I saw a comment that Rodriguez was the "Best Defensive Catcher ever". That seems worthy of in-depth discussion here.

500+ G at C, min 1 Rfield per 12.5 games:

500+ G at C, 1 Rfield per 12.51-15 games:

500+ G at C, 1 Rfield per 15.01-17.5 games:

500+ G at C, 1 Rfield per 17.51-20 games:

500+ G at C, 1 Rfield per 20.01-22.5 games:

500+ G at C, 1 Rfield per 22.51-25 games:

500+ G at C, 1 Rfield per 25.01-27.5 games:

500+ G at C, 1 Rfield per 27.51-30 games:


Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/11/2016.

306 more players with 500+ G at C, 99 more players with 1000+ G at C, including 12 of the 15 in the HoF:



Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/11/2016.

68 debut since 1990 with 500+ G at C, the 20 with 1000+ G at C:



Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 1/11/2016.

Not sure which of those is DRS and which is TotalZone. Here is a description of both:

Runs Saved

- Catcher Adjusted Earned Runs Saved (Catchers)
- Catcher Stolen Base Runs Saved (Catchers)
- Bunt Runs Saved (Corner Infielders, Catchers, Pitchers)
- Good Plays/Misplays Runs Saved (All Fielders)

Total Zone Catcher Data

Catcher data looks at stolen bases allowed, caught stealing, errors, pickoffs, passed balls, and wild pitches. I split the data by pitcher handedness (otherwise a catcher will look better if he catches more lefthanders than normal.) Once again, everything is compared to league averages and converted to runs.

I saw a comment that Rodriguez was the "Best Defensive Catcher ever". That seems worthy of in-depth discussion here.

These Game Calling stats (from ARom IIRC) certainly don't support that.

http://www.baseballprojection.com/special/catcher_gcall.htm

Info on framing from Beyond the Box Score

Catcher Called Pitches SAA SAA / 150 Pitches Runs / 150 Pitches
Gregg Zaun 4518 159.70 5.30 0.85
Jeff Mathis 3430 93.43 4.09 0.66
Yadier Molina 3246 84.49 3.90 0.63
Russell Martin 7061 183.16 3.89 0.63

Ivan Rodriguez 3881 55.13 2.13 0.34
Brad Ausmus 2576 35.19 2.05 0.33

Jorge Posada 2616 3.66 0.22 0.03

Gerald Laird 6129 -317.09 -7.76 -1.25

The knock on Rodriguez' game calling was he called a lot of fastballs with guys on base to make it easier to manage the running game.

Uh, I can see "edit" and "close" options under everyone's posts. Is that just me?

edit: Wait, they're gone now. Probably a momentary glitch.

The game calling stats LOVE Carlton Fisk.

Total Zone through 2002, DRS since then.

The knock on Rodriguez' game calling was he called a lot of fastballs with guys on base to make it easier to manage the running game

As I was saying in some other thread recently, it's a meme but I'm not sure how well it's sourced. The one guy I heard of knocking Rodriguez for his pitch-calling was Bobby Witt, in his youth (and Pudge's extreme youth), but even those quotes are hard to track down. Surviving direct quotes from Witt are full of praise. Maybe someone else can find the source of this rumor.

Suffice it to say, from a qualitative and observational viewpoint, Rodriguez's arm and release were otherworldly, and he came into the league at 19 with more self-confidence than most veterans. He also had uncanny bat speed, and when he was hurt mid-season in 2000 he had developed into a fantastic hitter (though really that just means hitting as well as Mike Piazza over just a half season :)

Pudge is a small man, but by his 1999 season, when I was a columnist covering the Rangers regularly, he was built like a Ninja Turtle. He later morphed back into a more human kind of body style. Your guess is as good as anyone's how that happened.

I rarely enter these discussions because I'm not good enough with numbers; just wanted to stress Rodriguez's unique abilities from a "scouting" standpoint because I watched him play so much.

Sam Carchidi in 1991

"He's the kind of guy that shuts down a team's game plan," added Bobby Witt, another Rangers righthander. "There's no doubt that he has teams changing their ways. The Hendersons and Raineses, they're still running. But the guys who steal 15, 25 bases, are reluctant."

The game calling stats LOVE Carlton Fisk.

They sure do, but many savvy observers back then would nod their head and say this is fully justified. Throughout his career, even when he was as young catcher, he was lauded for his ability to call a game and handle pitchers.

I always thought there was a grain of truth to the criticism, but it was more trying to come up with a flaw in his game when everything else he did behind the plate was pretty spectacular.

I loved watching him snap-throw to 1B, I wonder how often it actually worked. Can anyone sort out pickoffs at 1B for Rodriguez?

Johnette Howard in 1997

To his prodigious arm, Rodriguez has now added a sense of gamesmanship. "If the pitch is, say, a slider away, I've seen Pudge whip his head around and pretend the ball went to the backstop just to see if he can trick a base runner far enough off the bag to throw him out," Rangers pitcher Bobby Witt says."Sometimes you can see Pudge smiling about it behind his mask."

All Sorts of Catcher Stats

1956-2007 Catchers with the Most Pickoffs (Career):

The one guy I heard of knocking Rodriguez for his pitch-calling was Bobby Witt

IIRC, Todd Stottlemyre went public with some pretty pointed comments about pitching to Rodriguez after Stott left Texas. Can't find anything specific in a quick Google search right now though.

They sure do, but many savvy observers back then would nod their head and say this is fully justified. Throughout his career, even when he was as young catcher, he was lauded for his ability to call a game and handle pitchers.

...very very slowly.

Fisk could call a game but the thing I remember most about him was how long he took

"I rarely enter these discussions because I'm not good enough with numbers; just wanted to stress Rodriguez's unique abilities from a "scouting" standpoint because I watched him play so much."

thanks for the comments, BDC. I think you'll find such comments are welcomed as part of a "toolkit" imo.