Prior to this year Kevin Millwood was among the worst pitchers in preventing steals. In 193 attempts, baserunners had succeeded 161 times, better than 83%.
This year, there have been just 7 attempts and 4 SBs.
Now, Barajas is certainly much better than many of the catchers he had in the past, but this is a huge change.
Have the Rangers worked with him on holding runners, changed his delivery from the stretch, or otherwise intervened?
More generally, absent some change in Millwood, this would seem to suggest that SB prevention is primarily a catcher skill. Given the frequent movement among pitchers and catchers, it would seem to be relatively simple to break down how much of SB prevention is a catcher skill versus a pitcher skill, but I have never seen a good study. Any clues to the specific or general question?
