2010 Beyond the Box Score Catcher Defense Rankings

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2010 9:30 AM EST in Positional Reviews

Remember me? No? Yeah... about that... I did mean to post every month during the season... but I was busy, baby, you know I love you, right? Look, here's the full, year-end rankings, just for you and me. Forgive me now?

I won't go over the methodology stuff that you can find in earlier posts (so before complaining about it, check those out), there's a short bit at the end of the post after the full rankings. Quickly qualifications: I don't make any great claim to originality (these are my modified version of what own our JinAZ and and Sean "CHONE" Smith do) or perfection here. I started doing this because it was something I could do in Excel fairly quickly during the season from easily available stats. While these might be somewhat helpful in estimating "true talent" (i.e., making projections), these are the observed estimated value of observed 2010 performances of catchers (in runs above/below average) that are not prorated for playing time, so there is a difference there.

That said, a comparison with the 2010 Fans Scouting Report for catchers shows a decent amount of correlation at a glance, so I do think these are getting at something real, despite previously-discussed limitations. The full rankings and more commentary are after the jump, let's see which catchers in baseball are ranked as providing the most (and least) overall value to their team (I didn't combine multi-team performances) in 2010 in runs above/below average in combined fielding errors (FE), throwing errors (TE), passed balls and wild pitches allowed (PBWP), and caught stealing (CS).

Before that, though, here are a few "honorable mentions" in overall defensive value, presented without comment: Joe Mauer (#11, +4.9 runs), Buster Posey (#12, +4.5), Brian McCann (#15, +3.1), John Buck (#22, +1.5), Brayan Pena (#46, +0.4), Carlos Santana (#65, 0.0), Jason Kendall (#78, -0.8).

Best Overall: In agreement with the Fans Scouting Report, the 2010 BtB catcher defense rankings see the Cardinals' Yadier Molina as the defensively most valuable catcher in baseball at 14.6 runs above average. Even with a .299 wOBA, that makes him a very valuable player. The second-best was a surprise to me: Ivan Rodriguez at +9.6 runs. I'm still not sure that signing really made sense for the Nationals given his age, but he can still bring it behind the plate (if not beside it). Carlos Ruiz was #3 overall at +9.2 runs, and given his good bat (+15 runs according to FanGraphs), this was a monster season for a guy who doesn't get that much national attention.

Worst Overall: Out of the 120 catchers listed here, Mike Napoli was pretty bad at number 113 overall and 5.5 runbelow average, so that might make some sense out of the Angels disillusionment with him, except that in relatively equal playing time, his replacement, alleged defensive stalwart Jeff Mathis, in in a three-way tie for baseball's worst with Ryan Doumit (of course) and Francisco Cervelli at -9.4 runs each. The Yankees had a real defensive machine behind the plate in 2010, with Jorge Posada clocking in at -8.6 runs.

Caught Stealing, the Best: Yadier Molina is (unsurprisingly) the best here at +8.6 runs, I don't know why teams run on him. The Rockies' (now the Jays until [hopefully for them] he turns down arbitration) Miguel Olivo gunned down plenty of runners, too, at +7.1 runs. It will be interesting to see who signs him, given his regression at the plate after a hot start and continued issues with blocking pitches. Cleveland's Lou Marson was a disaster at the plate this season, but he probably isn't really as bad as he looked, and if he really is this good defensively (+5.3 runs in throwing out basestealers, +7.3 overall) he will be a good backup for Carlos Santana, at least.

Caught Stealing, the Worst: No big shocker here, with Ryan Doumit at -8.5 runs. It wouldn't surprise me if he never saw extended time behind the plate again. Second-worst is Victor Martinez at -6 runs; as many have noted, teams looking at him in free agency really do need to consider just how much longer he'll be viable as a catcher when estimating his value. Jorge Posada is not surprise at -5.5 runs, but Kurt Suzuki is at -4.7.

