AL Roundup: Catchers

by Jesse on May 22, 2008 10:06 PM EDT in By the Numbers

After posting the other day that Mauer was leading the league in batting average, I began to wonder how the Twins were shaping up by position throughout the American League. But this time I'm more interested in seeing performance metrics, as opposed to achievement metrics.

These numbers were accurate yesterday, but I wasn't able to post this last night. I used the catcher with the most plate appearances for each club...so sadly, there's no Jorge Posada.

Name	Team	LD%	GB%	HR/F	IF/F	ISO	BABIP	K%	BB%
J. Mauer	MIN	22.4	49.3	0.0	13.2	.083	.356	7.1	11.9
K. Suzuki	OAK	14.4	38.8	1.6	7.7	.049	.275	13.9	7.2
I. Rodriguez	DET	22.5	57.5	4.3	N/A	.118	.311	16.0	4.5
A. Pierzynski	CHI	18.3	42.0	5.3	7.7	.175	.318	6.9	8.8
K. Johjima	SEA	15.7	50.4	4.7	20.9	.089	.224	6.3	4.2
V. Martinez	CLE	28.6	47.9	0.0	14.3	.060	.345	10.7	8.7
J. Varitek	BOS	11.7	44.7	12.8	9.8	.206	.348	22.5	9.9
G. Laird	TEX	15.6	50.0	9.0	9.1	.118	.313	15.2	8.3
R. Hernandez	BAL	25.2	40.2	7.7	8.1	.135	.212	10.8	6.9
G. Zaun	TOR	18.4	49.0	2.9	9.4	.072	.278	10.7	12.2
J. Buck	KC	14.9	40.2	5.0	17.9	.105	.294	16.7	10.0
D. Navarro	TB	21.4	47.6	3.8	26.9	.093	.393	10.6	6.7
M. Napoli	LAA	11.4	24.3	24.0	13.3	.334	.217	23.6	10.9

The Unlucky Award: Ramon Hernandez

In spite of making excellent contact this year, Hernandez has run into some horrendous luck. In spite of hitting more than his share of line-drives, and coming in below league average in ground balls (both good things), his BABIP is a miserable .212...when it should be closer to .370. Additionally, he's got a little power, pretty good for a catcher and doesn't strike out a lot. Hernandez has had a good season peripherally, but it's not showing up in his numbers. He deserves better than .207/.244/.339.

The Lucky Award: Jason Varitek

Varitek has had a lot of bounces go his way so far this year. By all means, he does have a few things legitimately working for him: the ability to hit the ball out of the park, good walk rate, slightly above average ground-ball ratio, lots of fly balls which aren't quite as easy to turn into outs as ground balls. But along with the power comes the (by far) highest strikeout rate among American League catchers, which could be called a push. It's the low line-drive percentage that raises a red flag for me, because it means that if Varitek were to lose his power stroke, he'd run into some serious productivity issues. Walks would drop because pitchers wouldn't be worrying about the long ball, and if you can't hit the ball squarely it makes it a whole lot easier for the defense to put you away. Right now, in spite of the second lowest live-drive percentage among AL catchers, he still boasts a solid .348 BABIP. It should be closer to .240.

Finally: Joe Mauer

Not much on this chart should surprise us. Joe is a good hitter and makes solid contact? Check. No home runs? Duh. Takes a lot of walks, doesn't strike out much, hits ground balls with regularity? Check, check, check, check. If there's one thing that does seem out of place, it's the surprising amount of infield fly balls he's popped up. Those turn into easy outs.

Basically what looking at Mauer's chart tells me is that there is, indeed, nothing to worry about. There's nothing wrong with a 25-year old, no matter what position, that possesses these kind of peripherals. Sure we'd all like to see some home runs, but he's so solid all-around that it's a moot point. He hits the ball hard, has excellent control of the strike zone, is the owner of some of the league's best plate discipline and his line is reflective of all this: .333/.404/.413. If every man in your lineup could hit like that, it wouldn't matter that there were no home runs.

But that's not going to happen, which is why lineups have balance. Hopefully the rest of the lineup can find their own roles soon.

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Comments

Sometimes, you make your luck

After more than 1,200 games, virtually all at catcher, and age 36, the other Twins’ former No. 1 draft choice – Jason Varitek – isn’t lucky. He’s just tough. And he calls a helluva game.

And the Sox got him and Derek Lowe – who both won and saved more than 70 games for the Boston- for Heathcliff Slocumb, who didn’t pitch 100 innings for the Mariners.

It’s kind of the Red Sox version of the A.J. trade.

by Johnny Safron on May 22, 2008 11:14 PM EDT reply actions

Best trade ever

I think it’s better than the AJ trade, considering how Veritek helped deliver two championships to a once woebegone franchise. Maybe we will call it even when Nathan and Franchise deliver a championship to the Twins in 2010.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on May 22, 2008 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not saying

that he isn’t a good player—he is. He’s been a really good catcher in his career. But as far as this year goes, he’s been a little lucky.

by Jesse on May 23, 2008 6:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh I agree

And nobody would trade Mauer for Veritek even if they were at the same age in their careers. I was just commenting specifically on that trade.

I have often wondered what would have happened if we had signed Veritek when we drafted him. He probably would have been the everyday catcher here until Mauer was ready, then we would have either traded him or let him go to free agency. I know TR tried very hard to sign him, and that was the last Boras client he ever drafted.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on May 23, 2008 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Victor

Let’s not cry in our beer about Mauer’s lack of power just yet.

Victor Martinez has yet to hit a home run this year!

Didn’t he hit like 27 last year?

And the team with the most racist logo in all of sports has now lost 6 in a row. Things are looking up for us because they are looking down for the rest of the teams in our now weak division.

by Old Twins Cap on May 22, 2008 11:21 PM EDT reply actions

Mauer and Martinez

are both good hitters. Martinez doesn’t have Joe’s savvy to work a walk, but it certainly looked like he had more power. You were close—25 home runs last season, 84 in the last four years. For Victor’s career he’s a .301/.372/.467 hitter, which is the super fantastic for a catcher. Joe is .315/.395/.455. Which is also incredible.

by Jesse on May 23, 2008 6:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Racist?

Go ahead. Google an image of Michael Dukakis and tell me that ain’t Chief Wahoo.

by Johnny Safron on May 23, 2008 12:53 AM EDT reply actions

I've been cautioned about being political

so I will hold my fire. But if you look at a wacky caricature of an Indian with a half-cocked smile and his tongue hanging out being used for ongoing commercial profit and can’t understand how a person of Native American ancestry might feel they are being demonized-after having their land forcibly taken and their culture pretty much destroyed over four centuries by these same people-well, go back to your sports page and your fantasy that there is nothing wrong about America’s historic treatment of people of color.

Ignorance is bliss.

by Old Twins Cap on May 23, 2008 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions

.356

Isn’t a .356 BABIP rather high, especially for a guy with only good speed not great, and even more so for a guy boasting a good but not spectacular 22.6 LD%?

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane

by AdamOnFirst on May 23, 2008 2:19 AM EDT reply actions