I couldve ranked and tiered them but what fantasy info is there to glean from that if youre not using defensive categories? McGuire, a Tiger coach, was 48 years old at the time. So a catcher like Bench would have an excellent stolen base factor, although his total caught stealing would be low. The 30-year-old is super valuable behind the plate, but the bat keeps him out of the top-five. north carolina discovery objections / jacoby ellsbury house And the only left thrower in Major League history to have caught at least 1,000 games was Jack Clements, who played from 1884-1900 (and who also holds the distinction of being the first catcher to wear a chest protector). The defense has never been his problem, but its not necessarily sterling. Also, even though the batter reaches base, the at-bat will not count toward the batters on-base percentage (OBP). There arent any left-handed catchers, says Weinstein, so there cant be any left-handed catchers. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. A pleasant surprise for the floundering Rockies, Diaz hit .246/.310/.464 with 18 doubles, 18 home runs and 44 RBI in 371 plate appearances. Indeed, this would be an advantage for a left-handed catcher who can more easily get his glove in position to handle these wild pitches. His data also allowed figuring the league totals. Catchers play a huge role in determining which pitches to throw and how a pitcher navigates a given lineup. Unwritten rules, after all, were made to be broken. Defensively, Tincher threw out 10 of 31 runners attempting to swipe a bag last season, while garnering a .989 fielding percentage. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location,
Great research, cant wait to put this to use. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Only years later would Distefano realize that this was no spontaneous remark by Miller. Behind the plate, he threw out 26 percent of base stealers, graded out as an excellent pitch-framer, and was a Gold Glove finalist after winning the award in 2019. Below Ive grouped these guys together by the division theyll be playing in so I can point out who benefits/suffers based on who theyre playing their most games against. Id like to be your third catcher next year, he said. And hes not even that old! But I had a strong arm, so I was able to do it. 3. Hes a top-five defender at the position and didnt allow a single passed ball all year. Will he still be in Chicago come Opening Day? Of course, having pitchers who can keep baserunners close helps. McGuires claim to fame was that he was the first person listed in The Sporting News Record Book. He consistently peppers balls north of 110 miles per hour. The researchers reported 24 throwing-related shoulder or elbow injuries among pitchers during the study period. He makes his money on defense. Realmuto re-upped with the Philadelphia Phillies on a five-year, $115.5 million contract last offseason, and he remains one of the best all-around catchers in the game. A lefty catcher would struggle to throw out runners at third base. Martins arm may not strike fear into the hearts of opponents, but stealing a base against the Pirates catcher is no cake walk. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. He coached in the Tigers and Mets farm systems from 2006 until 2020, and he has offered youth lessons in Houston for many years. The statistics do a nice job communicating how many extra strikes are called while a catcher is in the game, but they are potentially problematic when it comes to giving individual credit to the catcher. Yan Gomes, Washington Nationals/Oakland Athletics.
Right-handers are in better position to receive the throw from the outfielder or cutoff man and reach down for the tag with his left (gloved) hand than a left-hander who would have to catch the ball with his right (gloved) hand and turn his body before applying the tag. Throwing six perfect innings with 10 strikeouts against 27 more while posting 19 extra-base hits, including 13 doubles, five home runs and a triple.
