Anthony Fenech

Detroit Free Press

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Anthony Gose is a good defensive centerfielder. He has good speed and a good arm and good instincts, but last season, he was rated poorly in the defensive metrics that are gaining momentum across baseball.

According to FanGraphs, his Ultimate Zone Rating -- which attempts to put a run value on defensive performance -- was minus-10.5 in 2015. His Defensive Runs Saved -- which measures the number of runs a player saved or cost their team, in relation to the average player -- was minus-12.

Gose shared his thoughts on those numbers this morning in Tiger Town.

“I could (not) care less,” he said. “I mean, I think that whole analytics thing is a big scam, anyways.

“I feel I’m one of the better centerfielders in the game. I could (not) care less what some analytics thing says, some guy putting numbers in a computer. I mean, things are a lot different when you’re out there playing than just sitting back behind a computer, so I think it’s a big scam. It’s a way to make money. That’s what I think. It is what it is. I mean, I guess it’s a good gig. I guess you can see how much of a fan of that I am.”

Gose, 25, accounted for minus-0.9 defensive Wins Above Replacement last season, according to baseball-reference.com. Offensively, he hit .254 with 23 stolen bases. With Cameron Maybin hitting the shelf for 4-6 weeks because of a nondisplaced hairline fracture in his right wrist, Gose will get the lion’s share of time in centerfield this spring. That will include extensive exposure to left-handed pitching, against which he has struggled in his short career.

And while the analytical numbers show Gose is below-average in centerfield, the eye test tells a different story.

Defensive metrics, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said, include more subjectivity than offensive metrics. Therefore, they’re deemed to be less accurate.

Among the variables is that Gose plays half of his games at Comerica Park, which has one of the most spacious outfields in baseball. Additionally, he plays a bulk of road games in big centerfields such as Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium and Minnesota’s Target Field.

There also is the variability of where he plays in the outfield -- shallow, usually, he says -- and how the Tigers position their outfielders in certain situations.

“Generally speaking, you want to stay away from damage, and damage really quantifies as doubles, triples and homers,” Ausmus said. “You can’t really do too much about the homers, but if you can knock down some of the doubles and triples, that helps, and playing back a few steps could aid in reducing the number of base hits.

“Now, that being said, there are times that you have to play shallow when that run on second base and a single could beat you and tie the game, etc., etc.”

Ausmus says Gose 'has been very good' despite metrics

Gose certainly doesn’t ignore information. But he believes that scouting reports are a much more accurate judgment of performance on the field than today’s analytics.

“They’ve had scouting reports since the beginning of time in baseball,” he said. “The scouting reports are based on what the guy’s doing. I think it’s a whole different ballgame.”

Tigers' Ausmus wants his outfielders to play deeper

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.