I have the TigersXtra app and it's fantastic. I get tons of articles (sometimes it can be overwhelming) and pictures. It's a great app.
There was an article about Steven Moya and it was talking about his defensive deficiencies last season; a season in which he only played 33 games for us! THIRTY-THREE!!!
I'm sorry, but you cannot judge a player on 33 games. In case you haven't noticed, baseball is six months long. 162 games, plus the post-season (which gets its own records). How in the world can people sit there and say, "Oh, Moya is a poor defender", when they only have 33 big league games to go on? He has never played a full year in the Majors. He's only come up to fill in for an injury or as a September call-up. And may I remind you, Comerica Park is one of, if not the, biggest outfield in the game.
What I have to say to these critics is the same thing I say to critics of Ausmus: If it's so darn easy, YOU go do it.
The other issue at hand here, is that people are just looking at numbers. Yes, numbers are good, yes they have a very important part to play in the game, but you CANNOT rely solely on numbers. Luck is a huge factor. There are plenty of times where a player almost makes a play and misses by inches (or less). All too often, a hit is taken away by sheer luck that the opposing player happened to be in the right spot. And let's not forget those pesky outs at the wall.
Maybe Moya does have trouble with defense. I'm not saying he doesn't, but you can't judge him by numbers alone. You have to see him play and you have to factor in that he's only an injury fill-in and a September call-up, at least for now.
Talk about issues. Talk about where he needs to improve on. That's fine. But the paper columnists can't fix it, so report, make your remarks, and move on. The Tigers will work with him and do what they can. All we can do is watch.