Biographical

Portrait of Jeff Mathis

Jeff Mathis CBraves

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2019 Projections (Preseason PECOTA - seasonal age 36)
PA AVG HR R RBI SB DRC+ WARP
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Birth Date3-31-1983
Height6' 0"
Weight205 lbs
Age42 years, 0 months, 20 days
BatsR
ThrowsR
0.72015
1.12016
1.02017
2.02018
2.42019
proj
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

YEAR TEAM AGE G PA H 2B 3B HR BB SO HBP SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ DRAA BRR FRAA BWARP
2005 ANA 22 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 86 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
2006 ANA 23 23 63 8 2 0 2 7 14 0 0 0 .145 .238 .291 90 -0.5 -0.1 -0.2 0.2
2007 ANA 24 59 195 36 12 0 4 15 49 2 0 1 .211 .276 .351 62 -8.7 -0.2 9.2 0.9
2008 ANA 25 94 328 55 8 0 9 30 90 3 2 2 .194 .275 .318 62 -14.4 -1.1 12.5 1.2
2009 ANA 26 84 272 50 8 0 5 22 73 4 2 3 .211 .288 .308 60 -12.6 -1.8 6.0 0.4
2010 ANA 27 68 218 40 6 1 3 6 59 1 3 0 .195 .219 .278 55 -11.1 0.8 0.4 0.0
2011 ANA 28 93 281 43 12 0 3 15 75 2 1 2 .174 .225 .259 46 -16.9 -0.8 4.5 -0.1
2012 TOR 29 70 227 46 13 0 8 9 68 0 1 0 .218 .249 .393 64 -9.4 -1.7 8.5 0.8
2013 MIA 30 73 256 42 7 1 5 21 76 1 0 0 .181 .251 .284 61 -10.7 1.0 7.3 0.9
2014 MIA 31 64 195 35 7 0 2 15 64 0 0 0 .200 .263 .274 54 -9.5 0.8 5.3 0.5
2015 MIA 32 32 103 15 4 1 2 7 24 0 0 0 .161 .214 .290 72 -3.0 -0.2 5.4 0.7
2016 MIA 33 41 132 30 4 1 2 4 36 1 0 0 .238 .267 .333 72 -4.1 0.0 9.1 1.1
2017 ARI 34 60 203 40 10 2 2 14 61 2 1 0 .215 .277 .323 59 -9.7 0.4 10.2 1.0
2018 ARI 35 69 218 39 9 1 1 20 66 0 0 0 .200 .272 .272 63 -8.9 -0.4 18.4 2.0
2019 TEX 36 86 244 36 9 0 2 15 87 0 1 0 .158 .209 .224 41 -17.8 0.7 -2.8 -0.8
Career921293851611175020084316118.195.254.29959-137.3-2.693.88.9

