Word on the Street: Flaherty Proving his Value at Third Base

I’m sure some of you have seen some of my posts for the new “Hot Take Tuesday” series here at Eutaw Street Report. My mission is to come up with an unpopular opinion and back it up with facts and statistics. I’ve swung and missed a few times, have been called an idiot on several occasions, and have been forced to eat my words when my opinion backfires.

This week, I’m bringing my hot take to Word on the Street, and it’s one that opposes a past article I wrote. Press play or read below for more.

As Eutaw Street Report’s resident “hot take” artist, I like to go against the grain. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Ryan Flaherty has very little value to the Orioles. This was before J.J. Hardy broke his foot and before Manny Machado‘s transition from third base to shortstop.

It was also before Flaherty saw regular playing time at third base and before his batting average finally crossed the Mendoza line. As Flaherty has been in the lineup just about every day, I’ve had a slight change of heart.

I still don’t think Ryan Flaherty is a great utility player for this team. When our infield is healthy, we have no need for a defensive substitute, and his bat is not good enough to warrant playing time over Hardy, Machado, or Jonathan Schoop. However, with Hardy out of the lineup and Flaherty playing on a regular basis, his value increases.

O’s fans seem to be under the impression that Flaherty can play anywhere on the field. While that may be true to an extent, that doesn’t mean he’s good everywhere. Defensive metrics show that he’s a bad outfielder, a pretty poor shortstop, not a great first baseman, and while he may be our emergency catcher, who’s to say he would be any good at that? That leaves second base and third base as the two positions where he plays solid defense. The problem for Flaherty is that those positions are generally occupied by Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado. That is why, when our infield is healthy, Flaherty does not add much value to this team.

However, Flaherty is flourishing in his current role, especially on the defensive side of the ball. According to Fangraphs, Flaherty has accounted for 7 defensive runs saved in his 229 innings at third base this season. That’s fewer than only Adrian Beltre, who has 8 DRS in over 500 innings played. Flaherty’s DRS is two higher than Josh Donaldson, three more than Travis Shaw, five more than Chase Headley, and eight more than Evan Longoria, and Flaherty has played at least 170 fewer innings than all of them.

Anything Flaherty does with the bat is a bonus. His average still sits barely over .200 but he has come up with some big hits, including a mammoth home run onto Eutaw Street and a bases loaded double that broke a scoreless tie with Kansas City.

As long as he continues playing stellar defense in Hardy’s absence, Flaherty does bring a good deal of value to the Orioles. When Hardy returns, Flaherty will likely be pushed back into a utility role, but we don’t know for sure. Maybe a Hardy/Flaherty third base platoon is in order.