(drowsy Madden-speak ahead) BAH!...These catchers today ain’t a dalrymple on the…
It so happens that right now we’re blessed with a number of catchers who meet all those requirements and then some. In fact, it’s worth pondering whether baseball is on the cusp of a new “golden age” of catchers. The 1920s and ‘30s gave us Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Gabby Hartnett and Ernie Lombardi. The ‘50s gave us Yogi Berra and Roy Campanella. The ‘70s gave us Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson, and Gene Tenace. The ‘90s gave us Ivan Rodriguez and Mike Piazza.
These days, of course, the names and styles are different, but the current era, by the time it draws to a close, may compare favorably to any other period in baseball history when it comes to excellence at the catcher position.
Brian McCann: The 24-year-old McCann has a career SLG of .496, and this season he’s slugging .540 and on pace for 83 extra-base hits. Offensively, he’s got the most upside of any active catcher. Also, if you look at Similarity Scores, which measure statistical likenesses among hitters, you’ll find that McCann’s most similar hitter through age 23 is none other than Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri.
Geovany Soto: You saw Soto touted in this space as the Rookie of the Year favorite in the NL. He’s lived up to that and then some. His power is for real, and he’s wasted no time in adapting to the highest level. At this writing, Soto is hitting .349 AVG/.442 OBP/.651 SLG and is on target for 31 homers and 67 doubles. Obviously, he’s not likely to maintain such a pace, but he could still find himself in the NL MVP discussion this season. Soto’s the real thing.
Repoz
Posted: May 12, 2008 at 11:22 AM |
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I do think you're more than a bit biased here because McCann happens to play for the Braves. I feel like you'd be more optimistic if he were a Met. You're right, if McCann hits .270, his OPS+ is going to be closer to 100 than 115. I do agree with you that he's not going to age well. I'll take him on my team any day, though.
Don't get me wrong - I think McCann is one of the better hitting catchers playing - he's just not Johnny Bench or Gene Tenace with the bat. I may be downgrading him from 110-115 to 100-105, but that's not very much. I'm not saying "McCann? He blows" He's certainly better than Schneider or Lo Duca. But I also don't think he's a true .330 hitter, which was the argument I had here with some Braves fans in 2006.
I unsuccessfully tried looking for this thread. I remember it going much the same way.
Braves' contingent : Mac is awesome, he is going to be a stud.
Dial : Look at minor league #s. He is a pumpkin
B' c : And you are saying noone improves at age 22-23 and takes the next step to be a great hitter.
Dial : So you are saying Mac is a TTL 330 hitter
B' c : Noone is saying he is a 330 hitter, but he can hit 300 with lot of pop
Dial : So you are saying he is a TTL 330 hitter
B' c : you are retarded
Dial : Noone is a TTL 330 hitter. he is a pumpkin. Look at his minor league record.
Danny says he only swings at league average % of pitches outside the strike zone.
Dial says by hack, he meant low BB rate. And he is not going to be very good if he swings at so many pitches outside the strike zone. As he is fat and slow!
And then people say , oh he has above average LD rate, K's below league average. And he is 24!
Dial says Look at his minor league stats. he is going to be a 100 OPS+ hitter for his career.
cos he is fat and slow and swings at too many pitches outside the K zone.
Yea, 3rd pro season, 1 disrupted by hand and ankle injury ( he had offseason ankle surgery ).
2+ seasons in the minors. Nope, no chance he improves. Its all downhill from here.
Brian McCann results - 7/18/2006 - 10/2/2006
.317/.367/.610 - he even hit a home run that day.
Oh if I didn't in that thread, it was in another thread. Damn, I had totally forgotten about that.
He has cut his K rate ( well below 2006 level ), while increasing BB rate ( same as 2006 ) , while maintaining the same BABIP as 2007. He has cut his O-Zone swing % too, while keeping his ISO at 2006 levels.
To me, that looks like a player who is improving, not a fluke.
Well then would you care to explain why McCann playing catcher makes him a bad bet to be good catcher, like you said?
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