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G PA oppAVG oppOBP oppSLG BABIP BPF BRAA repLVL POS_ADJ DRC+ DRC+ SD FRAA BRR DRAA BWARP
2001 PRO Rk PIO 22 93 .000 .000 .000 .359 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2002 CDR A MDW 128 549 .000 .000 .000 .321 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2003 RCU A+ CLF 97 422 .000 .000 .000 .379 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2003 ARK AA TXS 24 111 .000 .000 .000 .321 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2004 ARK AA TXS 117 494 .000 .000 .000 .263 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2005 ANA MLB AL 5 3 .264 .333 .392 .500 93 -0.1 0.1 0 86 6 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0
2005 SLC AAA PCL 112 479 .285 .354 .455 .298 100 19.3 12.2 5.1 101 0 2.2 2.1 2.9 2.3
2006 ANA MLB AL 23 63 .261 .330 .409 .150 101 -5.9 1.9 1.1 90 15 -0.2 -0.1 -0.5 0.2
2006 SLC AAA PCL 99 417 .272 .344 .415 .349 113 4.4 11.8 4.7 97 0 15.1 2.3 0.3 3.4
2007 ANA MLB AL 59 195 .270 .335 .422 .262 98 -9.4 5.8 3.4 62 13 9.2 -0.2 -8.7 0.9
2007 SLC AAA PCL 66 273 .279 .348 .433 .277 115 -9.9 8.2 3.8 62 0 12.2 0.9 -11.1 1.4
2008 ANA MLB AL 94 328 .268 .334 .424 .245 104 -15.1 9.5 5.8 62 11 12.5 -1.1 -14.4 1.2
2009 ANA MLB AL 84 272 .261 .328 .414 .281 104 -14.8 7.8 4.6 60 8 6.0 -1.8 -12.6 0.4
2010 ANA MLB AL 68 218 .257 .323 .400 .253 101 -15.3 6.0 3.6 55 9 0.4 0.8 -11.1 0.0
2010 SLC AAA PCL 9 37 .307 .371 .469 .318 100 -0.9 1.1 0.4 57 0 0.9 0.0 -1.8 0.0
2011 ANA MLB AL 93 281 .257 .321 .406 .233 98 -19.8 7.6 4.5 46 8 4.5 -0.8 -16.9 -0.1
2012 TOR MLB AL 70 227 .252 .314 .397 .279 104 -9.3 6.2 3.7 64 13 8.5 -1.7 -9.4 0.8
2013 MIA MLB NL 73 256 .252 .313 .386 .243 96 -13.6 6.7 4.1 61 16 7.3 1.0 -10.7 0.9
2013 JUP A+ FSL 4 16 .273 .339 .391 .400 100 -0.2 0.5 0.1 75 0 0.0 -0.4 -0.7 0.0
2013 JAX AA SOU 3 13 .252 .357 .386 .500 95 1 0.4 0.2 74 0 0.1 -0.2 -0.5 0.0
2013 NWO AAA PCL 2 10 .274 .328 .407 .333 78 0.9 0.3 0.2 64 0 0.2 0.0 -0.5 0.0
2014 MIA MLB NL 64 195 .251 .309 .386 .303 97 -10.5 5.0 3 54 11 5.3 0.8 -9.5 0.5
2015 MIA MLB NL 32 103 .260 .318 .417 .186 93 -5.8 2.8 1.7 72 9 5.4 -0.2 -3.0 0.7
2015 JAX AA SOU 5 20 .249 .331 .362 .417 89 0.8 0.5 0 102 0 0.2 -0.1 -0.3 0.0
2015 NWO AAA PCL 4 10 .317 .369 .456 .000 81 -2.9 0.3 0.2 18 0 0.1 0.0 -1.0 0.0
2016 MIA MLB NL 41 132 .251 .310 .408 .318 89 -3.8 3.7 2.2 72 15 9.1 0.0 -4.1 1.1
2017 ARI MLB NL 60 203 .255 .324 .425 .309 99 -11.5 5.9 3.6 59 11 10.2 0.4 -9.7 1.0
2018 ARI MLB NL 69 218 .248 .312 .403 .292 99 -12.7 6.1 3.7 63 10 18.4 -0.4 -8.9 2.0
2019 TEX MLB AL 86 244 .252 .317 .435 .243 108 -27.7 7.4 4.5 41 6 -2.8 0.7 -17.8 -0.8

