Aug 21, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart (2) throws to first base during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Reds defeated the Phillies 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

This is the fifth installment of my series of articles which pits the Cincinnati Reds against the best of the National League.  The first was with the catchers.  In the second piece I compared the first basemen in the league against Joey Votto. You can read it here. The third article was with the second basemen in the league being pitted against Brandon Phillips. That column can be found here.

The last article I did was with the third basemen. We saw that Todd Frazier is in over his head at this point in his career, with regards to the league’s best.

Now we focus on the shortstops. The Reds have had a long line of excellent players at that position. I wrote a piece about how they have essentially used four shortstops from 1954 until 2004. After trying several wannabe’s they have finally given the keys to Zack Cozart. You have to love a guy with more than one ‘z’ in his name.

After looking over the elite shortstops in the senior circuit I narrowed Cozart’s competition down to five. They are Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez, Starlin Castro, Ian Desmond and Jimmy Rollins.

Career Stats Based on 162 Game Avg.

except errors and WAR which are yearly averages

Stats extracted from Baseball-Reference.com

1-Cozart 2-Tulowitzki 3-Ramirez 4-Castro
5-Desmond 6-Rollins

Obviously Cozart is absolutely steamrolled by the competition. The others on the list are extremely good. The first thing that jumps on me is that Rollins OPS+ is only 97. Wow! A four-time All-Star, MVP and Gold Glove winner yet he falls below the line of credibility in the National League offensively. After having said that, the table shows that he leads the bunch in plate discipline. Cozart does seem to have a slight edge defensively, in terms of errors committed per year.

It would be a close call to make as far as the best is concerned, but if I were pushed to a decision I would have to go with Ramirez first, then Tulowitzki. Troy has a better WAR and his power is better. However, shortstops aren’t required to supply all the power, Ramirez steals more bases, scores more runs and gets more hits. Also his OPS+ is much higher than the rest of the group.

Cozart would be at the end of this list, and it would be unfair to say that he is the sixth best in the league because he is not.

The bottom line is that the National League wins again against the Reds. NL now leads 4-1.

Next stop will be comparing the left fielders.

Follow me on Twitter.
Read more of my work on my MLB blog.

Sep 27, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart (2) throws to first base during the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

As a baseball historian I love research. I can spend hours at Baseball-Reference, The Baseball Cube or Fangraphs, hyperlinking my way throughout history. It is simply fascinating to a fan who loves the game.

I knew the Reds were solid at shortstop for a long time but wanted to see how many shortstops they had over the last half of the 20th Century. By that I mean consistent starters, not subs or reserves. I found that they were very blessed in that area.

From 1952 until 2004 the Cincinnati Reds have essentially had four shortstops, all All-Stars and all Gold Glove winners. There are no serious gaps of time in that period where they were without a star-caliber shortstop.

You could even go further back into the 1940′s and include Eddie Miller in that mix, although he played with the Reds only from 1943 until 1947, being on the All-Star squad four of those five years.

Beginning in 1952 Roy McMillan stepped into the lineup as a starter and stayed there until he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves at the end of the 1960 season for pitchers Joey Jay and southpaw Juan Pizarro. McMillan enjoyed a decade of success with the Reds in the fifties. He was named to two All-Star teams and won three Gold Gloves. In 1956 he came in sixth place in voting for the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award, hitting .263/.366/.344. He actually was higher in the voting than teammate Frank Robinson.

After splitting time at shortstop in 1960-61 Leo Cardenas became a fixture in the Reds lineup until the end of the 1968 season when he was traded to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Jim Merritt. He managed to be on four All-Star teams and won a Gold Glove for the Reds during that time. Nicknamed “Chico” because of his size (5’11″, 150 lbs), he supplied some power to the lineup belting 20 HR and knocking in 81 in 1966. That was the first season the Reds had to endure without Hall of Famer Frank Robinson who won the Triple Crown with the Baltimore Orioles, after being traded basically for Milt Pappas.

Woody Woodward and Darrel Cheney split the job for the 1969 season and in 1970 we saw the emergence of a 19-year career by Dave Concepcion. He manned the post from ’70 until he retired after the 1988 season. During his tenure Concepcion was on nine All-Star teams, eight in a row, won five Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. In 1981 he came in fourth in the MVP voting while batting .306/.358/.409. He was only outvoted by Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Andre Dawson and by teammate George Foster. Many Reds’ fans believe he is worthy of the Hall of Fame. I must respectfully disagree with them. He is relegated to the Hall of Very Good in my humble opinion.

