May 20, 2013 7:00 am
Ben Lindbergh
What the cerebral Diamondbacks starter thinks about the importance of framing pitches.
Diamondbacks starter Brandon McCarthy is known as one of baseball’s most thoughtful, analytical pitchers; two years ago, he famously embraced advanced statistics and remade himself as a pitcher by perfecting a two-seamer that helped him get groundballs more often. As a result, he’s pretty popular on the internet. I asked him to provide the pitcher’s perspective on the importance of pitch framing and receiving skills.
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May 20, 2013 5:00 am
Ben Lindbergh
Catching instructors and coordinators comment on the importance of receiving skills.
While working on a feature on catcher framing for Grantland, I spoke to many catching instructors and coordinators about what makes a good receiver, what receiving skills are worth, and to what extent they can be improved. Many of their most interesting insights didn't make it into that story, so I've collected them here.
May 20, 2013 5:00 am
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller
Ben and Sam talk about the circumstances under which they'd feel comfortable recommending that a manager be fired, then discuss different beliefs about hot streaks.
May 18, 2013 10:06 am
Ben Lindbergh
The best and worst framers of the week and the season, plus framing-related links.
Framing-related links of the week
It’s been an eventful week for framing on the internet. If you're here because you’re interested in catcher receiving skills, you might also want to take a look at these three articles:
Estimated historical framing: More great work by Max Marchi, who used Retrosheet pitch-by-pitch data to estimate framing performance going back to 1988. He also took a look at how receiving skills age. Next on his to-do list: estimated framing for minor leaguers, and the quantification of game-calling.
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May 17, 2013 11:02 am
Ben Lindbergh
The latest on the longest season-starting walkless streaks.
It’s appropriate that Jeff Keppinger’s first walk of 2013 was a game-winner. After 140 plate appearances without one—150 dating back to the end of last season—it would’ve been a shame if the walk we’d all been waiting for hadn’t helped the White Sox win.
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May 17, 2013 7:34 am
Ben Lindbergh
Starling Marte makes Bobby Parnell throw 13 pitches.
Last Friday, I started a new series in which I'll be breaking down, marveling at, and ruminating on the longest plate appearance of the preceding week. This is the second installment of that series. The inaugural edition featured a 12-pitch showdown between Mike Moustakas and Chris Sale that remains exactly as interesting as it was when it was published, so if you want to watch that plate appearance, click this link. If you’ve already seen it, or you’re interested only in the latest longest plate appearance, read on.
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May 17, 2013 5:00 am
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller
Ben and Sam answers listener questions about catcher framing, a very unusual reliever, and cautionary MRIs.
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May 16, 2013 1:09 pm
Ben Lindbergh
Yankee magic is universal, as it turns out.
There’s a strange thing that happens to normally rational baseball writers when discussing the Yankees. People who would normally question every assumption and demand to see some empirical proof blindly believe that the Yankees have mastered the dark art of picking up past-their-prime players and restoring some of their former success. The only evidence is anecdotal, so we know we’re being naughty and going off the reservation, sabermetrically speaking. But like Luke Skywalker, we’ve searched our feelings, and we know it to be true. And we’re only kind of kidding.
When the Yankees traded for a struggling Ichiro Suzuki last July, The Great Grant Brisbee—after acknowledging the absurdity of what he was about to say—wrote this:
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May 16, 2013 7:00 am
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller
Ben and Sam team up for a simulpodcast with Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs and FanGraphs Audio to discuss whether the Yankees have been lucky, the best way to watch baseball, and the value of old scouting reports.
May 15, 2013 5:00 am
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller
Ben and Sam discuss listener emails about whether rising strikeout rates make defense less valuable, whether the worst teams should face off at the end of the year, and more.
May 14, 2013 9:59 am
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller
Ben and Sam talk about how a player's willingness to crash into walls affects their expectations for him, then discuss whether Albert Pujols can improve if he keeps playing.
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May 13, 2013 7:35 am
Ben Lindbergh
The Cubs take another step toward contention by locking up their slugging first baseman for several more years.
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Ben Lindbergh is the Editor-in-Chief of Baseball Prospectus. He writes regularly for ESPN Insider, has contributed to four BP annuals and 
Prospectus Q&A: The College of Coaches on Catcher Framing
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