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
Year Team lvl LG PA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG ISO SF SH
2001 PRO Rk PIO 93 77 14 23 6 3 0 35 18 11 13 1 0 .299 .400 .455 .156 0 0
2002 CDR A MDW 549 491 75 141 41 3 10 218 73 40 75 7 4 .287 .349 .444 .157 2 2
2003 RCU A+ CLF 422 378 73 122 28 3 11 189 54 35 74 5 3 .323 .388 .500 .177 0 0
2003 ARK AA TXS 111 95 19 27 11 0 2 44 14 12 16 1 2 .284 .367 .463 .179 1 1
2004 ARK AA TXS 494 432 57 98 24 3 14 170 55 49 102 2 1 .227 .310 .394 .167 4 4
2005 ANA MLB AL 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .000 0 0
2005 SLC AAA PCL 479 427 78 118 26 3 21 213 73 42 85 4 3 .276 .339 .499 .222 5 5
2006 SLC AAA PCL 417 384 62 111 33 3 5 165 45 26 75 3 1 .289 .337 .430 .141 0 0
2006 ANA MLB AL 63 55 9 8 2 0 2 16 6 7 14 0 0 .145 .238 .291 .145 1 0
2007 SLC AAA PCL 273 250 39 61 14 2 5 94 26 17 45 3 1 .244 .295 .376 .132 2 2
2007 ANA MLB AL 195 171 24 36 12 0 4 60 23 15 49 0 1 .211 .276 .351 .140 4 3
2008 ANA MLB AL 328 283 35 55 8 0 9 90 42 30 90 2 2 .194 .275 .318 .124 4 8
2009 ANA MLB AL 272 237 26 50 8 0 5 73 28 22 73 2 3 .211 .288 .308 .097 1 8
2010 ANA MLB AL 218 205 19 40 6 1 3 57 18 6 59 3 0 .195 .219 .278 .083 3 3
2010 SLC AAA PCL 37 33 6 8 1 1 1 14 5 4 10 0 0 .242 .324 .424 .182 0 0
2011 ANA MLB AL 281 247 18 43 12 0 3 64 22 15 75 1 2 .174 .225 .259 .085 3 14
2012 TOR MLB AL 227 211 25 46 13 0 8 83 27 9 68 1 0 .218 .249 .393 .175 1 6
2013 JAX AA SOU 13 11 1 3 1 0 1 7 6 1 6 0 0 .273 .333 .636 .364 0 1
2013 NWO AAA PCL 10 9 1 2 1 0 1 6 2 1 5 0 0 .222 .300 .667 .444 0 0
2013 JUP A+ FSL 16 14 1 4 2 0 0 6 4 1 4 0 0 .286 .375 .429 .143 0 0
2013 MIA MLB NL 256 232 14 42 7 1 5 66 29 21 76 0 0 .181 .251 .284 .103 1 1
2014 MIA MLB NL 195 175 12 35 7 0 2 48 12 15 64 0 0 .200 .263 .274 .074 0
2015 JAX AA SOU 20 17 2 5 1 0 0 6 2 2 6 0 0 .294 .350 .353 .059 1 0
2015 MIA MLB NL 103 93 9 15 4 1 2 27 12 7 24 0 0 .161 .214 .290 .129 3 0
2015 NWO AAA PCL 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0
2016 MIA MLB NL 132 126 12 30 4 1 2 42 15 4 36 0 0 .238 .267 .333 .095 0 1
2017 ARI MLB NL 203 186 13 40 10 2 2 60 11 14 61 1 0 .215 .277 .323 .108 0 1
2018 ARI MLB NL 218 195 15 39 9 1 1 53 20 20 66 0 0 .200 .272 .272 .072 2 1
2019 TEX MLB AL 244 228 17 36 9 0 2 51 12 15 87 1 0 .158 .209 .224 .066 1 0

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr% CSAA
2008 1162 0.5009 0.4587 0.6735 0.6323 0.2845 0.7527 0.4970 0.3265 -0.0018
2009 1035 0.5053 0.4628 0.7119 0.6291 0.2930 0.7964 0.5267 0.2881 0.0010
2010 729 0.5048 0.4925 0.6825 0.6332 0.3490 0.7940 0.4762 0.3175 -0.0035
2011 1019 0.5231 0.4936 0.6899 0.6304 0.3436 0.8065 0.4551 0.3101 -0.0123
2012 801 0.4869 0.5019 0.6468 0.6256 0.3844 0.7787 0.4430 0.3532 -0.0031
2013 948 0.5243 0.4747 0.6844 0.6197 0.3149 0.7500 0.5423 0.3156 -0.0035
2014 711 0.4951 0.4684 0.6667 0.6051 0.3343 0.7230 0.5667 0.3333 -0.0049
2015 391 0.4629 0.4885 0.6702 0.6685 0.3333 0.7769 0.4857 0.3298 -0.0063
2016 446 0.5381 0.5135 0.6856 0.6917 0.3058 0.7892 0.4127 0.3144 0.0000
2017 746 0.5040 0.5161 0.6623 0.6835 0.3459 0.7821 0.4219 0.3377 0.0000
2018 876 0.4749 0.4384 0.6745 0.6322 0.2630 0.7643 0.4793 0.3255 0.0000
2019 927 0.5092 0.5156 0.6318 0.6631 0.3626 0.6677 0.5636 0.3682 0.0000
Career97910.50350.48270.67400.63900.32420.76360.49400.3260-0.0028

