Does defense matter to you from a catcher?

[colts1888]

many teams want a guy who can save ball games they dont want someone who cant throw out base runners,stop pass/wild pitches. If you look at all the starters with the exception of a few they are all strong defensivly anything they do with the bat is just an added bonus.

 

[bmc398]

brian mccann is underrated defensively

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I could steal on McCann...hope this is a joke. Kid can rake but still can't throw out a baserunner to save his life.

 

[abravesfan]

brian mccann is underrated defensively

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I could steal on McCann...hope this is a joke. Kid can rake but still can't throw out a baserunner to save his life.

well therein is the issue... what part of a catcher's defense is most important? I agree with the comments above that calling a good game, managing a pitching staff, and forming relationship with pitchers is MOST important. Unfortunately as far as I know this is still subject to only anecdotal evaluation (I know I've seen in some stat conversations the idea of a catcher ERA, i.e. an attempt to demonstrate how throwing to a particular catcher impacts a pitchers performance all other things being equal, but I don't know that anything worthwhile there has been developed).

After that, you have passed balls, caught stealing rate, etc. This effect is likely much smaller, as seen by the corresponding knowledge that stolen bases must be acheived at a high rate (75%) to have a net positive effect (seemingly showing that a catcher throwing guys out around 25% is neither helping nor hurting his team in the long run, at least in absolute terms) and the relativley low number of errors/passed balls allowed by even bad catchers (and the fact that often they have no impact on the game). I think the emphasis on these numbers comes not from their relative importance in run differential over the long haul, but instead their ease of measurement.

This is not to say someone like Molina does not save a significant number of runs compared to someone like McCann with his arm; it just indicates that if you simply calculated the runs saved by catcher actions (perhaps just by using expected run values in certain situations), you are not capturing that most important element of a catcher's defense, how he calls a game. Without any reliable way of measurement, statements like "McCann is underrated as a defender" cannot definitively be criticized or defended.

 

[bodiaz]

Me and my friend got into a debate today he says defense is the most important thing from a catcher i disagree. he says mike piazza was not one of the best catchers to ever play because his defense was one of the worst when he is a career .308 hitter and holds the record with most homeruns by a catcher well over 400. he says he would rather have yadi molina than brian mccann.. im just wondering what you guys think about this topic? does defense matter that much to you from the catcher position?

I agree with your friend. Piazza was a LF. Have no idea why he was never moved from behind the plate. I do not consider him top 5 C because of his Defense, barely top 10.