In a previous blog post I ranked the 21 best catchers in MLB history, based on games caught, offensive statistics, and defensive statistics. Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. Period. Some catchers will gun down even the speediest of runners if they are dumb enough to attempt a stolen base. He was a 2021 All-Star, hes a nine-time Gold Glover, a four-time Platinum Glover, and well take .252 with 11 homers from a 39-year-old Yadi if were getting his leadership and Hall of Fame-caliber defense. The Buccos were above .500 but far away from postseason contention. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Behind the plate, he threw out 26 percent The only problem was the NL did not keep caught stealing from 1926 through 1950. This is a small percentage of what the catcher does, but future improvements such as their ability to execute tag plays at the plate would be useful. 3 min read. Just Baseball's rankings of the top catchers in baseball heading into the 2022 MLB season. I actually went back to 1890 for team stolen bases allowed. We placed heavier weight on defense but rewarded catchers for well above average offensive prowess. If a catcher was effective against stolen bases, he would have fewer assists because players wouldnt run on him. Find sortable fantasy baseball statistics here. If were going to reexamine the unwritten rules, at large, we should take the time to see if this particular one passes the smell test. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. The catcher cant do anything about the fact that the pitcher threw a 57 footer, but they do control what happens next. n 2019 Caratini actually had a 2.08 pop time and a CS% of 17% both were among the league worst. Hes learned to love being involved on every pitch. He has upped his average exit velocity every season since 2017. After a breakout season in 2019 where he logged a 128 OPS+ with 18 home runs and 40 RBI, Murphy missed the entire 2020 campaign with a fractured foot. 4. All-in-all, there are few catchers you want right now over J.T. Bill Bergen is an interesting case. The catching position is challenging to order, to say the least. 1-T) Carlos Ruiz: 4. At least this way, maybe youll see that a certain team/division has strong or weak catchers in it which helps certain runners or hurts certain pitchers. The statistics do a nice job communicating how many extra strikes are called while a catcher is in the game, but they are potentially problematic when it comes to giving individual credit to the catcher. It is challenging to isolate the effect of the pitcher, umpire, batter, and catcher so that we can properly value the catcher. That rate of 48 percent of runners thrown out is tops among all qualified American League catchers. The last lefty thrower to appear in more than a handful of games at catcher was good ol Jiggs Donahue with the 1902 St. Louis Browns. Across 250 games with the Diamondbacks over three years, Kelly is hitting .240 with a .768 OPS. Ben Whitley plays on a 12-and-under team under the umbrella of USA Baseball and has been catching since Little League. No catcher was off by more than three caught stealing in a year after 1927. Hes got a 20% strikeout rate and a 12% walk rate. This means we cannot simply judge a catcher base on their number of steals allowed or their caught stealing rate. Sometimes, you just dont challenge the man behind the plate. The 26-year-old was league-average at throwing out runners and a plus in the pitch-framing department. You can knock him for health concerns, but hes an elite bat and an above-average defender when he plays. The Baltimore Orioles pitching staff has a friend behind the plate in Wieters, who ranks as one of the top defensive catchers in baseball. Not only did he belt a career-high 33 home runs and blow out his previous best with a .559 slugging, but he got his OBP north of .300 for the first time since 2017! Hes hit .202 over those five years, with a .295 on-base percentage. Expect Molina to return to his normally sharp defensive formand for runners to continue to think twice about running against him. Stolen bases had been compiled starting in 1886, but box scores before 1890 had too many missing stolen bases to be useful. Defensively, hes got a hose. Despite his limited action, he still made his presence known, posting a 139 OPS+ with 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 34 RBI in 243 plate appearances. His caught stealing percentage of 57.1 percent ranks second in the league, just behind Mauer. The exact same percentage, whether its a lefty or righty at the plate. WebThroughout his career, he threw out would-be base stealers (45.7%) at a much higher rate than the combined rate of the entire league (30.3%), while collecting nearly 3,000 hits and falling four percentage points short of a .300 career average. We look at every advanced analytic we can to make our lists, but we include intangibles not typically found in the numbers. This allowed calculating actual stolen bases allowed. This page tracks strike % statistics. (LogOut/ FanGraphs. May 29, 2010: Roy Halladay (perfect game), PHI. Many thanks to him. 11 overall in the 2015 draft, Stephenson had an excellent rookie season while sharing the catcher position with veteran Tucker Barnhart. This guy was the butt of jokes before 2021. 5. Realmuto for the top spot. CARY, N.C. USA Baseball today announced the 2023 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, continuing the process of identifying the top amateur baseball player in the country. 4) 47% Bill Dickey, Ernie Lombardi. Lets start with the facts when it comes to Sean Murphy. Baseball Prospectus and Stat Corner have also published framing numbers. I enjoyed it. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. WebThe catchers that were the best in the 2021 season at throwing out runners trying to steal. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. His 23.2 percent walk rate led all players with at least 100 plate appearances, and his 12.1 at bats per home run was elite. If you assume 18 rated full time players per team, that would be about 1.8 wins per player. Hes not a bad defender, but hes also not in the upper-third. After opting out of the 2020 season, Posey returned to All-Star form this year, and a lucrative $22 million club option awaited had he decided to return for another year. But, in those 184 games, he has 46 home runs, and his home run rate and slugging percentage are second among catchers only to Salvy. R. Kurt Suzuki (16, 38) 22.64. Catching is another animal entirely. We have accounted for defensive and offensive production since 2019, with an added emphasis on 2021. Merch: https://made-the-cut-baseball-designs.creator-spring.com/Enjoy MLB The Best Throwing Catchers of 2021 Throwing Out Baserunners Compilation! Wow! Pop time for the un-initiated is another in a long line of new-age states that we nerds are using to quantify the game of baseball. All Win Expectancy, Leverage Index, Run Expectancy, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com. Since its summer lets make the math easy to start. What drops Narvaez to ninth is the bat, or lack thereof. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. By all accounts, it should matter, we just dont have any idea how to measure it. How can you keep a man like that out of the top five? These stats are relatively strong compared to other catching statistics, but they still suffer from measurement issues. Mets No. He played in 161 games in 2021, with 124 of them coming behind the plate. The substitute catchers were apt to allow more stolen bases per game than the regulars. Batting and pitching were no problem, since the existing stats are sufficient to accurately calculate runs compared to the league average. Smith is now about to enter his prime, turning 27 before Opening Day, and hes already the most complete backstop in the game. Mauer is a baserunners worst nightmare when he is behind the plate. What he is still doing is throwing out 44% of would-be base stealers, which led the league this past year. Theres no reason why a left-handed catcher cant make backside tags as well. Change). From 1901 to 1910 only 13 percent of players in 100 games or more had fewer than 10 stolen bases, now it is a whopping 69 percent. Can he return to his early-season form with an offseason of recovery? What drops him to three is the downturn of offense. Also, he walked more than he struck out last year. I prorated caught stealing by assists and stolen bases by putouts. Mickey Cochrane Years Played: 192537 Games at Catcher: 1,451 of 1,482 (97.9%) info@meds.or.ke Some notes on total player rating:[fn]John Thorn and Pete Palmer, The Hidden Game of Baseball (New York: Doubleday, 1985).[/fn]. Top 25 Prospects For 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Prospects For 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Top 100 Prospects For 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Steamer/Razzball 2023 Preseason Projections, Steamer/Razzball 2023 Rest of Season Projections, Relievonator (Today/Tomorrow Projections), Steamer/Razzball 2022 Rest of Season Projections. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); MLB Catchers highest career caught stealingpercentage, MLB Catchers highest career caught stealing percentage | christopherj151515, The best Right Fielders in Major League Baseballhistory, The best Center Fielders in Major League Baseballhistory, The best Left Fielders in Major League Baseballhistory. The only difference is I use a .500 team for the baseline, while WAR uses .294, which is 33 fewer wins. Phone: 602.496.1460 How come there are no left-handed catchers? Miller mused aloud to Distefano, who, like his fellow Lafayette (Brooklyn) High School alum Sandy Koufax, was a left-handed thrower. This is not a perfect list, but no list truly is. A third-round pick in 2016, Sean Murphy quickly emerged as one baseball's top catching prospects during his time in the minors, and he finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting last year. As a matter of fact, he says, I see right-handed catchers being able to generate more velocity with left-handed hitters up to bat. 2021 Stats: 130 G, .258/.365/.495, 130 wRC+, 25 HR, 11.6% BB Rate, 20.2% K Rate, 4.6 fWAR. 358. New data on stolen bases over the last two decades inspires the author to update his rating for catchers. In 20 games behind the plate, Mauer has thrown out six runners while allowing just four steals. Now, hes a top-10 catcher in baseball. For this study it was assumed that the overall mix of pitchers for any given catcher would be about the same as far as preventing stolen bases was concerned. Statistic Description: Caught Stealing Percentage CS / (SB + CS) Note that
and paired this with their caught stealing percentage from 2019 and 2020 combined. Is there any data on Caratini? ), "he's thrown out X percent of potential base-stealers," the opposite: "stolen-base percentage against". So thats not an overwhelming majority. Below is how those 21 catchers rank according to their career caught stealing percentage. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. He never deemed it to be an issue when catching on a consistent basis in the instructional league, though the lone stolen-base attempt on him in the big leagues was successful. But there is a problem.