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
2013-09-25 2013-09-30 DTD 5 4 Right Thumb Fracture - -
2013-09-10 2013-09-16 DTD 6 7 Right Thumb Contusion - -
2013-06-27 2013-06-29 DTD 2 1 Left Hand Contusion Follow Through - -
2013-03-22 2013-05-14 15-DL 53 38 Right Shoulder Recovery From Fracture Clavicle - -
2013-02-24 2013-03-22 Camp 26 0 Right Shoulder Fracture Collarbone From Foul Ball - -
2012-09-14 2012-09-19 DTD 5 3 - General Medical Illness Flu - -
2011-08-14 2011-08-15 DTD 1 1 Left Hand Contusion HBP - -
2010-04-20 2010-06-17 15-DL 58 55 Right Wrist Fracture Blocking Ball In Dirt -
2010-03-31 2010-04-03 Camp 3 0 Hand Contusion -
2009-09-27 2009-09-29 DTD 2 2 General Medical Illness Strep Throat -
2009-07-30 2009-08-02 DTD 3 2 Back Tightness -
2008-08-09 2008-08-12 DTD 3 2 Right Irritation -
2008-03-19 2008-03-23 Camp 4 0 General Medical Illness Throat -
2006-03-19 2006-03-23 Camp 4 0 Hand Contusion HBP -

Compensation

Year Team Salary
2020 TEX $3,000,000
2019 TEX $3,250,000
2018 ARI $2,000,000
2017 ARI $2,000,000
2016 MIA $1,500,000
2015 MIA $1,500,000
2014 MIA $1,500,000
2013 MIA $1,500,000
2012 TOR $1,500,000
2011 ANA $1,700,000
2010 ANA $1,300,000
2009 ANA $450,000
2008 ANA $415,000
2006 ANA $327,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
14 yrPrevious$21,942,000
14 yrTotal$21,942,000

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
14 y 12 dJet Sports1 year (2021)

Details
  • 1 year (2021). Signed by Philadelphia as a free agent 2/16/21 (minor-league contract). Salary of $1.8M in majors. Released by Philadelphia 3/24/21. Signed by Atlanta as a free agent 3/30/21 (minor-league contract). Contract selected by Atlanta 5/2/21. DFA by Atlanta 5/19/21. Sent outright to Triple-A 5/20/21.
  • 2 years/$6.25M (2019-20). Signed by Texas as a free agent 11/19/18. 19:$3.25M, 20:$3M.
  • 2 years/$4M (2017-18). Signed by Arizona as a free agent 12/6/16. 17:$2M, 18:$2M.
  • 1 year/$1.5M (2016). Re-signed by Miami as a free agent 12/18/15. Performance bonuses: $20,000 each for 300, 350, 400, 450, 500 plate appearances.
  • 2 years/$3M (2013-14), plus 2015 club option. Signed extension with Toronto 8/15/12. 13:$1.5M, 14:$1.5M, 15:$1.5M club option. Acquired by Miami in trade from Toronto 11/13/12. Miami exercised 2015 option 11/1/14.
  • 1 year/$1.5M (2012). Signed by Toronto 12/12/11 (avoided arbitration).
  • 1 year/$1.7M (2011). Re-signed by LA Angels 1/11/11 (avoided arbitration). Performance bonuses: $50,000 each for 110, 120 games started. Acquired by Toronto in trade from LA Angels 12/1/11.
  • 1 year/$1.3M (2010). Won arbitration with LA Angels 2/19/10 ($1.3M-$0.7M).
  • 1 year/$450,000 (2009). Re-signed 2/16/09.
  • 1 year/$415,000 (2008). Re-signed by LA Angels 3/2/08.
  • 1 year (2007). Re-signed by LA Angels 2/07. Optioned to Triple-A 4/07. Recalled 7/2/07.
  • 1 year/$327,000 (2006). Re-signed by LA Angels 2/06. Optioned to Triple-A 5/06. Recalled 9/06.
  • 1 year (2005). Contract purchased by LA Angels 11/04. Re-signed by LA Angels 2/05. Recalled 8/05. Optioned to Triple-A 8/05. Recalled 9/05.
  • Drafted by LA Angels 2001 (1s-33) (Marianna HS, Fla.). $850,000 signing bonus.