Passed Balls & Wild Pitches, the Best: This is where Carlos Ruiz made his bones in these rankings, at +7.2 runs. Rod Barajas gets lumped in with the Bengie Molina crowd a fair bit, and while that is understandable on one level, a .310 wOBA isn't bad for a catcher, and he is good defensively, at +6.7 runs in blocking pitches. Pudge Rodriguez is usually noted for his throwing arm, but was more impressive at blocking pitches according to these rankings at +5.4 runs.

Passed Balls & Wild Pitches, the Worst: Jeff Mathis, defensive wunderkind, fills out the bottom of the rankings at -5.6 runs. He must call a heck of a game. Passed Ball Legend Miguel Olivo gives most of his value in the running game back in this part of his game at -4.9 runs. Adam Moore had a typical 2010 Mariners performance here at -4.5 runs.

2010 Beyond the Box Score Catcher Defense Rankings

Rank	Name	Age	Tm	PA	FERuns	TERuns	PBWPRns	CSRuns	Total
1	Yadier Molina	27	STL	4735	0.6	1.0	4.5	8.6	14.6
2	Ivan Rodriguez	38	WSN	3832	1.1	0.4	5.4	2.7	9.6
3	Carlos Ruiz	31	PHI	4045	0.4	0.1	7.2	1.5	9.2
4	Matt Wieters	24	BAL	4615	-0.2	1.4	4.7	2.6	8.4
5	Lou Marson	24	CLE	3158	0.1	1.0	0.9	5.3	7.3
6	Yorvit Torrealba	31	SDP	3259	0.2	1.0	4.3	0.8	6.3
7	Rod Barajas	34	NYM	2635	-1.5	1.6	6.7	-0.6	6.1
8	Humberto Quintero	30	HOU	2801	-1.5	0.7	3.5	2.7	5.5
9	Henry Blanco	38	NYM	1528	0.4	0.9	0.0	3.8	5.1
10	Chris Snyder	29	ARI	2317	0.7	0.9	3.2	0.1	4.9
11	Joe Mauer	27	MIN	3988	1.1	1.0	3.1	-0.4	4.9
12	Buster Posey	23	SFG	2735	0.0	-0.3	1.6	3.1	4.5
13	Ryan Hanigan	29	CIN	2155	0.6	-0.6	2.7	1.8	4.5
14	Ronny Paulino	29	FLA	3190	-0.6	0.0	1.6	2.6	3.6
15	Brian McCann	26	ATL	4700	-0.9	-2.4	3.5	3.0	3.1
16	Ramon Hernandez	34	CIN	3245	0.9	0.1	0.1	1.8	2.8
17	Drew Butera	26	MIN	1662	-1.0	-0.4	0.1	3.8	2.5
18	Josh Thole	23	NYM	1973	0.6	-0.2	0.2	1.9	2.4
19	Geovany Soto	27	CHC	3712	0.3	0.8	3.1	-1.9	2.3
20	Jason Varitek	38	BOS	1171	0.3	0.7	2.1	-1.0	2.1
21	Erik Kratz	30	PIT	331	0.1	0.2	0.1	1.5	1.9
22	John Buck	29	TOR	4028	1.1	0.0	-0.2	0.5	1.5
23	Nick Hundley	26	SDP	2795	0.0	0.3	1.8	-0.6	1.5
24	Corky Miller	34	CIN	782	0.2	0.5	0.9	-0.2	1.4
25	Miguel Olivo	31	COL	3935	1.1	-1.9	-4.9	7.1	1.4
26	Jason Castro	23	HOU	2192	0.6	0.9	-3.9	3.8	1.4
27	Brian Schneider	33	PHI	1432	0.4	-0.1	1.4	-0.4	1.3
28	Wilson Ramos	22	WSN	547	0.2	0.3	1.3	-0.6	1.2
29	Alex Avila	23	DET	3256	0.2	1.0	-3.5	3.5	1.2
30	Carlos Maldonado	31	WSN	116	0.0	0.1	0.1	1.0	1.1
31	Ramon Castro	34	CHW	1204	-0.4	0.7	1.6	-0.9	1.0