Hall of Famer Barry Larkin was a rookie in 1986 but didn’t take the lion’s share of the job until 1987. He was the starter from then until he retired after the 2004 season.  He was a 12-time All-Star, won three Gold Gloves along with nine Silver Sluggers. In 1995 he was the Most Valuable Player in the NL batting .319/.394/.492. In 1996 he displayed serious power by leaving the yard 33 times. He is the newest member in the Hall of Fame being enshrined in 2012.

During those 52 years, the shortstops combined for 27 All-Star teams, 12 Gold Gloves and 11 Silver Sluggers.

From 2004 until 2011 the Reds tried several shortstops without much success: Felipe Lopez, Rich Aurilia, Royce Clayton, Alex Gonzalez, Jeff Keppinger, Jerry Hairston, Jr., and Paul Janish.

That brings us to last season when Zack Cozart took over the reins and completed his first full season on the job. He batted .246/.288/.399, hit 15 HR and was in serious consideration for the Gold Glove which was won by Phillies’ Jimmie Rollins.

Can he do it? Does he have what it takes to be the shortstop for years to come. Apparently the Reds’ management thinks so as they sent Didi Gregorius to Arizona this offseason. He has a tough job in front of him to even approach the success of his predecessors. I know he has the talent and the skills. Injuries or trades are the only things I can see that would not allow him to continue the Reds excellence at shortstop.

REDS  STARTING  SHORTSTOPS  FROM  1952-2004

You can follow me on Twitter, or read more on my blog.

July 6, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Cozart hits a solo home run during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

Dividends were practically instantaneous as Cozart would post a .324 batting average in his first 11 games. Then. a bizarre and freak injury took him out for the remainder of the season. As Cozart was attempting to snag an off-target throw from first baseman Joey Votto, Cozart’s left arm was caught in the path of the incoming runner. His arm was contorted and twisted. Upon through examination, it was discovered Cozart would need Tommy John surgery. Weird that a non-pitcher would require the procedure.

Even coming off the procedure, the beginning of 2012 provided the same air of optimism surrounding Cozart. Most of that was once again centered around his bat. While his offense wasn’t up to those expectations, his defense was a pleasant surprise. I remarked in September that Cozart’s defense was going unnoticed. Well, in the end, Cozart was named as a finalist for the NL Gold Glove. Many thought, and not just Reds fans, that considering the “competition” among the other finalists that the Reds rookie should have won the honor. Instead, Jimmy Rollins would nab the prize leaving many to wonder.

Funny thing is that the Tommy John surgery didn’t get much play during this past season. With the struggles Cozart showed at the plate, it may have had an effect on Cozart’s offense. Or was he merely having issues adjusting to MLB pitchers? Or maybe it was that an unnecessary pressure was placed on Cozart being placed either in the lead-off spot or second for for all but 17 plate appearances during the 2012 season? Or maybe, and more likely, the sum of all of these.

During the five years in which Cozart toiled in the minors, his worst walk rate was 5.2%. He posted that rate in 2012. His highest strikeout rate was 17.9%. Last season, Cozart’s SO% was 18.8%. From Fangraphs, the Bill James projections show improvement in these two areas as well as in his offensive numbers across the board. Here’s a look at Cozart’s 2012 and the James 2013 projections…

This projected strikeout rate of 16.8% will actually be lower than Cozart’s minor league rate of 17.4%. While the projected walk rate is only 6.3%, it is still an improvement, and it’s not too far off what his BB% was in the minors (7.8%). That might have been even lower if not for Cozart having a BB% of 11.6% (63 BB in 541 PA) in 2009 when he played for Carolina.

If these projections can hold to form, Cozart will also have a triple slash a little more in line with his minor league numbers, too. We will hope the OBP is a little higher. If that proves to the case, Cozart can add more pop to a lineup that is viewed as possibly one of the NL bests heading into 2013. Improved offense along with Cozart’s excellent defense should make 2013 an eye-opener for the National League.

Along with that, it could squelch what debate possibly remains in light of the trade involving Didi Gregorius.

(Catch other entries from the “Reds in 2013″ series:
Joey Votto
Brandon Phillips
Jay Bruce
Shin-Soo Choo
Ryan Ludwick
Todd Frazier
The Catchers: Ryan Hanigan and Devin Mesoraco)