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ VORP FRAA WARP
90o 58 14 3 0 1 5 15 0 0 .275 .351 .392 95 0.0 C 3 0.0
80o 38 9 2 0 1 3 10 0 0 .265 .324 .412 87 0.0 C 2 0.0
70o 24 5 1 0 0 2 6 0 0 .227 .292 .273 82 0.0 C 1 0.0
60o 12 3 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 .273 .333 .364 77 0.0 C 1 0.0
50o 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 72 0.0 C 0 0.0
Weighted Mean410000100.250.250.250740.0C 00.0

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BP Annual Player Comments

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BP Articles

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BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2014-09-08 13:00:00 (link to chat)I greatly enjoyed your blog at the OC Register prior to your BP tenure (especially the faux Leno monologue about Jeff Mathis, and the Pujols cake collage). Do you have any particular favorites from that time, and were you ever surprised they let you publish some of the more offbeat stuff?
(Ken from The Island )		They almost totally ignored what I did, so wasn't surprised. I don't mean ignored in a bad way. They just gave me a little corner of the site, never looked at it, didn't really get it when they did, but appreciated that a bunch of otherwise non-newspaper readers did. A favorite... I liked this a lot: http://bit.ly/1qHzJ6y.

My favorite thing I did there no longer works, because they migrated all the blog content over to another part of the site or something so none of the photos load anymore. It was about players wearing gloves on their head. It was, yeah, that was a really good day, when that ran. Sigh. (Sam Miller)
2012-12-28 13:00:00 (link to chat)It seemed like James McDonald put everything together before the All-star break last year, however, he slowly fell apart thereafter. What do you expect from McDonald next year? Thanks for the chat, Geoff.
(Jim from Philly)		Hi Jim, thanks for stopping by to chat. I'm going to get crazy and predict an ERA between 4.00 and 4.21 for McDonald this year, same as every year. But yikes, that second half is scary. I don't know how you go from having opponents hit like Jeff Mathis to having them hit like Willie Mays in such a short span. The positive spin is that McDonald showed the ability to dominate over a decent stretch of games. The flip side is... yuck. (Geoff Young)
2012-03-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)Tell us your favorite Jeff Mathis story.
(mattymatty2000 from Portland, OR)		All of these details will be slightly off because I'm going from memory, but the basic facts are: In the 2009 ALCS, the Angels were playing the Yankees and Mathis doubles to lead off the tenth inning of a tie game. Scioscia sacrifices, so he's on third with one out. Doesn't pinch-run Willits for him. Instead, leaves him in, and Napoli on the bench. Next batter grounds to first, but it was a tough play, I think the first baseman had to dive, but Mathis was the runner and Mathis is slowish so Mathis doesn't score. I'm alllll up on the Internet being like "Man that move is going to define Mike Scioscia for 50 years" and stuff. Run doesn't score, game goes on, 20 minutes later I had to leave the park for another engagement, and as I'm walking out I hear a massive roar. No radio in my car. Call a friend, find out Mathis doubled home the winning run. Get to a computer 15 minutes later and everybody who has ever hated me has gone onto the blog post I'd written with some variation of "Wrong again, dumbskull." It was great. (Sam Miller)
2012-03-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)Tell us your favorite Jeff Mathis story.
(mattymatty2000 from Portland, OR)		All of these details will be slightly off because I'm going from memory, but the basic facts are: In the 2009 ALCS, the Angels were playing the Yankees and Mathis doubles to lead off the tenth inning of a tie game. Scioscia sacrifices, so he's on third with one out. Doesn't pinch-run Willits for him. Instead, leaves him in, and Napoli on the bench. Next batter grounds to first, but it was a tough play, I think the first baseman had to dive, but Mathis was the runner and Mathis is slowish so Mathis doesn't score. I'm alllll up on the Internet being like "Man that move is going to define Mike Scioscia for 50 years" and stuff. Run doesn't score, game goes on, 20 minutes later I had to leave the park for another engagement, and as I'm walking out I hear a massive roar. No radio in my car. Call a friend, find out Mathis doubled home the winning run. Get to a computer 15 minutes later and everybody who has ever hated me has gone onto the blog post I'd written with some variation of "Wrong again, dumbskull." It was great. (Sam Miller)
2012-03-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)Tell us your favorite Jeff Mathis story.
(mattymatty2000 from Portland, OR)		All of these details will be slightly off because I'm going from memory, but the basic facts are: In the 2009 ALCS, the Angels were playing the Yankees and Mathis doubles to lead off the tenth inning of a tie game. Scioscia sacrifices, so he's on third with one out. Doesn't pinch-run Willits for him. Instead, leaves him in, and Napoli on the bench. Next batter grounds to first, but it was a tough play, I think the first baseman had to dive, but Mathis was the runner and Mathis is slowish so Mathis doesn't score. I'm alllll up on the Internet being like "Man that move is going to define Mike Scioscia for 50 years" and stuff. Run doesn't score, game goes on, 20 minutes later I had to leave the park for another engagement, and as I'm walking out I hear a massive roar. No radio in my car. Call a friend, find out Mathis doubled home the winning run. Get to a computer 15 minutes later and everybody who has ever hated me has gone onto the blog post I'd written with some variation of "Wrong again, dumbskull." It was great. (Sam Miller)
2012-03-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)When do we see Bauer hit the bigs?
(Jquinton82 from NY)		Second favorite Jeff Mathis story is when I accidentally submitted that three times.