32	J. P. Arencibia	24	TOR	267	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.5	1.0
33	Luke Carlin	29	CLE	157	0.0	0.1	0.5	0.4	1.0
34	David Ross	33	ATL	1348	0.4	-1.1	0.9	0.8	1.0
35	Jason LaRue	36	STL	688	0.2	0.4	-0.2	0.5	0.9
36	Jake Fox	27	BAL	292	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.9
37	Chris Gimenez	27	CLE	739	0.2	0.0	-0.3	1.1	0.9
38	Dane Sardinha	31	PHI	350	0.1	0.2	0.5	0.1	0.8
39	Gerald Laird	30	DET	2876	0.1	-0.2	-2.4	3.3	0.8
40	Matt Treanor	34	TEX	2626	-0.8	1.1	1.9	-1.5	0.7
41	Jose Morales	27	MIN	198	0.1	0.1	0.6	-0.1	0.7
42	J.R. Towles	26	HOU	509	0.1	-0.2	0.4	0.3	0.7
43	Brett Hayes	26	FLA	824	0.2	0.5	-0.6	0.6	0.6
44	Dioner Navarro	26	TBR	1349	0.4	-1.1	0.6	0.7	0.6
45	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	25	BOS	186	0.1	0.1	0.5	-0.2	0.5
46	Brayan Pena	28	KCR	1492	-1.1	0.4	-0.1	1.2	0.4
47	Brad Davis	27	FLA	1204	0.3	-1.2	1.0	0.2	0.4
48	Chris Hatcher	25	FLA	111	0.0	0.1	-0.2	0.5	0.4
49	Jose Molina	35	TOR	1870	0.5	0.2	-4.0	3.6	0.3
50	Max St. Pierre	30	DET	66	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.3
51	Welington Castillo	23	CHC	197	0.1	0.1	-0.5	0.5	0.2
52	Tyler Flowers	24	CHW	136	0.0	0.1	-0.2	0.2	0.2
53	Josh Donaldson	24	OAK	203	0.1	-0.4	0.0	0.4	0.1
54	Wil Nieves	32	WSN	1712	0.5	-1.4	2.5	-1.6	0.1
55	Rob Johnson	26	SEA	2158	0.6	-0.6	-2.6	2.7	0.1
56	Steve Hill	25	STL	15	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
57	Brian Esposito	31	HOU	14	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
58	Russell Martin	27	LAD	3385	0.2	-2.3	-0.9	3.0	0.0
59	Jamie Burke	38	WSN	7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
60	J. C. Boscan	30	ATL	4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
61	Chris Stewart	28	SDP	4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
62	Nick Stavinoha	28	STL	2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
63	Konrad Schmidt	25	ARI	74	0.0	0.0	-0.1	0.0	0.0
64	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	25	TEX	37	0.0	0.0	0.1	-0.1	0.0
65	Carlos Santana	24	CLE	1460	-0.3	0.4	-1.3	1.2	0.0
66	Jason Jaramillo	27	PIT	1008	-0.5	-0.3	0.5	0.3	0.0
67	Michael McKenry	25	COL	46	0.0	0.0	-0.1	0.0	-0.1
68	Bengie Molina	35	TEX	1876	-0.2	-0.8	0.5	0.2	-0.3
69	A.J. Ellis	29	LAD	1323	0.4	0.3	-1.1	0.1	-0.3
70	Eliezer Alfonzo	31	SEA	402	-1.4	0.2	0.6	0.2	-0.3
71	Bobby Wilson	27	LAA	1117	0.3	0.2	-0.1	-0.8	-0.4
72	Josh Bard	32	SEA	1288	-1.1	0.8	0.2	-0.3	-0.5
73	John Baker	29	FLA	752	0.2	-0.5	0.5	-0.7	-0.5
