When Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon committed his seventh error on the very first play of the bottom of the first inning Saturday, Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro knew he’d have to step up his game. Sure enough, he committed his major league-high eighth in the fifth inning.
Here’s the up-to-the-minute leaderboard for errors:
Starlin Castro (SS ChC) - 8
Dee Gordon (SS LAD) - 7
Clint Barmes (SS Pit) - 6
Brandon Crawford (SS SFG) - 6
Evan Longoria (3B TB) - 6
Troy Tulowitzki (SS Col) - 6
NL shortstops have generally been far better than their AL counterparts on defense the last several years, but they’ve been a shaky bunch on the whole this season. The Padres’ Jason Bartlett and Marlins’ Jose Reyes are right behind the leaders with five errors already. The Angels’ Erick Aybar is the only AL shortstop with five errors.
Obviously, things are going to turn around here. Castro and Gordon will likely finish among the league leaders in errors, but Tulo and Barmes certainly shouldn’t. Tulowitzki, incredibly, has already matched his 2011 error total in 116 fewer games. He’s never committed more than 11 errors in a season. Barmes committed 12 errors in 122 games for Houston last year.