I hate to just assume this for every top prospect, but I assume he's up in late June like the rest of 'em. And Wade Miley gets the starts when Joe Saunders or Josh Collmenter goes down early. (Sam Miller)
2011-12-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)Tell us the truth, you're a little bit sad about Jeff Mathis leaving, right?
(smallmanoncampus from Delta, BC)		I'm a lot sad about it. Jeff Mathis was a challenge to all our beliefs, to my beliefs, to Scioscia's beliefs. It's good to be humble about baseball, and I would have gladly watched Mathis for another five or six years just to keep having my preconceived notions about catching challenged. (Sam Miller)
2011-12-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)Did the Rangers really screw up by not trading one of Salty, Ramirez and Teagarden when their values were all high?
(rwinter from Boston)		In the sense that they didn't trade prospects who flopped, sure. You could say that about every team and every prospect who flopped. Did the Angels err in not trading Brandon Wood when he was a top-10 prospect? In retrospect, of course, but there was no way of knowing that.

The fact that all three of those players flopped in their own ways supports the decision to keep all of them, though, instead of treating them as depth. Catchers have a brutal attrition rate. Baseball America's top 100 in 2000 included six catchers: Eric Munson, Ben Petrick, Matt LeCroy, Jayson Werth (Orioles), Steve Lomasney, Ryan Christianson. In 2001: Joe Lawrence, Dane Sardinha, Brandon Inge, J.R. House. In 2002: Mauer, Josh Phelps, House, John Buck, Werth (Blue Jays), Victor Martinez. In 2003: Mauer, Martinez, Jeff Mathis, Justin Huber, Buck.

In 2007, when the Rangers had to make this decision, Kevin Goldstein ranked the catchers in the minors. He named 17 players. These are the 17:

Jeff Clement
Bryan Anderson
J.R. Towles
Teagarden
Hank Conger
John Jaso
Ramirez
Nick Hundley
Tony Recker
Jesus Montero
Brett Hayes
Francisco Hernandez
Lou Palmisano
Landon Powell
Shawn Riggans
Jamie Skelton
Brian Jeroloman

Out of those 17, there are basically one and a half every day catchers, maaaaaaybe another one in Hank Conger, and a DH. We thought the Rangers had three catchers, plus Gerald Laird. In fact, they had Gerald Laird.

Also:
2007 Baseball Prospectus Annual: "When Teagarden is behind the dish, he's one of the top defensive catchers around. If he can stay there, he's Mickey Tettleton with defensive chops."
2008 Baseball Prospectus Annual: "If you want to get really dreamy and optimistic, think Mickey Tettleton with Gold Glove-level skills, and you get the picture."

This is why comps are the best/worst. (Sam Miller)
2011-09-02 14:00:00 (link to chat)Is Mike Scioscia crazy or is Hank Conger's defense really that bad? Would the rest of the league just live with it because the bat is so good?
(Aaron from YYZ)		Well, I don't know if the bat is THAT good, but the total package is obviously a much better one than Jeff Mathis. (Kevin Goldstein)
2011-08-17 13:00:00 (link to chat)How does one best insert a LOL into "Jeff Mathis"?
(ssimon from Pelham, NY)		Obviously, our options are limited and we can see without even testing that none will work well. This is yet another way that Jeff Mathis is frustrating for fans to watch. Remember that time the baserunner was stealing and Mathis threw the ball to first base? Everybody watching was like, "Jeff LOLthis? Jeff MathLOL?" And ultimately nobody said anything, and because nobody said anything Mathis got to play the next game. Just how it works, folks.

