is doing a good job at SS. This past offseason, Fangraphs gave him a 50/55 grade on his fielding, and a 60/60 grade on his throwing, so some scouts think he can be above average defensively, and that seems pretty fair to me. Again, he can’t do the type of things defensively that you’d see from Wilfredo Tovar or Luis Guillorme (for comps within the system), but he’s showing solid range and a strong arm.

Thirty Meter Telescope cd go ahead, but other telescopes on Mauna Kea must be dismantled http://t.co/i4nwmTLQ3e #TMT pic.twitter.com/f57xNXXxyR

— Nature News&Comment (@NatureNews) June 3, 2015