Is Brian McCann the most underrated player in baseball?

[cgilmo]

I own the largest card shop in Atlanta.


McCann is about the fifth most asked for player around here.

 

[GAbballplayer148]

What do Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens and Tim Hudson have in common?


They all suck at holding runners. They should share some of the blame for his low base stealers caught percentage.

Gilmocat tells the truth. This year alone Hanson has given up 18 SB out of 20 attempts.

Hanson: '09: 18/26, '10: 33/37
Lowe: '09: 13/17, '10: 10/21, '11: 8/10
Jurrjens: '08: 28/31, '09: 14/21, '10: 6/9 '11: 7/12

You can probably attribute some of those SB to McCann, but Lowe career CS % is 22%, Hanson: 17%, Jurrjens: 24%. I'm not sure what the league average is across those years, but it is apparent that these 3 are inept at holding runners, and are easy targets for SB.

 

[phillyfan0417]

I hate Brian McCann when he plays against the phillies but there is no real debate that he has been consistently good since the day he came up. I actually like him 90% of the baseball season.

 

[jbhofmann]

I completely disagree that intangibles are BS. that's just me. i love the stats part of baseball but in my opinion you can't discount guts, heart, cojones, the ability to strike fear in your opponent.

He's a very good player, but who is he striking fear in? The hotdog vendors?

 

[MojoDan]

Konerko also gets my vote.

 

[alabamalongsnake]

wasn't necessarily talking about mccann on all those characteristics. should have clarified. but still a handful of players that just scare the beejeetles out of you when they come to the plate.

I completely disagree that intangibles are BS. that's just me. i love the stats part of baseball but in my opinion you can't discount guts, heart, cojones, the ability to strike fear in your opponent.

He's a very good player, but who is he striking fear in? The hotdog vendors?

 

[blitzerlover]

Hit another HR today. Guy is red hot.

 

[elmalo]

He is certainly one of the better all around catchers in the game. Im not sure that he is underrated though.

 

[HPC]

No, I dont believe hes underrated.

Statistically for a C he's well above average and considered elite by many. I've seen much worse defensively than McCann as well.

Does he get the attention Posey and Mauer do? No, but that doesnt mean hes underrated it means the media ignores him for the most part.

 

[Hallsgator]

intangibles are bs btw.

Paul Konerko is pretty underrated.

So wrong. Intangibles as a catcher (how to handle a pitching staff, call a game, calm pitchers, etc) are one of the biggest reasons catchers either succeed or fail behind the plate.

 

[elmalo]

To get recognition as a catcher from the media you have to put up monster numbers, a la Piazza, Mauer. The people who are most important, his teammates and other players around the league know how good hs is.

 

[wolf324au]

To get recognition as a catcher from the media you have to put up monster numbers, a la Piazza, Mauer.

What? Ok...here's Mauer and McCann's average lines for a 162 game season. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

McCann (5X AS & 4X SS):
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
162 634 561 69 163 39 0 24 100 4 1 60 87 .290 .361 .491 .852

Mauer (4X AS, 4X SS, 3X GG, 1 MVP):
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
162 693 600 98 195 39 3 15 91 7 2 83 68 .325 .405 .477 .883

Something else that needs to be considered when comparing McCann to Mauer is that Mauer has been the DH in 104 games in his career.

 

[darocker80]

For his position he is one of the elite. By far the best catcher in the NL the last 6-7 years

4 silver sluggers, with a fifth one most likely this season.

*However..I still think Posey should've won it last year

 

[wolf324au]

However..I still think Posey should've won it last year

I'm a huge Braves fan but I'll completely agree with you on that one.

 

[darocker80]

However..I still think Posey should've won it last year

I'm a huge Braves fan but I'll completely agree with you on that one.

Haha thanks. McCann might be one of my favs on the Braves and always been a huge fan, but yes i still think posey should've won it that year.

McCann has **** on lock down this year!

 

[Mudcatsfan]

To get recognition as a catcher from the media you have to put up monster numbers, a la Piazza, Mauer.

What? Ok...here's Mauer and McCann's average lines for a 162 game season. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

He perhaps means that Mauer had that one season where he hit for huge power numbers (~37 hrs) on top of ALREADY being a great all around player.

McCann is a great all around player who hasn't had that year where he stands out for one reason or another

Once he does, there's an opportunity for significant price increase.

I would compare him to Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones before they made their runs at .400

Or Halladay before his impending Free agency.

 

[wolf324au]

He perhaps means that Mauer had that one season where he hit for huge power numbers (~37 hrs) on top of ALREADY being a great all around player.

McCann is a great all around player who hasn't had that year where he stands out for one reason or another

Once he does, there's an opportunity for significant price increase.

I would compare him to Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones before they made their runs at .400

Or Halladay before his impending Free agency.

I understand your point, but Mauer had 28 hrs, not 37. Mauer has only been in double digits in homers twice while McCann only missed this achievement once (his rookie season). The real "monstrous" category of Mauer's 2009 season was his stellar average. I am in no way trying to take anything away from Mauer, but McCann is a better offensive catcher in my opinion. If it was possible for McCann start ~20% of his games at DH like Mauer does, you would see his numbers increase as well.

 

[jgro85]

intangibles are bs btw.

Paul Konerko is pretty underrated.

So wrong. Intangibles as a catcher (how to handle a pitching staff, call a game, calm pitchers, etc) are one of the biggest reasons catchers either succeed or fail behind the plate.

yeah but those are implied when talking about catchers. I didn't mean those. I guess I should have stated the other intangibles that aren't inherent in catchers that most people talk about, e.g. leadership, guts, "striking fear." those are kind of bs, especially in baseball.

 

[alabamalongsnake]

good discussion -

I think the consensus is that McCann has not had a breakout year in terms of his stats jumping up - consistency over a period.

He's prob never going to win an MVP - doesn't get the opportunity to DH. I do think he will finish higher in MVP voting this year than he ever has. Decent shot at top five.

He's pretty darn good at calling a game.

 

[markakis8]

He perhaps means that Mauer had that one season where he hit for huge power numbers (~37 hrs) on top of ALREADY being a great all around player.

McCann is a great all around player who hasn't had that year where he stands out for one reason or another

Once he does, there's an opportunity for significant price increase.

I would compare him to Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones before they made their runs at .400

Or Halladay before his impending Free agency.

I understand your point, but Mauer had 28 hrs, not 37. Mauer has only been in double digits in homers twice while McCann only missed this achievement once (his rookie season). The real "monstrous" category of Mauer's 2009 season was his stellar average. I am in no way trying to take anything away from Mauer, but McCann is a better offensive catcher in my opinion. If it was possible for McCann start ~20% of his games at DH like Mauer does, you would see his numbers increase as well.

Mauer won the MVP. That certainly helps you get recognized.