By Mark Simon

Are New Year's Resolutions on your mind? They're on ours, though we're not usually successful at keeping them. Since we were thinking about them, we made a few for baseball players and teams, using our stats as the basis. See what you think.

Joey Ortiz: I resolve to stop chasing pitches

Joey Ortiz had a full plate in Milwaukee last year, moving to shortstop to replace fan favorite Willy Adames. Ortiz's offensive numbers cratered as his OPS dropped from .726 in 2024 to .593 in 2025. Though his batting average dropped only 9 points, his on-base percentage dipped 53 and his slugging percentage fell 81.

Ortiz had issues with his swing decisions. His chase rate increased from 27% to 36%. That 9 percentage-point increase (9.5 when not rounded) was the largest for anyone with at least 300 plate appearances in 2024 and 2025.

If we were to give Ortiz a point of focus, that point would be "Everywhere!"
Here are Ortiz's chase rates by our slicing of pitch locations.

 Chase Rate By Location

Tigers outfielder Riley Greene had the second-biggest jump in chase rate. He also had a 4 percentage-point climb in strikeout rate and struck out 201 times in 2025.

Nick Martinez: I resolve to get my chases back

Nick Martinez accepted the $21 million qualifying offer from the Reds after coming off a career-best season in 2024. His ERA jumped from 3.10 to 4.45 in 2025. One potential culprit: His chase rate dropped by 7.5 percentage points, the biggest dip for any pitcher that threw at least 80 innings in both 2024 and 2025.

Martinez wasn't missing bats much to begin with. With fewer chases also came more walks, fewer strikeouts, and more home runs allowed. His chase rate dropped by 7 percentage points on his four-seam fastball (which got clobbered in 2025) and 14 percentage points on his changeup (his primary secondary pitch). He's probably not going to get a lucrative deal this offseason.

Nick Martinez - 2024 vs 2025

Marlins pitchers and catchers: We resolve to be better at limiting baserunner advancement

The Marlins allowed 191 stolen bases last season. That was the most in the league by 34! They also had the second-fewest caught stealings (24) and fewest pickoffs (3). And to top it off, they had the most combined wild pitches and passed balls (90).

That's a lot to fix.

The primary pitcher culprits were Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera, who each allowed an MLB-high 35 stolen bases. At catcher Agustín Ramírez, who allowed 83 stolen bases and had only 8 caught stealings, and also led the majors in errors by a catcher (10) and wild pitches and passed balls allowed (55). He did all of this while ranking 30th in innings caught.

Most Stolen Bases Allowed - 2025 Season

 C.J. Abrams: I resolve to be better at finishing plays

If we were just judging shortstops at their skill at getting to balls, CJ Abrams would be pretty good. Only five shortstops had more Runs Saved from range than Abrams' 7 last season.

But Abrams finished with -6 Runs Saved overall because of the things that happened after he got to a ball, either his bobbling it or his not being able to throw a runner out when it was expected he'd do so.

His -12 Throwing* Runs Saved were the worst of anyone in MLB last season. By our count he had an MLB-high 18 throwing errors and 5 Defensive Misplays related to throws (plays that were not errors but with a negative consequence). The 23 combined led MLB.

Though the stat is labeled as "Throwing" at FieldingBible.com, it encompasses anything that happens after a fielder touches a ball.

Most Throwing Errors & Defensive Misplays - 2025 Season

Phillies Infielders: We resolve to be better on the double play

The Phillies are a very good baseball team albeit one that hasn't been the best defensively in recent seasons. They've had many issues but one they haven't been able to shake has been their double play turns. We track both double play turns and opportunities (balls hit to a fielder with a man on first base and less than two outs). We convert the success rate into Double Play Runs Saved. 

Here's how the Phillies have ranked the last three seasons.

Double Play Runs Saved - 2025 Season

The common thread here is that the team's double play combination in that time has been Trea Turner at shortstop and Bryson Stott at second base. In Stott's case, he's had Gold Glove caliber range numbers, but the issues with double play have hurt his chances of any sort of defensive award.

 They're back for a fourth go at it in 2026.

The Twins: We resolve to position our outfielders better

Sort through the disastrous 2025 season for the Twins and you'll see that the team finished 29th in Defensive Runs Saved. They totaled -21 Runs Saved at shortstop and -14 Runs Saved in right field.

Additionally, they ranked last in Runs Saved accrued from the defensive positioning of their outfielders (-19). They were one of two teams to have a total of -10 or worse (Blue Jays -15). They had -7 Runs Saved on how they positioned Byron Buxton, the worst of any team for a center fielder last season.

It should be pointed out that there are multiple things related to positioning and that some of the issue could be put on the pitching staff if it failed to execute its end of the game plan.

Bottom 5 Teams in Defensive Runs Saved - 2025 Season

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For more of our work check out The SIS Baseball Podcast, which posts new episodes every two weeks during the baseball season.

Mark Simon interviews players and coaches about defensive excellence. He also regularly talks with media members about the latest baseball news.

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