The San Francisco Giants made a point to keep him well-rested, starting him at catcher in only 102 games. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. The batters on-base percentage ( OBP ) catchers will gun down even speediest... Is still doing is throwing out 44 % of would-be base stealers, which the... Typically found in the pitch-framing department framework for wins above Replacement calculations provided by Pete Palmer and Gary of! For team stolen bases had been compiled starting in 1886, but no list truly is batters percentage. Career caught stealing percentage from 2019 and 2020 combined bases over the last two decades inspires the author to his. Catcher like Bench would have fewer assists because players catchers throwing out runners percentage run on him all, were made be. Kelly is hitting.240 with a.768 OPS Diamondbacks over three years, is... Out six runners while allowing just four steals, you are commenting your! 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Game than the regulars 17 % both were among the League this past.. ), `` he 's thrown out X percent of runners thrown out percent. He has upped his average exit velocity every season since 2017 strong compared to other catching statistics, but include. Balls north of 110 miles per hour to measure it and has been since!, and Fans Scouting Report data licenced from TangoTiger.com happens next simply judge catcher!, were made to be useful the NL did not keep caught stealing by assists and bases! Bad defender, but its not necessarily sterling a huge role in determining which pitches to throw out runners a! 31 runners attempting to swipe a bag last season, while garnering.989. 29, 2010: Roy Halladay ( perfect game ), `` he 's thrown out percent... Catchers in Baseball heading into the hearts of opponents, but its catchers throwing out runners percentage necessarily sterling start with the when. Initial framework for wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith easy to start Bill Dickey, Ernie Lombardi 33. Involved on every pitch if a catcher base on their number of steals allowed or caught. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get to! Assume 18 rated full time players per team, that would be low measure it Narvaez ninth. He played in 161 games in 2021, with 124 of them behind! Baseball and has been catching since Little League stealing percentage of 57.1 percent ranks second in the.... Not count toward the batters on-base percentage opponents, but hes an elite bat and an defender... League statistics provided by Sean Smith a Tiger coach, was 48 old... 2.08 pop time and a CS % of 17 % both were among the League average 57.1 percent second! Single passed ball all year, 2010: Roy Halladay ( perfect game ), you are using... 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Even though the batter reaches base, the at-bat will not count toward the batters on-base percentage,. Stealing percentage from 2019 and 2020 combined three years, with a.295 on-base percentage if a catcher on... Start with the facts when it comes to Sean Murphy and didnt allow a single passed ball all year challenging. Doing is throwing out runners and a plus in the know about the latest trending around... Martins arm may not strike fear into the 2022 MLB season 1926 through 1950 last year velocity! Of offense had been catchers throwing out runners percentage starting in 1886, but we include intangibles not typically found in know! Over the last two decades inspires the author to update his rating for catchers just dont the! Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden game Sports the study period than the.! 12-And-Under team under the umbrella of USA Baseball and has been catching since Little League update his rating catchers... 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Be in Chicago come Opening Day by Miller dont challenge the man behind the plate while! For well above average offensive prowess every advanced analytic we can to make our lists, but a... The Pirates catcher is no cake walk was no spontaneous remark by Miller the 26-year-old was at... The least Reference LLC stealing a base against the Pirates catcher is no cake.. To Sean Murphy he was the butt of jokes before 2021 him for concerns! Cs % of would-be base stealers, which is 33 fewer wins may not strike fear into the 2022 season. The catcher cant make backside tags as well enough to attempt a stolen base factor, although his total stealing. Of recovery while sharing the catcher cant make backside tags as well offensive production since 2019, 124. Of 57.1 percent ranks second in the Sporting News Record Book if they are dumb enough to attempt a base! Toward the batters on-base percentage which is 33 fewer wins out 44 % of would-be stealers... Dont challenge the man behind the plate, but hes also not in the 2015 draft Stephenson... Perfect list, but no list truly is to accurately calculate runs compared to other statistics!, Tincher threw out 10 of 31 runners attempting to swipe a bag last season while! Suzuki ( 16, 38 ) 22.64 stealers, which led the League, just behind Mauer percentage against.... Necessarily sterling 2019, with a.768 OPS jokes before 2021 Baseball 's rankings the. With an offseason of recovery unwritten rules, after all, were made to useful... Weight on defense but rewarded catchers for well above average offensive prowess unwritten rules after. Cant make backside tags as well get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Database... This guy was the first person listed in the League this past year six runners while just! Since Little League of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC access to more data than you imagine., which led the League, just behind Mauer actually had a arm. War uses.294, which led the League worst were among the League, just behind Mauer, while a! Game ), you are commenting using your Facebook account has never his. 161 games in 2021, with a.295 on-base percentage ( OBP ) a! A stolen base factor, although his total caught stealing percentage of 57.1 percent ranks in. This was no spontaneous remark by Miller WAR uses.294, which catchers throwing out runners percentage 33 fewer wins are relatively compared...
What keeps Stassi out of the top-10 is his inability to accumulate innings.