Mathis' surname does provide one therapeutic option, if you're into anagrams. (I'm not going to type it here, but it's pretty simple to figure out, and also too mean to really enjoy.) I've long felt that "Math Is" provided some potential for wit, but it doesn't really go anywhere, because any pun you come up with only works only works in one direction. "Math is the worst," for instance, is a grammatical statement, but "Mathis the worst" isn't. All puns are awful, but the least awful at least work grammatically on both levels.

I asked the writers at Productive Outs, who are LOL-poets when it comes to baseballer names, what they make of Mathis, and I think their answer is correct. "Jeff Mathis serves as his own punchline. It's very zen. Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm." This seems right. (Sam Miller)
2011-08-17 13:00:00 (link to chat)Does Jeff Mathis love avocado's?
(Jeff from South)		I don't know, but I know that Chevy Clarke loves avocados.

OK, we have a second very important question. This was on Yahoo! Answers, and I'm interesting in the chosen answer.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110620164033AA0TQ2v

That's obviously not true, right? Obviously? That's the first question. But the second important question is this: Fans get crazy excited when there's a long at bat, and they get louder and louder and the announcers start keeping track and you know that lift in their voice they get when they're like, "he fouls ANOTHER one back." But if there was a 35,000-pitch at bat, at what point would you stop being excited and start getting bored? I think I would stop being excited at 32, then start getting excited at 65, then stop again at 110. Is this something Bud Selig needs to do something about? (Sam Miller)
2011-08-17 13:00:00 (link to chat)Jeff Mathis has a firm hand in creating 27 outs per game, why isn't he being considered for AL MVP?
(stydings from Dirty Jersey)		This is in reference to a tweet that the Angels' mlb.com writer, Lyle Spencer, had a couple days ago. He basically said, Mathis has a direct hand in 27 outs in the game, and only causes 3 outs in the game with his bat, so his defense is nine times more valuable than his offense is destructive. Something like that. And you're absolutely right: If Jeff Mathis' defense was really this valuable, why did they take him to arbitration two years ago over a couple hundred thousand dollars? If he's worth a run a game on defense, as they more or less maintain, why aren't they willing to pay him $50 million or $60 million a year? (Sam Miller)
2011-04-18 13:00:00 (link to chat)What's the book on Hank Conger? Think he'll stick? I don't know if Scioscia can quit Jeff Mathis.
(PS from NJ)		He's above-average offensively, but below average defensively. I think Scioscia's preference is for a catch with D, which could hurt him. Obviously, he's more valuable than Mathis. (Kevin Goldstein)
2011-04-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)Wanna talk about the Angels . . . due for a continued collapse . . . still starting Jeff Mathis, still employing Brandon Wood and Reggie Willits, hiring Fernando Rodney to close, and still riding Scott Kazmir - now the worse starting pitcher in the league?
(Scoresheetwiz from Great Lakes Region)		Writers like to pick the Twins every year just because the Twins seem to overcome expectations, and they like to pick the Angels because they have a long track-record of excellence, but I think in both cases they've missed the boat this year. These teams had maybe the worst offseasons in baseball. In the case of the Angels, I still have some belief in Willits as a fourth/fifth outfielder, but as I discussed in today's Broadside (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=13452) the Mathis thing is terrible and retaining Brandon Wood simply cruel.

I used to have great admiration for Mike Scioscia's talents, but it seems like he's ossified and his worst instincts now control him. (Steven Goldman)
2010-08-09 13:00:00 (link to chat)What would be your plan for the Angels over the next 6 months? Some young parts,some old parts, Texas ascendancy...
(JG from Princeton)		The Haren trade complicates my plan, which would have involved punting '11. It's such an odd roster, with enough talent to be a good, but not great, team now, and probably too good to start over with. On the other hand, how long do you keep running Howie Kendrick and Jeff Mathis out there before realizing it's now working?

You know what I wouldn't mind? Seeing them get back to max defense, which is what made their best teams so good. They won't have a good offense anyway, so see if you can put a +40 defense on the field. (Joe Sheehan)
2009-10-20 14:00:00 (link to chat)Is the discrepancy between the popular notion of the playoffs (heros and clutchiness) vs. the randomness of baseball in short series (i.e., A-Rod's "unclutchiness" or the question on the Dodgers here in this chat) something that drives you nuts, too?
(Fred from Burnaby, BC)		It did. Now I just try and put as much good information into the world as I can, and hope that over time it makes a difference.

