May 10, 2013
Overthinking It
This Week in Catcher Framing, 5/10
by Ben Lindbergh
No intro section this time; I should have a couple framing-related features on the way early next week, which I don't want to tease too much. Let's get right to the leaderboards and frames of the week.
***
League Leaders
The Best (min. 40 OZoneStrikes+ZoneBalls)
Ratio
Runs
|
Catcher
|
OZoneStrikes
|
ZoneBalls
|
Runs
|
|
Jonathan Lucroy
|
146
|
72
|
9.6
|
|
Yadier Molina
|
139
|
105
|
4.4
|
|
Evan Gattis
|
95
|
73
|
2.9
|
|
Jose Molina
|
90
|
69
|
2.7
|
|
Carlos Corporan
|
61
|
43
|
2.3
|
|
Hank Conger
|
44
|
28
|
2.1
|
|
David Ross
|
58
|
47
|
1.4
|
|
Francisco Cervelli
|
73
|
62
|
1.4
|
|
Martin Maldonado
|
39
|
32
|
0.9
|
|
Erik Kratz
|
76
|
69
|
0.9
|
|
Michael McKenry
|
30
|
26
|
0.5
|
The Worst (min. 40 OZoneStrikes+ZoneBalls)
Ratio
Runs
|
Catcher
|
OZoneStrikes
|
ZoneBalls
|
Runs
|
|
Matt Wieters
|
90
|
179
|
-11.6
|
|
Jesus Montero
|
41
|
113
|
-9.4
|
|
Wilin Rosario
|
60
|
128
|
-8.8
|
|
Rob Brantly
|
65
|
129
|
-8.3
|
|
Nick Hundley
|
85
|
149
|
-8.3
|
|
John Buck
|
67
|
125
|
-7.5
|
|
Chris Iannetta
|
67
|
124
|
-7.4
|
|
A.J. Pierzynski
|
53
|
106
|
-6.9
|
|
Carlos Santana
|
71
|
120
|
-6.4
|
|
Kelly Shoppach
|
31
|
74
|
-5.6
|
|
Ryan Doumit
|
13
|
55
|
-5.5
|
This Week in Jose Molina, 5/02-5/08
Weekly Net Strikes: 6
Weekly Net Runs: 0.78
Weekly Playing Time: 3 G, 3 GS, 27.0 innings
Yearly Playing Time: 24 G, 20 GS, 170.3 innings
Yearly Net Strikes: 21
Yearly Net Runs: 2.7
Molina had another nice week and survived another knee scare. He's also hitting .167/.225/.242. If there was any doubt about how highly the Rays value his defense...
1. Date: 5/7
Batter: Edwin Encarnacion
Pitcher: Roberto Hernandez
Umpire: Marty Foster
Count: 1-0
Pitch type: 85-mph changeup
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.162 feet
This one is pretty impressive. That pitch was moving sharply inside, and Molina relaxed his glove, snagged the ball, and reversed its direction before it could move any farther away from the plate. Encarnacion showed his admiration in his own way.
2. Date: 5/7
Batter: J.P. Arencibia
Pitcher: Roberto Hernandez
Umpire: Marty Foster
Count: 0-0
Pitch type: 85-mph slider
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.201 feet
The movement after it passed the plate makes it look farther outside than it was, but that's still a call that not many catchers could get.
1. Date: 5/7
Batter: Adam Lind
Pitcher: Cesar Ramos
Umpire: Marty Foster
Count: 3-0
Pitch type: 92-mph sinker
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.204 feet
This looks inside, but it's a 3-0 pitch, which raises the strike probability considerably. Molina caught it very casually, as if he didn't expect to get the call (or, I suppose, as if he was sure he would).
This Week in Jonathan Lucroy, 5/02-5/08
Weekly Net Strikes: 11
Weekly Net Runs: 1.43
Weekly Playing Time: 4 G, 3 GS, 27.0 innings
Yearly Playing Time: 26 G, 24 GS, 217.0 innings
Yearly Net Strikes: 74
Yearly Net Runs: 9.6
3. Date: 5/3
Batter: Allen Craig
Pitcher: Kyle Lohse
Umpire: Dale Scott
Count: 0-0
Pitch type: 84-mph slider
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.316 feet
2. Date: 5/8
Batter: Ian Kinsler
Pitcher: Alfredo Figaro
Umpire: Tim Timmons
Count: 2-1
Pitch type: 96-mph four-seamer
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.317 feet
1. Date: 5/5
Batter: Pete Kozma
Pitcher: Michael Gonzalez
Umpire: C.B. Bucknor
Count: 0-1
Pitch type: 83-mph changeup
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.422 feet
This is the second-best frame of the week (by anyone, not just Lucroy). Just like last week, all of Lucroy's top three receptions came on low pitches. One of these weeks, I'd like to look at whether the Brewers throw especially low as a staff to capitalize on his talents.
Best Frames of the Week
1. Date: 5/2
Catcher: Yadier Molina
Batter: Alex Gonzalez
Pitcher: Jake Westbrook
Umpire: Todd Tichenor
Count: 2-2
Pitch type: 91-mph sinker
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.381
Big Bro would've been proud.