74	Donny Lucy	27	CHW	190	0.1	0.1	0.0	-0.7	-0.6
75	Jake Fox	27	OAK	251	-0.7	0.2	0.2	-0.2	-0.6
76	Ryan Budde	30	LAA	121	0.0	0.1	-0.5	-0.2	-0.6
77	Paul Hoover	34	PHI	268	-0.7	-0.3	0.0	0.3	-0.7
78	Jason Kendall	36	KCR	4495	-1.0	-2.1	1.8	0.5	-0.8
79	Landon Powell	28	OAK	1116	-0.4	-1.7	1.9	-0.5	-0.8
80	Guillermo Quiroz	28	SEA	81	0.0	-0.4	-0.6	0.2	-0.8
81	Gustavo Molina	28	BOS	81	0.0	0.0	-0.6	-0.4	-1.0
82	Brad Ausmus	41	LAD	721	0.2	0.0	1.3	-2.5	-1.0
83	Dusty Brown	28	BOS	157	0.0	0.1	-0.9	-0.2	-1.0
84	Hank Conger	22	LAA	314	0.1	-1.2	0.6	-0.5	-1.0
85	Bryan Anderson	23	STL	257	0.1	-0.3	-0.1	-0.7	-1.1
86	Mike Nickeas	27	NYM	109	0.0	-0.4	-0.2	-0.4	-1.1
87	Miguel Montero	26	ARI	2839	0.1	1.2	-3.4	1.0	-1.1
88	Gregg Zaun	39	MIL	1095	-0.4	0.2	-0.1	-0.8	-1.2
89	Chad Moeller	35	NYY	163	0.0	0.1	-0.6	-0.7	-1.2
90	Kevin Cash	32	BOS	789	0.2	0.0	-0.8	-0.7	-1.2
91	Wilson Ramos	22	MIN	258	0.1	0.2	-1.2	-0.4	-1.3
92	Paul Phillips	33	COL	232	0.1	-0.3	-1.0	-0.1	-1.4
93	Taylor Teagarden	26	TEX	885	0.3	0.1	-1.0	-0.7	-1.4
94	Koyie Hill	31	CHC	2389	-0.1	0.0	1.5	-2.9	-1.5
95	Kelly Shoppach	30	TBR	1688	-0.3	0.5	-0.6	-1.3	-1.6
96	Mike Rivera	33	FLA	136	0.0	-0.4	-0.7	-0.6	-1.7
97	Luke May	25	KCR	346	0.1	0.2	-1.5	-0.5	-1.7
98	Jonathan Lucroy	24	MIL	2815	-1.5	0.8	-3.2	2.0	-1.9
99	Mike Redmond	39	CLE	710	0.2	0.0	0.4	-2.6	-2.1
100	Matt Pagnozzi	27	STL	440	0.1	-0.2	-0.7	-1.4	-2.2
101	Eli Whiteside	30	SFG	1487	0.4	-0.1	-2.9	0.2	-2.3
102	A.J. Pierzynski	33	CHW	4650	0.6	0.9	-0.8	-3.0	-2.4
103	Bengie Molina	35	SFG	1937	0.5	0.7	-3.0	-0.9	-2.7
104	Max Ramirez	25	TEX	789	0.2	-0.5	-1.0	-1.5	-2.8
105	Craig Tatum	27	BAL	1355	-0.4	-0.1	0.1	-2.6	-3.1
106	Kurt Suzuki	26	OAK	4441	0.5	-0.7	1.6	-4.7	-3.2
107	John Jaso	26	TBR	3066	-0.6	0.4	-1.3	-2.0	-3.5
108	George Kottaras	27	MIL	2414	-0.1	0.0	0.7	-4.4	-3.8
109	John Hester	26	ARI	1030	0.3	0.6	-4.0	-1.6	-4.6
110	Kevin Cash	32	HOU	705	0.2	0.4	-3.0	-2.3	-4.7
111	Rod Barajas	34	LAD	712	0.2	0.4	-3.5	-1.9	-4.7
112	Chris Iannetta	27	COL	1930	-0.2	-1.2	-1.6	-2.1	-5.1
113	Mike Napoli	28	LAA	2329	-0.8	-0.5	-2.9	-1.2	-5.5
114	Victor Martinez	31	BOS	3883	0.3	0.0	0.0	-6.0	-5.7
115	Chris Snyder	29	PIT	1439	-0.3	0.9	-3.9	-2.4	-5.7
116	Adam Moore	26	SEA	2162	-1.6	0.8	-4.5	-1.6	-7.0
117	Jorge Posada	38	NYY	2866	0.8	-1.1	-2.7	-5.5	-8.6
118	Ryan Doumit	29	PIT	3522	0.2	0.2	-1.4	-8.5	-9.4
119	Francisco Cervelli	24	NYY	3073	-2.1	-2.0	-1.3	-4.0	-9.4
120	Jeff Mathis	27	LAA	2371	-0.1	-1.0	-5.6	-2.8	-9.4

Here are short explanations of the formulas used.

Stolen Bases/Caught Stealing: A) figure out the league rate for caught stealing; B) separate the catcher caught stealings from pitcher pickoffs; C) total the CSctch +SB to get total stolen base attempts (SBA) and then to total CSctch/total SBA for the lgCS rate; D) use the weight of .63 runs for each caught stealing, which represents the average linear weight of the caught stealing (.44 runs) plus the weight of the stolen base not achieved (.19 runs). Formula for runs above/below average: **(CS - (lgCSrate) * SBA) * 0.63**.

Wild pitches/passed balls: The league rate = (WPlg + PBlg)/lgPA. The linear weight for each passed ball/wild pitch is 0.28 runs. The formula for each player is ((WP + PB) - (lgWPPBrate * PA)) * -0.28.

Errors: There are two types of errors, throwing errors and fielding errors .There are separate linear weights for throwing errors (-0.48) and fielding errors (-0.75). Throwing errors: (TE - (lgTErate * PA)) * -0.48. Fielding errors: (FE - (lgFErate * PA)) * -0.75.

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Comments

LOL

22. TOR – John Buck
25. COL – Miguel Olivo
.
46. KCR – Brayan Pena
.
.
.
78. KCR – Jason Kendall

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by Justin Bopp on Nov 10, 2010 9:59 AM EST reply actions

Yeah, but I'm not counting how much he helped the staff this season

without looking it up, I’m pretty sure Zack Greinke was a 16 WAR pitcher this season

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2010 10:07 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah he totally turned him into a good pitcher this year.

by Justin Bopp on Nov 10, 2010 10:25 AM EST up reply actions

Man, the gap between Yadi and the next best catcher is Pujolsian

Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.

by mattybobo on Nov 10, 2010 10:05 AM EST reply actions

Hmmm... Pujols is a great player and all

but I don’t think he’s all that behind the plate.

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2010 10:07 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

pujolsian

Pujolsian – adj. (pu·holes·ee·an) : That which is so dominant over the next-best option it requires its own adjective.

by Justin Bopp on Nov 10, 2010 10:33 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Vottomatic - adj.

because “Pujolsian” is antiquated.

"Bronson Arroyo texted me from the high seas"

by Charlie Scrabbles on Nov 10, 2010 7:45 PM EST up reply actions

Nothing says "antiquation"

than Votto being just slightly better than Pujols in the worst year of Pujols’ career.

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2010 10:02 PM EST up reply actions

cant you just let me have this?

from one long-time basement-dweller to another, cant you just let me have this?

"Bronson Arroyo texted me from the high seas"

by Charlie Scrabbles on Nov 11, 2010 8:35 AM EST up reply actions

I laughed.

But you got Adam Dunn for forever and didn’t do anything with him. The baseball gods are cruel, are they not?

by Justin Bopp on Nov 11, 2010 9:47 AM EST up reply actions

Seriously?

The Reds went to the playoffs this season. You guys don’t pretend to be excited when your GM manages pulls off a “market value” trade for a #4 pitcher and change. You guys have young players actually contributing now. Your team acquires veteran presence like Scott Rolen, we get Jason Kendall.

Need I continue?

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2010 4:15 PM EST up reply actions

we just got to the playoffs this past season

before that, we had 15 years without making the playoffs and nearly a decade of unmitigated failure. we havent always had Votto and Bruce and Cueto and Chapman and Stubbs. it was usually guys like Paul Wilson and D’Angelo Jimenez and Brandon Larson and hoping Junya can play 100 games. those were dark times, indeed.

i guess it’s just hard for me to fully accept that my team is actually good. being a fan of a bad baseball team has been a big part of my self-definition for so long, it’s a tough transition. not that i would feel sorry for me or anything.

"Bronson Arroyo texted me from the high seas"

by Charlie Scrabbles on Nov 12, 2010 8:39 AM EST up reply actions

I kinda want John Buck in Red Sox uniform a little bit more after this.

Great work, Matt. I love these articles.

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by adarowski on Nov 10, 2010 10:10 AM EST reply actions

Yikes

Yankee catchers for the loss.

by Lucas Apostoleris on Nov 10, 2010 10:41 AM EST reply actions

The picture of Kendall

could include him w/ a KC hat on. Then it would be perfect!

by chuckb on Nov 10, 2010 10:59 AM EST reply actions

Very cool stuff here. I love seeing the supposed defense-first back-ups that really don't put up good defensive numbers

Guys like Cervelli, Koyie Hill and Bobby Wilson.

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I'm an editor for Beyond the Box Score, an SB Nation blog.

by Satchel Price on Nov 10, 2010 11:02 AM EST reply actions

As a Rays fan...

That ranking is depressing.

Rays/Cubs fan - AnotherCubsBlog.net

by Mish on Nov 10, 2010 1:09 PM EST reply actions

As a Cubs fan...

WTF were Piniella/Quade thinking give Hill as many starts as they did?

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by Mish on Nov 10, 2010 1:09 PM EST up reply actions

It isn't that bad

only a few runs below for both Jaso and Shoppach, Jaso is a good enough hitter to make up for it,and Shoppach probably, too, given his small sample (due to injuries) in this miserable season for him.

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 10, 2010 2:07 PM EST up reply actions

Well done, Matt.

I was going to update my numbers privately like 2 weeks ago and I forgot to. Totally was planning on stealing your thunder and doing them over at Bless You Boys.

Yadier Molina = beast.

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by Mike Rogers on Nov 10, 2010 2:57 PM EST reply actions

Great stuff Matt!

Thanks for your work.

Stay Thirsty, My friends!

by KHAZAD on Nov 11, 2010 12:01 AM EST reply actions

Chris Snyder

had his defense drop off just as much as his offense after the trade.

by ElDuce on Nov 11, 2010 2:27 PM EST reply actions

yeah

remember that it’s a small sample, and that when estimating how good he “really” is, you have to take a number of things into account

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by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2010 4:16 PM EST up reply actions

Catcher defense is always fascinating

And do I love Buster Posey. I feel like he could be better at catching baserunners if he didn’t have some of the worst pitchers for holding runners on. I scanned the methodology real quick and didn’t see any mention of that (kind of difficult to quantify really), so this makes me happy.

Thanks.

"Catch that, Eckstein!" - Duane Kuiper

by DrDC on Nov 12, 2010 3:37 AM EST reply actions

Jorge Posada 117
Francisco Cervelli 119

This makes me sad. Any idea where Jesus Montero would rank on this list anyone?

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by Brandon C. on Nov 13, 2010 1:02 PM EST reply actions