Most Hilariously Bad Defensive Players in Baseball Today

There are some Major League Baseball players that make a mockery of playing defense.

Whether it is constantly booting balls hit to them, dropping high pops or throwing the ball nowhere close to where it was intended to go, some players just don’t have what it takes to play a position on a regular basis.

Players that know they can’t play defense—usually due to athleticism reasons—tend to take on designated hitter roles, such as Billy Butler and David Ortiz. While they could play first base in a dire situation, it’s better off if they stay in the dugout while their teammates are on the field.

Many players don’t have the opportunity to DH and take the field on a regular basis, even if it’s well known that something is bound to go wrong. At the absolute worst, teams lose games because of poor defensive plays—which happens more often than you might think.

Here are five players that when they make an error, all you can do is laugh.

*All statistics in this article were obtained via FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs

Defensive Breakdown

Starlin Castro is about as bad as it gets it terms of trying to field a ground ball properly and then making a clean throw to first base. For whatever reason, he is constantly failing to do so.

Coming into 2013, Castro committed at least 27 errors in each of his previous three seasons in the big leagues. He led the league in errors the last two years with 29 and 27, respectively. Sixty percent of his errors over the course of his career have been fielding miscues while the remaining 40 percent are from errant throws.

“There’s still the lapse,” Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum told Sahadev Sharma of ESPN Chicago. “I’d say mentally he’s gotten a lot better, but physically and things like that I think we’re seeing a lot of the same stuff that we need to get better at.”

Can’t-Miss Video

In the fifth inning of an April matchup between Chicago and Milwaukee, Edwin Jackson induced a ground ball to Castro with two outs and a man on third. The ball wasn’t hit hard and is considered routine. Castro fumbled it at least once, the batter reached and the runner scored. Fail.

Pedro Alvarez, Pittsburgh Pirates

Defensive Breakdown

Pedro Alvarez continues to have all sorts of problems at third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates. While his offensive game has been so-so throughout the early parts of his career, his defensive game has been consistently ugly.

In 94 games during his rookie season, Alvarez committed 17 errors. In 66 games in 2011, he committed 14. Then last season, he committed 27, which was tied for the most in the major leagues. He’s in second place through the first third of this season with eight. Through 350 career games, his UZR is already at -13.0, according to FanGraphs.

Alvarez seriously needs to get his act together at the hot corner if he wants to have a job past this season. He’s relatively split in terms of fielding and throwing errors, meaning his entire approach needs to change. A move to first base could very well be in the works going forward if he doesn’t improve.

Can’t-Miss Video

In a June matchup a year ago between the Pirates and Phillies, Alvarez was stationed at third base in the first inning. Hunter Pence was on first and Carlos Ruiz lined a single to right field. Pence made it to third easily, but Alvarez fired the ball to second base to try to get Ruiz trying to grab an extra base. The ball didn’t go to second base.

Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers

Defensive Breakdown

I’ve never been able to figure out how some second basemen as such horrible fielders. It’s one thing if they can’t catch the ball, but they do have the easiest throw to first base. Regardless, Rickie Weeks is one second basemen who needs help.

Since coming into the league in 2003, Weeks has committed 129 errors, all at second base. He’s committed as many as 22 in one season, but he usually sits in the 15-16 range each year, with most of the errors caused by his glove rather than with his right arm. But it’s a couple of sabermetrics that really put the pieces together.

In just over 930 career games for Weeks, his UZR sits at -44.1. He has a career DRS of -90. That means that while he's supposed to be saving runs in the field, he’s actually allowed 90 runs to score. That’s a lot of runs. For comparison’s sake, Weeks has only scored 90 runs in a season once in his career.

Can’t-Miss Video

In the fifth inning of a June game between the Brewers and Padres this season, Weeks made a poor play. Shocker. The Padres bunted the runner at first base to second, but the third baseman came in to field the ball and the shortstop went to second—so no one was at third. The runner attempted to make it to third, so Weeks tried to catch him. He kind of nonchalantly threw the ball behind the runner and into the outfield.

Alcides Escobar, Kansas City Royals

Defensive Breakdown

Alcides Escobar may make a nice play here or there at shortstop for the Royals, but in general, he’s a poor defensive fielder. He’s committed at least 15 errors in each of the last three seasons and is well on his way to hitting that mark again this year with seven already.

What I don’t understand is how some people believe that Escobar is a good fielder. Mike Bauman of MLB.com just wrote about how Escobar’s “brilliant defensive gives Royals high hopes” and how he deserves to win a Gold Glove this season. Um, what?!

I’m not a Royals beat writer nor do I watch them on a nightly basis, but the statistics are highly against Escobar’s favor. His seven errors this year are tied for the third most in baseball. He’s booted three balls and made four poor throws. A Gold Glove-worthy shortstop should have a UZR higher than 3.2 at this point in the year.

Can’t-Miss Video

Brian Dozier took Escobar to school in early April of this season. In the fourth inning between the Royals and the Twins, Dozier tried to steal second. The Royals pitched out and Escobar received a perfect strike from his catcher. But Dozier avoided the tag, Escobar had no idea what to do and he dropped the ball too.

Trevor Plouffe, Minnesota Twins

Defensive Breakdown

Trevor Plouffe is not your everyday third baseman. He’s played every position except for pitcher, catcher and center field in less than 260 career games. Sometimes, moving around so frequently can mess with your head and cause you to make mistakes.

Plouffe has made his fair share of mistakes, too. He has 38 errors throughout his career, but 22 of them have come at the hot corner. He committed 17 a year ago and has five through 37 games this season. He struggles equally with his glove and with his right arm. His issues, in general, are bugging the Twins, according to Phil Mackey of ESPN 1500.

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“That’s a play that a major league third baseman, not just Trevor Plouffe, but a…” Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan told Mackey after Plouffe misplayed a routine ball hit at him in April. “Actually a professional player should make that play. You might give it to a high school kid or a college kid, but a professional baseball player should make that play.”

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Can’t-Miss Video

Just over a week ago, the Twins took on the Red Sox and Minnesota was trying to avoid allowing Boston’s second run of the afternoon to score. Boston had men on first and third when Dustin Pedroia hit a tailor-made double play ball to Plouffe at third. He went to second with it, but the ball was far out of reach and wound up in right field. That’s not what’s supposed to happen.