Catching Up

A recent Twitter discussion (aka someone that has no idea what they are talking about) has prompted me to resume my post here as the unadulterated catching (and let's be frank, baseball) guru at VFC.

I love me some Posey, really I do, but that is an irresponsible and almost criminal statement by one of my followers. One that requires my re-entry into the blogosphere, so for your reading pleasure, away we go!

First things first, as far as catchers go it's Yadier Molina and then everyone else but my list is as follows:

1. Yadier Molina

1A. Buster Posey

2. Matt Wieters

Catching is a defense-first position. Therefore when talking about the top catcher, defense is where you start, and ultimately where you end. The following table are defensive stats compiled from the beginning of 2012 forward.

For the non-SABR-savvy here are the definitions according to FanGraphs for the table at left:

rSB: Calculated by The Fielding Bible, Stolen Base Runs Saved measures how many “runs” a catcher contributes to their team by throwing out runners and preventing runners from attempting steals in the first place.

RPP and rSB are both centered at zero meaning that anything above zero is above average. Anything below zero is below average. (Note +5 is considered Excellent for those two stats). In terms of throwing out runners (rSB) Molina has contributed 9 runs which comes in a tick above Wieters and a full +10 runs better than Posey.

 RPP: First calculated by Bojan Koprivica, Passed Pitch Runs (RPP) calculates the number of runs above / below average a catcher is at blocking pitches. 

Calculated Passed Pitches (CPP). This is another statistic derived from Bojan’s research, and it measures how many passed balls a catcher should have allowed based on his pitches seen.

Given that I used the stat for projected pass balls, I also included actual pass balls (PB) showing that each player is spectacular at blocking balls. Generally, in terms of RPP (blocking pitches), it will show that they are all close but Yadier Molina, yet again, comes in ahead of both players by .6 runs; in a two year sample size, saving 6.6 runs just by blocking pitches, let that sink in.

DRS: Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) is a defensive statistic calculated by The Fielding Bible, an organization run by John Dewan, that rates individual players as above or below average on defense. Much like UZR, players as measured in “runs” above or below average.

For a more complete definition of DRS, FanGraphs is a Godsend.

rGFP: A Good Fielding Play is recorded when a fielder does something to prevent an advancement or record an out that we wouldn't typically expect from a fielder at the position. It is a play that is made when, had the play not been made, no one would have faulted the fielder for not making it. There are currently 27 different types of Good Fielding Plays. rGFP is calculated in terms of runs.

In the last 2 years, Yadier Molina has contributed +24 runs behind the plate (+15 is considered Gold Glove Caliber) while Posey has saved just two runs and Wieters has been a negative player in terms of DRS during the same time frame. If this isn't enough to appreciate the landslide in which Molina is ahead of these two defensively he has added 4 runs worth of "Good Fielding Plays" in the two years while the others are negative run players in this category.

FSR: The Fan Scouting Report is a yearly project conducted by Tom Tango that rates players on their defensive ability based on fan observations and voting. Fans are asked to rate players on a 0-100 scale (with 100 being the best and 0 being the worst) in a number of different categories: Instinct, Speed, Hands, Arm Strength and Accuracy, First Step, etc. 

Fan Scouting isn't an exact science but with enough people's input you can usually gain a consensus as to how good each player is at the aforementioned tools. The metrics are the same as the Defensive Runs Saved (centered around zero, positive is above average, negative is below average). Molina has taken this category as well.

The fact that Buster Posey plays occasional games at first base is also a detriment to his attempt at the apex of catching. A far less physically demanding position and is basically a break on the legs for the day while Molina is THE catcher for the Cardinals and similarly for Wieters and the Orioles. Defensively it's not really close, It's Molina. But we shall look at the offensive side because there is always two sides to every argument.

Buster Posey was the rightful winner of the 2012 NL MVP award, he was the best all-around player in the National League last year, helped lead his team to the playoffs (voting takes place at the end of the season not after the World Series), and plays the most physically demanding position in baseball. Last year he was the best all-around player and catcher in the league. He was worth 1.5 more wins than Molina last year, and deservedly was the single most valuable player to his team which ultimately wont he World Series.

Molina this year despite spraining his knee, a death sentence for most catchers, has one more hit than Posey and leads in most offensive categories compared to the other two, despite playing in 15 fewer games as the San Francisco backstop. Both players are worth 44% more runs than league average (WRC+)  but Molina is leading or tied for the lead in most other offensive categories. Molina is having a spectacular offensive season, not as good as Posey's 2012, certainly better than his 2013, and is in the running for the NL MVP in 2013.

This year there is no question who the best all-around catcher is, its Yadier Molina and it's not really close. Given that defensively it's a landslide, his offensive performance is outperforming his peers despite playing in fewer games and his team is in the running for a playoff spot, Yadier takes the cake and probably the hardware as well.

Stay Tuned,
Norton