Dillon Atkinson: O's not as defensively savvy as in years past

In 2013, the Orioles wanted to make defense a priority, ranking ninth in the majors in Defensive Runs Saved with plus-24 DRS, and third in Ultimate Zone Rating with plus-39.9 UZR. They kept the trend in 2014, in which the club recorded a plus-57 DRS, good for third in the major leagues, and plus-54.8 UZR, which was second-highest in the majors.

However, in 2015, the club took steps in the wrong direction defensively, and has continued to do so in 2016. This year, the club ranks 20th in both DRS and UZR with minus-12 and minus-6.5, respectively. So where are the Orioles taking their biggest hits in the field?

I can tell you right now that the knocks on defense are not coming from the left side of the infield. We already know Manny Machado and J.J. Hardy combine for an amazing duo at third and short. But with Hardy hitting the disabled list and now Machado serving his four-game suspension, Ryan Flaherty has gotten the bulk of the playing time at third base. He has impressed in his time at the hot corner this season, recording plus-4 DRS and plus-2.1 UZR. It hasn't mattered much who has been playing third base and shortstop this season; they're both being covered.

What about the right side of the infield? If you asked most Orioles fans what they think of Jonathan Schoop and Chris Davis, you'd probably hear a lot of them say these two players should win Gold Gloves. Schoop has minus-1 DRS and minus-0.5 UZR this season, which, honestly, isn't all that bad. If I had to put any knock on the O's second baseman, it would be for his range. But his extremely strong arm and good positioning usually do a decent job at making up for whatever he lacks in range. As for Davis, the O's slugging first baseman currently has plus-5 DRS and plus-0.8 UZR. I'm not going to go as far as most O's fans and say he's excellent over there, but I will say he's definitely been above average, in my opinion.

Behind the plate, I don't have much to complain about with Matt Wieters. The two things I haven't liked from him are his pitch selection and pitch framing. Other than that, he's always been pretty good about controlling the running game, he has good footwork behind the plate and has done well receiving bad throws on plays at the plate. At catcher, the O's aren't losing too much. However, the battery mates of the backstops are hurting the O's in the field. Orioles pitchers have minus-10 DRS, ranked 29th in the majors.

Aside from the pitchers, the infield has been pretty sturdy for the Orioles this season. This means we can point fingers at the outfield. One of the main culprits here is right fielder Mark Trumbo. The metrics and the eye test definitely agree here, as he has minus-8DRS and minus-2.9 UZR this season. Another agreement from eye test and metrics is on left fielder Hyun Soo Kim, who has recorded minus-3 DRS and minus-0.8 UZR.

Now there are three that your eye test may or may not agree with the metrics: Joey Rickard, Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold. Metrics do not like Rickard at all, pegging him for minus-2 DRS and minus-6.8 UZR. My guess for the poor rating is due to his routes to balls - although his speed makes up for most of them - and his inability to hit the cutoff man from time to time. Jones has minus-5 DRS and minus-4 UZR in center field this season. I don't necessarily agree with that harsh of a rating, but I do think he has taken a step in the wrong direction in the field, which may have to do with his injuries earlier this season. Reimold, however, has recorded a plus-2.0 DRS and a plus-0.9 UZR. Metrics don't dislike him, but some fans may say the eye test disapproves.

Whether you like advanced defensive metrics or not, it's difficult to make a case that the Orioles outfield defense has been good. In fact, I don't think you really can make a case. Having Pedro Alvarez man the designated hitter's role against righties has forced Trumbo to play a position he's not very good at fielding. And with a defensively challenged Kim in left field, Jones has his work cut out for him in center.

Dillon Atkinson blogs about the Orioles for Orioles Uncensored. Follow him on Twitter: @DAtkinsonOU. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.