Comments on: Jesus Saves

By: cult of basebaal

cult of basebaal — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:22:21 +0000

Good luck with that …

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:30:03 +0000

I think combining OBP and slugging percentage into a stat is lame. I don’t like the use of it as a summary of a player’s offensive output.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:59:38 +0000

[27] In fact, Yogi Berra did not start learning to catch until he played Legion ball, and even then he also played other positions. Thurman Munson played SS in HS and only switched to catcher his senior year.

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:43:52 +0000

[27]

“Yogi, Munsan, and even Joe was a very good catcher, but not much of a hitter.”

==============

please tell me you aren’t lumping in Yogi and MunsOn in the “good catch/bad hit” category …

By: hiscross

hiscross — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:39:28 +0000

A good catcher can must have quick feet and a strong arm. I very good catcher can hit. A great catcher can do all and call a great game. All great catchers started catching when they were young, like Little League. Posada was a converted in fielder. He can neither call a good game nor really catch. He is a hitter who catches. Yogi, Munsan, and even Joe was a very good catcher, but not much of a hitter. Any team that trades away a great catcher loses. Great catchers are very special.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:15:42 +0000

[25] According to BB-Reference, using AJ’s splits, Burnett started 33 games and pitched to Cervelli in 25 games, Posada 8 games, and Moeller in 3. So there were at least a few games where he pitched to two catchers.

Still, it adds up that Cervelli started at least 22 of AJ’s starts, unless my math is off.

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:07:58 +0000

[21]

I’m trying to determine how many times he had to (try and) catch Burnett …

By: RIYank

RIYank — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:00:00 +0000

[20] There’s still plenty of room on Z Bandwagon. But I advise you to wear a helmet.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:38:11 +0000

[21] To be fair, his OBP was third in league for a C with 300+ ABs (even higher than Posada!), and his walk rate is not too bad so it’s not all tied up with his BA. So he has that to work with.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:35:41 +0000

[21] I was going by OPS which is somewhat crude but certainly not “lame.” I couldn’t find a quick and easy way to compare and sort OPS+. That his BA (speaking of very lame stats) was higher is not surprising, given his hot streak at the beginning of the season (batter .370 in March/April, .307 in May). His OBP (a very much not lame stat) followed the same pattern. By month: .448, .368, .375, .267, .281, .553. So, when he gets lucky and bleeds and bllops a few extra hits, his BA and OBP spike. Otherwise, he was flat awful.

He is young, but what are the signs that he will improve at all? In 200+ games in MiL he hit .273/.367/.380/.747compared to 138 games in ML during which he hit .274/.343/.340. He seems to be exactly what he is. And that looks to me like a backup catcher.

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:19:43 +0000

[16] Huh? Going by BA and OBP, he’s well above average. The only thing he’s below average in is power. I don’t know where the numbers come from – I guess BR – but comparing him to players with a similar # of ABs is fair, I just would be curious to see the other numbers instead of just having OPS, which is a lame stat.

Granted his defense was bad, but before last season it seemed better, and he’s really still young, at least to the league.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:16:47 +0000

In the meantime, I am starting to think about about jumping on the Carlos Zambrano bandwagon.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:15:03 +0000

[18] My hunch is that the Yankees do not view Posada as anything more than an emergency catcher, so they will feel compelled to carry two other catchers. If I ran the world, Posada would be the backup (or heck, even start 100 games) and they would carry only one other catcher.

Then again, I also wouldn’t carry 13 pitchers or Ramiro Peña, and Joba Chamberlain would be a starter, but that’s just me.

By: Raf

Raf — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:10:51 +0000

[17] Agreed that Cervelli will be the odd man out, but I think much will depend on how much playing time Montero will get with the big club. I doubt that they’ll PH for Posada (assuming he catches), and unless Martin’s a zero with the bat, I don’t see them PH’ing for him either. Under either circumstance, I don’t see Montero coming in as a defensive replacement.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:02:53 +0000

[15] Martin seems to be a hedge against Montero, Posada and Cervelli. I think he’ll be the primary catcher with Posada being the backup and Montero something of an understudy. Or perhaps, Montero will start the year @ AAA…

Agreed. Martin will start, though I fear that they will carry three C (keeping Cervelli in the bigs). If and when Montero gets the call, Cervelli will be optioned to AAA.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:00:27 +0000

[13] The MLB average C last season hit .249/.319/.381/.701, so Cervelli’s .271/.359/.335/.694 was a little below average. Of course, the league average includes all sorts of backup players, and Cervelli’s numbers get a bump from his early season hot streak (consider his OPS by month: .848, .768, .521, .505, .548, 1.038; the bolded numbers represent June, July and August).

If we compare his offense to players who got as many ABs, he does not fair as well. Of the 29 catchers who got 300+ ABs last season, he ranked 20th in OPS.

Add to that his awful defense last year (and it was awful, despite his reputation as a good defensive catcher), and it adds up to a pretty stinky starting catcher. As a backup he’s tolerable. But for anything more than a 200 ABs, not so much.

By: Raf

Raf — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:55:35 +0000

[9] Martin seems to be a hedge against Montero, Posada and Cervelli. I think he’ll be the primary catcher with Posada being the backup and Montero something of an understudy. Or perhaps, Montero will start the year @ AAA and will get the call sometime in the summer, depending how he does @ SWB. I suspect consistent playing time will be the issue with Montero. It should also be noted that Austin Romine is coming up the ladder as well, and may get the call in 2011 or 2012.

[11] It speaks just as much that the only time the Yanks considered moving Montero was for a pair of elite pitchers in Halliday and Lee. And for all we know, had Cashman budged on Nuñez or Nova (or if Z wasn’t playing games, depending on who you talk to), the deal would’ve gone through.

By: Raf

Raf — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:42:20 +0000

If Montero can’t catch, then he’ll be moved off the position. I find it hard to believe that teams have passed on Montero because of his inability to catch. Cliff Johnson, Paul Konerko and Carlos Delgado among others came up as catchers. For whatever reason, they were moved off the position. The same will happen to Montero if he can’t handle the job behind the plate.

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:23:33 +0000

For a catcher his numbers aren’t terrible, are they? I don’t know how to do the comparison to the league average, or how much that’s even worth, but I’d be surprised if he was much below it last season.

Add for the record, you more or less made him the embodiment of “suckitude”. If I understand the term then that’s what I mean by “that bad”.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:00:07 +0000

[11] True!

[10] I don’t know how bad “that bad” is, but he is plenty bad enough.