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August 30, 2012

In A Pickle

Carlos Santana, and the Choice of a Generation

by Jason Wojciechowski

At the risk of being branded some kind of weird catcher fetishist, I would like to point something out:

Year	Catcher TAv
1977	.263
1963	.260
1970	.259
1964	.258
1971	.257
2012	.257

(All statistics in this article are through Monday night's games.)

This data goes back to 1963, which is neat because that means that 2012 is the 50th year in the sample, and 50 is a round number. So: in the last 50 years, only four times have catchers hit better than they are hitting this season. Now, given that there are 10 hitting positions in baseball, maybe the odds aren't so tremendously low that one of them would be in the top five in overall hitting in the last 50 years. I guess I'm not selling this very hard. Let me try again: this is the best catchers have hit in 35 years. HISTORY IS BEING MADE.

I think it'll be instructive or interesting or both to look at how these leagues have achieved such results. Or, at the very least, I'll probably make some jokes that you might find funny.

1977
The greatest catcher-hitting year in the last 50 is easy as pie to explain. Check this out:

Name	TAv	Age
Carlton Fisk	.300	29
Ted Simmons	.307	27
Gary Carter	.308	23
Thurman Munson	.292	30
Gene Tenace	.310	30
Johnny Bench	.298	29
Jim Sundberg	.272	26
Darrell Porter	.280	25

You've heard of those guys, right? That's basically a list of the baddest dudes around.

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15 comments have been left for this article.

BP Comment Quick Links

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abwinkel (Prague)

Don't sleep on Sal Perez. Would expect him to be near the top of this list in season or two.

Aug 30, 2012 03:47 AM

rating: 2

HankScorpio

.290 TAv over 350 PAs the last two seasons. And he is barely 22. With plus defense.

Kid has a bright future.

Aug 30, 2012 08:03 AM

rating: 1

sbnirish77

Did Salvador Perez not qualify?

Aug 30, 2012 04:58 AM

rating: 1

Jason Wojciechowski

BP staff

I did actually sleep on Mr. Perez as far as considering the possibility that future years could see top-notch catcher hitting, for which my bad. In fairness, he has fewer than 200 plate appearances this year, so the size of the dent he could make on the position's hitting stats is relatively small.

Aug 30, 2012 06:39 AM

Gumby

Jonathan Lucroy has a much higher TAv than Perez, a handful more PAs (at least he's got over 200) and is one of the younger members of the group you present. Often overlooked, but he is a hitter.

Aug 30, 2012 11:22 AM

rating: 1

dodgerdan

A.J. Ellis may be somewhat long in the tooth but what a year he is having....and batting low in the order.

Aug 30, 2012 06:55 AM

rating: 0

Nathan Aderhold

Good stuff.

Michael McKenry, who fits the under-30 mold, has come out of nowhere to have a great year as well. Not sure how a guy with a .296 TAv and slugging .500 is still playing second fiddle to Rod Barajas and his negative WARP, but that's just Clint Hurdle, I guess.

Aug 30, 2012 07:17 AM

rating: 0

RandhyllCho

How about John Jaso? .341TAv, 28 years old. Limited playing time due to poor management and an overload of crap players...

Aug 30, 2012 07:39 AM

rating: 0

Dave Holgado

Not sure I agree that the limited PT is due to poor management, and in fact the reverse may be true. Jaso's line against LHP this year (40 PA) is .121/.205/.121. Over his entire career against lefties (138 PA), he's at .168/.294/.230. That's a relatively small sample, of course, and he was not useless against same-siders coming up through the minors. But with a lefty masher like Jesus Montero available to catch (.328/.377/.515 this year, .354/.405/.532 for his career), maybe Jaso's being used exactly the right way, as part of an effective platoon. I understand the argument that SEA lacks other credible DH options, and thus both Jaso and Montero should be in the lineup vs. LHP. But those other options have to be able to hit better than .168 (indeed, even mega-bust Justin Smoak manages to hit lefties at a .187 clip).

Aug 30, 2012 08:30 AM

rating: 4

Nathan Aderhold

I think the poor management jab is probably referring more to giving Miguel Olivo sixty-four starts behind the plate this season.

Aug 30, 2012 13:05 PM

rating: 2

RandhyllCho

I agree that Montero is hitting LHP well, but I'm talking about a .252 TAv vs a .341 TAv. Jaso runs better ( montero is one of the worst base runners I've ever seen), throws about the same and can catch Felix... I would love to see one of them transition to first, free up space at DH so we can utilize the tons of young talent in our system. But the bigger problem that we in Seattle have is indeed Mr. Olivo... Simply the worst.

Aug 30, 2012 13:34 PM

rating: 1

juniusworth

Very good article, jason. What's your thoughts on it seemingly being that the position overall is down including the minors. The same way it seems the SS position is down overall as well. Cyclical? That could be an interesting study.

Aug 30, 2012 08:11 AM

rating: 0

ddanyc

I'm going to assume that the remark on Bill Freehan was a joke. It would be impossible to take seriously any article on a historical baseball topic written by an author unfamiliar with Bill Freehan.

Aug 30, 2012 08:20 AM

rating: 7

sbnirish77

Yes, that comment about Freehan just reminded me how old I am

Aug 30, 2012 11:05 AM

rating: 0

bwilhoite

And let's not forget, Roseboro had a cannon for an arm. Twice leading the league in CS%, and finishing in the same neighborhood as Yadier Molina for his career, with a 42.25% career rate.

Aug 31, 2012 20:03 PM

rating: 0

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<< Previous Article

On the Beat: New Cup o... (08/30)

<< Previous Column
In A Pickle: A.J. Pier... (08/23)

Next Column >>

In A Pickle: How the G... (09/06)

Next Article >>
The BP Wayback Machine... (08/31)

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