Rockies Year in Review: DJ LeMahieu
Today, we feature Colorado Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu.
Here at Rox Pile, we are starting a player review for each and every player that suited up in a Colorado Rockies uniform this season. This series will be going all the way up until Dec. 16 with player profiles posted every day.
LeMahieu has been a valuable player since coming over in the trade that sent Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers over to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for DJ and Tyler Colvin. The 6-foot-4 second baseman captured his first gold glove last season, looking to repeat as he’s been nominated again for the 2015 season.
DJ has some competition for the gold glove at second base, with names such as Brandon Phillips and Dee Gordon. However, DJ led the National League in Range Factor Per Nine with 5.27, double-plays turned as a 2B (120) and assists with 452. As for defensive WAR, the 6-foot-4 second baseman finished seventh in the NL with a 2.2 WAR.
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As for NL second baseman as a whole, DJ finished 6th with a fielding percentage of .988. He recorded nine errors in 761 total chances, recording a DWAR of 0.6 — good for 9th in the NL.
DJ is no stiff with the bat as well, hitting at a clip of .301/.358/.388 with 21 doubles, five triples, six home runs and 61 RBI’s. LeMahieu isn’t your prototypical power-bat in the middle infield, yet he’s a guy who puts the ball in play.
One statistic I always look at when evaluating Rockies’ hitters is the home and away stats — the Coors Effect. DJ showed no signs of that, hitting a respective .281 on the road opposed to .321 at home. Still, it’s a .40 point gap, yet it’s not too overdramatic. Also, the product of LSU hit lefties just as good as righties. LeMahieu hit .316 against left-handed pitchers while hitting .297 against right-handers.
Next: Rockies Year in Review: Chris Rusin
The trade for DJ LeMahieu may have been one of the better ones in the Dan O’Dowd era, besides the acquisition of Carlos Gonzalez of course. DJ has provided Colorado with everything they’ve asked of him; above-average defense, contact bat and he continues to lead by example.
Overall Grade: A