Monday, April 08, 2013

The Plight of Tim Lincecum's Personal Catcher - Beyond the Box Score



For the life of me, I can't understand the whole "personal catcher" thing generally and specifically how it plays out on the Giants. I get the part of coddling a star pitchers delicate psyche and pampering him somewhat on days that he starts. What coach doesn't do this?

But let's face facts here:
On your 2013 Giants, replacing Buster Posey with Hector Sanchez (even writing that down made me throw up in my mouth) really means moving Posey to 1B where he is somewhat less than average defensively. Sorry Buster.

Hector Sanchez, regardless of how highly Timmy thinks of him, is a comedown defensively from one Gerald Posey and what moving Buster to first invariably means is you might move Brandon Belt to LF in place of Gregor Blanco to keep Belt's bat in the lineup.

Soooooo......unless I'm mistaken, you still have to out-score the other team, lest you play to a 0-0 tie, and Timmy ain't exactly holding teams down to zero lately. So where does that leave us?

Let's review:
--- lesser defensively at C
--- lesser defensively at 1B
--- lesser defensively in LF
--- slightly more emotionally stable on the hill
--- maybe a slight (ever so slight) net positive exchange of bats Sanchez for Blanco

I'm not liking the math here guys. Time to put a stop to this nonsense right now.

Plus, you coddle Timmy, you have to coddle a suddenly resurgent Barry "Freaking" Zito. So now, this exercise of musical defensive charts plays itself out twice a week. It's nonsense. Cut it out!!!

Plus, as the numbers seem to show, Gerald is not that bad a defensive catcher, Timmy.

from Beyond the Box Score:
The Plight of Tim Lincecum's Personal Catcher - Beyond the Box Score:

In an attempt to gain some insight into how much worse Giants pitchers had it with Sanchez behind the plate, I took a quick glace at the 2012 CERA's of the Giants' catchers. (via ESPN)

Catcher         Games  CERA 
Buster Posey     114 3.52
Hector Sanchez   56 4.04
Eli Whiteside       11 4.93

As you can see, pitchers surrendered about a half run more with Hector Sanchez behind the plate as opposed to Buster Posey. However, using CERA can only provide a very crude picture of how a catcher affected pitcher performance, if at all.

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Giants Top Minor League Prospects

  • 1. Joey Bart 6-2, 215 C Power arm and a power bat, playing a premium defensive position. Good catch and throw skills.
  • 2. Heliot Ramos 6-2, 185 OF Potential high-ceiling player the Giants have been looking for. Great bat speed, early returns were impressive.
  • 3. Chris Shaw 6-3. 230 1B Lefty power bat, limited defensively to 1B, Matt Adams comp?
  • 4. Tyler Beede 6-4, 215 RHP from Vanderbilt projects as top of the rotation starter when he works out his command/control issues. When he misses, he misses by a bunch.
  • 5. Stephen Duggar 6-1, 170 CF Another toolsy, under-achieving OF in the Gary Brown mold, hoping for better results.
  • 6. Sandro Fabian 6-0, 180 OF Dominican signee from 2014, shows some pop in his bat. Below average arm and lack of speed should push him towards LF.
  • 7. Aramis Garcia 6-2, 220 C from Florida INTL projects as a good bat behind the dish with enough defensive skill to play there long-term
  • 8. Heath Quinn 6-2, 190 OF Strong hitter, makes contact with improving approach at the plate. Returns from hamate bone injury.
  • 9. Garrett Williams 6-1, 205 LHP Former Oklahoma standout, Giants prototype, low-ceiling, high-floor prospect.
  • 10. Shaun Anderson 6-4, 225 RHP Large frame, 3.36 K/BB rate. Can start or relieve
  • 11. Jacob Gonzalez 6-3, 190 3B Good pedigree, impressive bat for HS prospect.
  • 12. Seth Corry 6-2 195 LHP Highly regard HS pick. Was mentioned as possible chip in high profile trades.
  • 13. C.J. Hinojosa 5-10, 175 SS Scrappy IF prospect in the mold of Kelby Tomlinson, just gets it done.
  • 14. Garett Cave 6-4, 200 RHP He misses a lot of bats and at times, the plate. 13 K/9 an 5 B/9. Wild thing.

2019 MLB Draft - Top HS Draft Prospects

  • 1. Bobby Witt, Jr. 6-1,185 SS Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) Oklahoma commit. Outstanding defensive SS who can hit. 6.4 speed in 60 yd. Touched 97 on mound. Son of former major leaguer. Five tool potential.
  • 2. Riley Greene 6-2, 190 OF Haggerty HS (FL) Florida commit.Best HS hitting prospect. LH bat with good eye, plate discipline and developing power.
  • 3. C.J. Abrams 6-2, 180 SS Blessed Trinity HS (GA) High-ceiling athlete. 70 speed with plus arm. Hitting needs to develop as he matures. Alabama commit.
  • 4. Reece Hinds 6-4, 210 SS Niceville HS (FL) Power bat, committed to LSU. Plus arm, solid enough bat to move to 3B down the road. 98MPH arm.
  • 5. Daniel Espino 6-3, 200 RHP Georgia Premier Academy (GA) LSU commit. Touches 98 on FB with wipe out SL.

2019 MLB Draft - Top College Draft Prospects

  • 1. Adley Rutschman C Oregon State Plus defender with great arm. Excellent receiver plus a switch hitter with some pop in the bat.
  • 2. Shea Langliers C Baylor Excelent throw and catch skills with good pop time. Quick bat, uses all fields approach with some pop.
  • 3. Zack Thompson 6-2 LHP Kentucky Missed time with an elbow issue. FB up to 95 with plenty of secondary stuff.
  • 4. Matt Wallner 6-5 OF Southern Miss Run producing bat plus mid to upper 90's FB closer. Power bat from the left side, athletic for size.
  • 5. Nick Lodolo LHP TCU Tall LHP, 95MPH FB and solid breaking stuff.