There *is* something to the idea of heroes and goats, but those are based on actions, not character. Jimmy Rollins and Jeff Mathis were clutch last night, and deserve all the credit in the world for that. They gave use great moments. As long as you don't leap from "wow" to "they must be superior people," we're cool. (Joe Sheehan)
2009-09-07 13:00:00 (link to chat)I get it that Iannetta's hitting .220, but why has Tracy started Torrealba six of the last seven games (as of 9/5)? Argh! Sorry... Strat league frustration.
(jlebeck66 from WI)		The fascination with Torrealba is like there's a rampant case of popular delusions on the value of some guys, not just the Molinas not names Yadier, but also Rod Barajas, Jeff Mathis... it's like a badge of honor to play catchers who can't hit and won't. (Christina Kahrl)
2008-11-03 13:30:00 (link to chat)Should we be excited about Kelly Shoppach?
(dcarroll from WI)		Absolutely. His production this year makes it clear that he's not simply a guy whose upside was as a second-division starting backstop. Look at how much churn was generated over the execrable Jeff Mathis this year... Mathis isn't one of the 30 best catchers on the planet; he probably isn't in the top 50 either. Shoppach obviously is one of the 30 best. It's not just the Rangers who have options behind the plate. (Christina Kahrl)


BP Roundtables

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Advanced Catching Metrics

Year lvl CSAA Framing Runs Blocking Chances EPAA Blocking Runs SB Attempts SRAA TRAA Throwing Runs FRAA Adj. FRAA
2005 mlb .001 0.0 13 .000 0.0 0 .000 .000 0.0 0.8 0.0
2005 aaa .000 0.0 4318 .000 -0.5 70 -.009 -.004 0.7 -0.5 2.2
2006 aaa .012 10.3 3335 .000 -0.4 81 -.016 .010 0.8 9.0 15.1
2006 mlb .000 -0.1 707 .000 0.0 14 .029 .005 -0.3 -0.6 -0.2
2007 aaa .016 10.2 2518 .000 0.2 48 -.019 .002 0.6 12.7 12.2
2007 mlb .017 10.5 2475 .001 -0.6 40 .050 .007 -1.3 10.4 9.2
2008 mlb .008 6.5 3495 -.005 5.6 70 .012 .005 -0.5 12.6 12.5
2009 mlb .005 3.7 3155 -.001 1.3 67 .005 .005 -0.2 4.9 6.0
2010 mlb .002 1.2 2787 .005 -3.2 43 .008 .004 -0.2 -1.0 0.4
2010 aaa .010 0.7 305 .000 0.0 5 -.002 .000 0.0 3.0 0.9
2011 mlb .006 4.0 3024 -.001 1.0 62 .000 .002 0.0 5.4 4.5
2012 mlb .013 6.8 2497 .000 0.2 45 -.091 .000 2.5 11.3 8.5
2013 aax .003 0.1 150 .000 0.0 0 .000 .001 0.0 0.1 0.1
2013 mlb .015 8.3 2598 .001 -0.7 38 -.030 -.002 0.6 7.5 7.3
2013 afa .000 0.0 86 .000 0.0 2 -.016 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0
2013 aaa .009 0.2 99 -.001 0.0 1 .011 .000 0.0 0.2 0.2
2014 mlb .007 2.9 2326 -.001 0.7 41 -.045 -.001 1.1 4.8 5.3
2015 mlb .017 4.1 1253 -.002 0.6 11 -.010 .000 0.1 4.4 5.4
2015 aaa .005 0.1 136 .000 0.0 2 -.002 -.001 0.0 0.1 0.1
2015 aax .005 0.1 111 .000 0.0 6 .002 .003 0.0 0.1 0.2
2016 mlb .025 7.9 1508 -.002 0.8 28 .005 .005 -0.1 8.9 9.1
2017 mlb .018 8.9 2277 .001 -0.7 27 -.059 .004 1.1 8.9 10.2
2018 mlb .021 11.8 2640 -.003 2.3 22 -.003 -.003 0.0 14.1 18.4
2019 mlb -.002 -1.8 3367 -.001 0.8 47 .030 .000 -1.0 -2.1 -2.8

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

 

PITCHf/x Hitter Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC