2008 Catcher Block Percentage

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 1, 2008 12:00 PM EST in Positional Reviews

Last year I began calculating how successful each catcher was at blocking pitches. I tied together the MLB GameDay data with the Retrosheet play-by-play information to identify how many opportunities each catcher had to make a meaningful block. I then subtracted away the number of "misses" or wild pitches and passed balls to come up with a percentage of blocked pitches, which I called Catcher Block Percentage.

Since Retrosheet released their updated event files this week, I've run the calculations for the 2008 season which can be found in the table below. As always, results are limited to those catchers with greater than 100 opportunities (I used that correctly, right Sky?).

Catcher	Innings	Misses	Opportunities	Block %	Blocks AA	Runs	Runs/120
Jeff Mathis	793.33	18	312	0.942307692	26.37	7.12	6.57
Kurt Suzuki	1215	24	329	0.927051672	22.79	6.15	5.39
Jason Kendall	1328.33	45	443	0.898419865	18	4.86	3.16
Jason Varitek	1041.33	25	290	0.913793103	16.24	4.38	4.36
Russell Martin	1238	35	346	0.898843931	14.21	3.84	3.19
Yadier Molina	1002	35	327	0.892966361	11.5	3.11	2.74
Humberto Quintero	447	5	106	0.952830189	10.07	2.72	7.39
Brad Ausmus	569.67	11	148	0.925675676	10.05	2.71	5.28
Rod Barajas	785.33	19	203	0.906403941	9.87	2.66	3.78
Carlos Ruiz	828	23	226	0.898230088	9.14	2.47	3.15
J.R. Towles	408.67	10	133	0.92481203	8.91	2.41	5.21
Geovany Soto	1150.33	37	316	0.882911392	7.94	2.14	1.95
Matt Treanor	524.67	16	149	0.89261745	5.19	1.4	2.71
Chris Coste	612.67	14	132	0.893939394	4.77	1.29	2.81
Dave Ross	399.67	13	119	0.890756303	3.92	1.06	2.56
Jason LaRue	412	12	110	0.890909091	3.64	0.98	2.58
Josh Bard	416.67	11	100	0.89	3.22	0.87	2.51
Nick Hundley	486.33	18	146	0.876712329	2.76	0.75	1.47
Chris Snyder	922.67	32	244	0.868852459	2.7	0.73	0.86
Shawn Riggans	343.33	12	103	0.883495146	2.65	0.72	2
Kenji Johjima	833.33	27	207	0.869565217	2.44	0.66	0.92
Gregg Zaun	612.33	31	223	0.860986547	0.71	0.19	0.25
Joe Mauer	1203	31	222	0.86036036	0.57	0.15	0.2
Gerald Laird	753	30	207	0.855072464	-0.56	-0.15	-0.21
John Baker	496	18	120	0.85	-0.93	-0.25	-0.61
Brian McCann	1143.33	36	242	0.851239669	-1.58	-0.43	-0.51
Dioner Navarro	1011.33	33	218	0.848623853	-2	-0.54	-0.71
Paul Bako	770.67	35	226	0.845132743	-2.86	-0.77	-0.98
Wil Nieves	449.67	22	133	0.834586466	-3.09	-0.83	-1.8
Ryan Doumit	909	43	279	0.845878136	-3.32	-0.9	-0.93
Mike Napoli	625	32	193	0.834196891	-4.55	-1.23	-1.84
Bengie Molina	1128.33	48	303	0.841584158	-4.91	-1.33	-1.26
John Buck	950.33	42	260	0.838461538	-5.02	-1.36	-1.5
Kelly Shoppach	872.67	36	217	0.834101382	-5.14	-1.39	-1.84
Ramon Hernandez	1039.33	48	298	0.838926174	-5.62	-1.52	-1.47
Brian Schneider	881	36	206	0.825242718	-6.7	-1.81	-2.53
Ivan Rodriguez	930	34	190	0.821052632	-6.98	-1.88	-2.86
Brandon Inge	493.67	29	152	0.809210526	-7.38	-1.99	-3.78
Yorvit Torrealba	581	25	123	0.796747967	-7.51	-2.03	-4.75
Guillermo Quiroz	354.33	25	120	0.791666667	-7.93	-2.14	-5.14
Miguel Olivo	494.33	26	125	0.792	-8.22	-2.22	-5.12
Jesus Flores	673	34	176	0.806818182	-8.97	-2.42	-3.96
Jose Molina	737	31	154	0.798701299	-9.1	-2.46	-4.6
Jarrod Saltalamacchia	464.33	26	117	0.777777778	-9.36	-2.53	-6.22
A.J. Pierzynski	1134.33	40	213	0.812206573	-9.71	-2.62	-3.55
Chris Iannetta	837	40	192	0.791666667	-12.7	-3.43	-5.14

A couple of AL West catchers lead up the list. Mathis easily out-performed Mike Napoli behind the plate, but Napoli was much better at it (147 OPS+ versus 55). Jason Varitek continues looking good at the defensive aspect of the game while his offense has crumbled. It's nice to see Russell Martin do well, since he often seems to be overlooked when discussing top catchers.

At the bottom of the list is Chris Iannetta, who broke through offensively this season, but could use some work blocking pitches, although his teammate Yorvit Torrealba didn't do much better. A.J. Pierzynski continues his poor performance from past seasons. A lot of his placement comes from how much he played though - his rate performance isn't too bad. The Yankees replaced Jorge Posada with approximately the same value behind the plate (a relatively low one). Ivan Rodriguez was better in 2008 than in seasons past, but still was below average. And we can make another check mark in the reasons to move Jarrod Saltalamacchia to first base column, as he ranks far behind Gerald Laird this season.

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Comments

Question

Are these numbers count all pitches in the dirt or the ones when there is a runner on base and a 2 strikes on batter with 1st open (when it matters if the ball is in the dirt)?

by Jeff Zimmerman on Dec 1, 2008 12:48 PM EST reply actions

Only with runners on base

I’ll have to check, but I’m not sure I include 2 strikes with 1st base open, which would definitely be an oversight.

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 1, 2008 5:43 PM EST up reply actions

Russell Martin, overlooked?

Russell Martin is turning into an overrated player because far too many people have him as the best catcher in the league.

Mother---- him and John Wayne!

by MerryGoByeBye on Dec 1, 2008 1:00 PM EST reply actions

Do you mean

The best catcher in the NL? I can’t imagine that many people think he’s the best in all of baseball. But I can’t think of a lot of guys in the NL I’d pick over him either.

by Gina on Dec 1, 2008 1:54 PM EST up reply actions

Brian McCann is easily the best catcher in the NL...

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Dec 1, 2008 2:09 PM EST up reply actions

Easily?

He had a better 2008, sure. But look at his 2007 numbers (and 2006, sure). And look at Martin’s past numbers. Without much analysis, I’d probably lean toward McCann, but it’s not a no-brainer, I don’t think. Convince me otherwise…

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Dec 1, 2008 2:53 PM EST up reply actions

isn't their defense approximately the same?

seems to me that mccann has a pretty clear advantage on offense. plus a year younger so maybe even a bit more growth, too. seems like an obvious choice to me, too, but what the hell do i know.

by larry on Dec 1, 2008 3:27 PM EST up reply actions

Maybe I'm equating "easily" to "is way better than" too much.

Although on closer inspection, I agree with McCann over Martin. Martin’s career OBP is .015 points higher, but McCann’s career SLG is .068 points higher. Parks and playing time aren’t much of an issue.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Dec 1, 2008 6:09 PM EST up reply actions

yeah, i figured it was more of a how one interprets that word.

form not substance

JERRY OWENS

by larry on Dec 1, 2008 6:20 PM EST up reply actions

I think McCann is better

But thats only one guy out of 16 teams, or something. And it’s hard for me to think that that many people would think Martin is better than McCann so decisively, I’m sure I’m not using that right, that it would really make Martin overrated. But to be honest I don’t really pay attention to sports media other than blogs so my opinion is probably uninformed.

by Gina on Dec 2, 2008 4:27 PM EST up reply actions

Lots of people have him as the best catcher in the MLB

Which points at how underrated Mauer and McCann are.

Mother---- him and John Wayne!

by MerryGoByeBye on Dec 1, 2008 6:39 PM EST up reply actions

but them people are batdung crazy

JERRY OWENS

by larry on Dec 1, 2008 8:30 PM EST up reply actions

A couple of questions

You mentioned that you included wild pitches in the “misses”. Why should a catcher be penalized when a pitcher throws the ball 4 feet away from him and is virtually uncatchable?

Does this study take into consideration that most catchers don’t bother trying to block a pitch if no one is on and there are less then 2 strikes?

by drabidea on Dec 1, 2008 1:29 PM EST reply actions

I don't claim to speak for Dan...

But the difference between a WP and PB is a judgement call by a scorer and they probably aren’t too consistent. Ideally, every mistake would be held against the catcher, but to varying degrees, based on difficulty. Not sure that’s possible, though.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Dec 1, 2008 2:55 PM EST up reply actions

Also, by including WPs, you give more credit to the catchers who are good enough to prevent some WPs, even if they're mostly the pitcher's fault.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Dec 1, 2008 2:55 PM EST up reply actions

Right on

Generally a passed ball only occurs when the ball is not in the dirt AND it hits the catchers glove. A wild pitch is called almost any time the ball is in the dirt.

While there are clearly some times when the catcher has absolutely no chance to block the pitch (say Nuke LaLoosh hitting the mascot), I haven’t come up with a reliable way to determine what those times are. My guess is we’re probably only talking about a handful of these each year anyway.

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 1, 2008 5:46 PM EST up reply actions

I know what you mean

I think you made the right choice putting it into the study. It is a similar argument to when an error is called an error or a hit.

How about the second part of my question of catchers not really caring when there is no one on with less then two outs?

by drabidea on Dec 2, 2008 7:49 PM EST up reply actions

Sorry.. I answered that above

I don’t count those as opportunities.

Right now it’s only with runners on base. I probably need to add 2 strike pitches with first base open though.

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 2, 2008 8:22 PM EST up reply actions

Either way

Nice Job, I really liked the post.

by drabidea on Dec 3, 2008 8:57 AM EST up reply actions

Thanks

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 3, 2008 5:43 PM EST up reply actions

Well, here's one reason the Angels like to play Mathis over Napoli...

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Dec 1, 2008 2:56 PM EST reply actions

Please continue researching and discover more.

Signed,

—Every A’s fan

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Dec 2, 2008 3:15 AM EST up reply actions

there's Crash Kendall exceeding expectations

He was highly panned as a signing. I wish the Gagne signing had worked out as well.

But I wonder if the high number of opportunities he has in the graph is related to catching Ben Sheets whose out pitch is often the curve bounced in the dirt.

by ol Pete on Dec 1, 2008 3:53 PM EST reply actions

If so, I still think Kendall deserves credit for blocking those.

And Sheets should perhaps be docked credit for throwing them in the first place. Although maybe he only throws them because he knows Kendall can block ’em?

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Dec 1, 2008 6:10 PM EST up reply actions

Its actually a great pitch. Sheets is primarily a fastball/curveball pitcher. He has an unusually hard curve with good break. Late in the count he throws it right at the heart of the strike zone and it breaks down onto the plate or in the dirt in front of it. It gets a lot of failed check swing strikes.

Kendall really was fun to watch. Give him a few more days off and pinch hit for him in the 9th seems like it would help him.

by ol Pete on Dec 1, 2008 10:00 PM EST up reply actions

Numbers for 1B

Ever since Albert Pujols was screwed out of the Gold Glove yet again, I have been looking for numbers similar to this for first basemen. Specifically I have been looking for numbers about throws picked out of the dirt. Having watched pretty much every Cardinals game as well as the Cards division opponents, I am convinced that Albert is 2-3 throws per week better at picking balls out of the dirt than any other first baseman in the NL Central. Since I do not see enough of the other divisions, I am not sure how he would rank overall. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could point me to a resource for that data.

Thanks.

by indakind on Dec 1, 2008 5:13 PM EST reply actions

I'm not aware of any available data

BIS and Stats probably have it, but I don’t know of any public source that includes picks by the first baseman.

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 1, 2008 5:47 PM EST up reply actions

Here's something you might be interested in.

http://lanaheimangelfan.blogspot.com/2008/02/first-basemen-and-saving-errors.html

But as a caveat, 2-3 throw per week is the difference between turning 2-3 hits into outs. At a difference of .8 runs per play, that’s 1.6 to 2.4 runs per week. Let’s average that and say 2.0 At 25 weeks to the season, that’s a fifty run difference between Albert and the #2 guy. Even a fifty run difference between Albert and the worst first basemen seems like a stretch.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Dec 1, 2008 6:14 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks

Kind of what I was looking for. I can’t understand why this info is not available. Don’t they review play by play data for Dewan’s +/- system? You would think this is an easy stat to count from that review.

You’re probably right that 2-3 per week is high.

by indakind on Dec 2, 2008 9:08 AM EST up reply actions

I'm sure someone has it

But they don’t share it with us mortals :-)

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 2, 2008 8:22 PM EST up reply actions

i think it would be better to do this by pitcher rather than catcher

since i imagine there are particular pitchers that are harder to block than other.

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Dec 1, 2008 5:53 PM EST reply actions

that's what Tango does in the THT annual, i think, actually?

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Dec 1, 2008 5:53 PM EST up reply actions

WOWY

I attempted to use a WOWY (With or Without You) approach in my first post here last spring to try and isolate the influence of the catcher – but I ran into sample size issues.

Looking at pitchers would also be interesting, but blocking pitches seems to be a much bigger part of a catcher’s value than avoiding wild pitches is for a pitcher.

by Dan Turkenkopf on Dec 1, 2008 6:13 PM EST up reply actions

Has it really been that long since you joined?

Wow.

by R.J. Anderson on Dec 1, 2008 6:34 PM EST up reply actions

Pitch F/x could help here actually

if you look at WP+PB/1000 pitches thrown for pitch type or something along those lines. the pitch recognition might not be good enough for that yet, though. if i had to guess, it’d be curves and knuckles that would be most prone (and Contreras’ forkball), then sliders, then fastballs and changes.

nothing gets ‘em wetter than infrequent postings on the city’s second favorite team

by colintj on Dec 1, 2008 9:10 PM EST up reply actions