4. Date: 5/6
Catcher: Derek Norris
Batter: Jason Giambi
Pitcher: Jarrod Parker
Umpire: Angel Hernandez
Count: 3-1
Pitch type: 90-mph four-seamer
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.392 feet
It has to be gratifying when a frame brings a bat flip to a halt. Giambi tries to play it off as if he wasn't halfway into his trot toward first base.
3. Date: 5/2
Catcher: Martin Maldonado
Batter: Matt Holliday
Pitcher: Alfredo Figaro
Umpire: Todd Tichenor
Count: 1-0
Pitch type: 96-mph four-seamer
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.409 feet
Lucroy isn't the only Brewers catcher who can make low pitches look good.
2. Date: 5/5
Batter: Pete Kozma
Catcher: Jonathan Lucroy
Pitcher: Michael Gonzalez
Umpire: C.B. Bucknor
Count: 0-1
Pitch type: 83-mph changeup
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.422 feet
This is the best Lucroy frame we saw earlier.
1. Date: 5/4
Catcher: Martin Maldonado
Batter: Matt Carpenter
Pitcher: Yovani Gallardo
Umpire: Bill Miller
Count: 1-1
Pitch type: 77-mph curveball
Distance from Strike Zone: 0.517 feet
Aaand another by a Brewer. The top three frames of the week all came courtesy of Brewers catchers. Milwaukee's staff is spoiled.
Worst Frames of the Week
5. Date: 5/7
Catcher: Miguel Montero
Batter: Andre Ethier
Pitcher: Brandon McCarthy
Umpire: Paul Emmel
Count: 0-0
Pitch type: 92-mph sinker
Distance from Center: 0.467 feet
Arencibia-esque. (See below.)
4. Date: 5/4
Catcher: Nick Hundley
Batter: Wil Nieves
Pitcher: Joe Thatcher
Umpire: Dan Bellino
Count: 0-0
Pitch type: 85-mph four-seamer
Distance from Center: 0.405 feet
Hundley probably could have done a better job of reaching out for that pitch to intercept it before it swept all the way across the strike zone.
3. Date: 5/5
Catcher: J.P. Arencibia
Batter: Kendrys Morales
Pitcher: Brandon Morrow
Umpire: Lance Barksdale
Count: 0-0
Pitch type: 84-mph slider
Distance from Center: 0.309 feet
I wrote about Arencibia getting crossed up and costing his pitchers strikes last week, and he's still at it. "There's a pitch right there that J.P. just, again, took away from Brandon Morrow," said Blue Jays broadcaster Jack Morris. "It's a ball right down the middle, but the way he caught it is killing the pitcher. That's a strike all day long, but the way he caught it, the home-plate umpire Lance Barksdale is not going to call it a strike."
Arencibia didn't receive the next pitch cleanly, either, and he went to talk to Morrow on the mound. That gave Buck Martinez a chance to chime in:
"Mike Scioscia—and I believe Mike Scioscia is one of the best guys that understands catching, he did such a great job—said the most important thing for him, as far as what he wants from his catchers, is to receive the ball in the strike zone. And Scioscia always felt that was the no. 1 priority." Arencibia has already been banned from catching the knuckleball, forcing the Jays to pair R.A. Dickey with light-hitting Henry Blanco. Not being able to catch sliders would be a bigger issue.
2. Date: 5/7
Catcher: Chris Stewart
Batter: Carlos Gonzalez
Pitcher: Hiroki Kuroda
Umpire: Ron Kulpa
Count: 0-0
Pitch type: 90-mph four-seamer
Distance from Center: 0.300 feet
I said nice things about Chris Stewart last week. I still say nice things about him, but not about that pitch in particular.
1. Date: 5/4
Catcher: Tyler Flowers
Batter: Salvador Perez
Pitcher: Dylan Axelrod
Umpire: Kerwin Danley
Count: 1-1
Pitch type: 81-mph slider
Distance from Center: 0.276 feet
That one was on the stabby side.
Ben Lindbergh is an author of Baseball Prospectus.
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Overthinking It: Where... (05/10)
13 comments have been left for this article. 
Fantasy Starting Pitcher Planner: Week Seven
What I am still trying to reconcile is how many in the zone balls the best catchers rack up. It seems to me that in order to win a large amount of pitches outside the zone you have to give something up inside the zone. It just strikes me as odd that the best catcher outside the zone would not also be the best catcher inside the zone.
Well, I'm not sure that's not the case. On pitches inside the zone but within two inches of the zone edge, Jose Molina has the lowest rate of called balls (49/390, 12.56%), followed by Lucroy (50/396, 12.63%) and Yadier (75/572, 13.11%). The best catchers in the league in terms of the percentage of all in-zone pitches called strikes are Hank Conger, Lucroy, David Ross, Erik Kratz, Jose Molina, Evan Gattis, and Yadier Molina. (Thanks to Ryan Lind for those numbers.)
So, for instance, Yadier Molina has 105 ZoneBalls on that leaderboard, which looks like a lot relative to everyone else on the list. But that would only by good for 19th place on a ZoneBalls leaderboard. And it's only that high because Yadier plays so much. He's caught all but nine of the Cardinals' innings, about 10 more than any other catcher, and way more than anyone else on the Ratio leaderboard.
Let me know if that answers your question.