MLB Names to Know: Elite Pitch Framing Catchers
With the increased focus on pitch framing that has gone on over the past few years in the MLB, it is time that we look at the truly elite catchers when it comes to potentially stealing a strike for their teams.
As major league teams have become more familiar with the value of pitch framing, catchers who are elite at the skill have had a job nearly guaranteed at the major league level. Baseball Prospectus does a number of great statistics on catcher defense, and one of them is Framing Runs Saved. The current leader board is here (subscription required).
In this list, I’m going to explore just the top guys in the major leagues in FRS. Some of these names you’ll obviously know, but you may not know how skilled they are at framing. I’m aware that the leader board link may have different major league guys at the top as the top 5 names have changed multiple times as I’ve plotted this article out!
So, with that being the case, let’s get to it before any further names change!!
Next: Astros Framing Guru
Jason Castro, Houston Astros
Who Is He?
Castro has big-time pedigree, having been the 10th overall selection in the 2008 draft by the Astros out of Stanford University. His bat was expected to be a great power bat to go along with his big-time glove.
While he has offered home runs certainly, his career .235 batting average has been buoyed by a .276 average in 2013, his one big offensive season thus far. He continues to offer a great glove, however.
Currently, he is leading all of baseball, majors and minors, in FRS with 9.7 already. The last two seasons in roughly 3 times the chances each season, he’s put up 11.5 and 11.0 Framing Runs, respectively, so he’s doing tremendously well this season.
Videos
Next: Superstar With Framing Skills
Buster Posey, San Francisco
Who Is He?
You may have heard of this guy. He’s a 3-time All-Star, 2010 National League Rookie of the Year, and the 2012 National League Most Valuable Player. Yet, he’s still playing in his age-29 season, which is just incredible.
In spite of his prowess at the plate with the bat, which is tremendous, with a .308/.372/.481 line in just under 800 career major league games, Posey’s defensive skills were rather under appreciated until he won a Fielding Bible award last year. Part of that could be the poor fortune of being in the same league as Yadier Molina his whole career, but part is simply because many assume you cannot have great defense while having a great bat. Posey does do both.
However, one of the more under-the-radar aspects of Posey’s game is how amazing he is at framing the baseball. He has had multiple seasons of over 20 Framing Runs with one 19.5 as well. This season he has 7.8 Framing Runs already. He’s absolutely elite at setting himself up for pitches!
Videos
Next: The Other Dodger Catcher
Yasmani Grandal, Los Angeles Dodgers
Who Is He?
Many outside of Los Angeles may not even realize that Grandal is the primary catcher for the Dodgers as A.J. Ellis is the guy that most casual fans see, as they are mostly tuning into the Dodgers to see Clayton Kershaw, and Ellis is his personal catcher.
However, after an All-Star nod last year, Grandal’s not flying under the radar much anymore as he provides very solid power and very high-level defense. This year, he’s stepping up his defense even further, though he’s struggling to get his bat on track after having some early season injury issues.
Currently, Grandal is sitting at 7.1 Framing Runs. Last season, his big step forward last year was a 25.6 Framing Runs season, which led all of baseball.
Videos
Next: Baltimore's Framer
Caleb Joseph, Baltimore Orioles
Who Is He?
An injury to Matt Wieters allowed the Orioles to realize what they had in Joseph, and the former first guy that would get brought up in trade rumors is now one of their nearly untouchable players in trade as Joseph has shown how valuable he is behind the plate, if only average at it.
Joseph did only hit .234/.299/.394 last year, but he did have 9.8 Framing Runs. Joseph is 6’3 and looks to be around 200-210 pounds (Baseball Reference has him at 180, but that seems quite light to reality). He presents a great target for his pitchers, and he really does well moving side to side to get to balls and blocking balls as well.
Joseph’s future will be interesting coming up this offseason as Wieters is on a one-year deal with the Orioles, and it will be interesting to see if the team goes with Joseph as the starter next season. Otherwise, do they pursue someone else and keep Joseph as the backup? The Orioles do also have Chance Sisco coming up in their system, and he’s a great prospect as well.
Videos
Next: An Athletic Rockie
Tony Wolters, Colorado Rockies
Who Is He?
Wolters is a unique player in that he was a middle infielder until 2013 after being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2010 draft by the Cleveland Indians out of high school. However, in the Indians system, he was behind a lot of guys, and he had the perfect skill set to make the move behind the plate, so they made the move in 2013.
Wolters was acquired by the Rockies last season off waivers, and he made the big league club out of spring training this year. Due to injuries to other catchers in Colorado, he’s played more than I believe anyone thought he would this early. Even though he’s not exactly hit well, all the defensive metrics say he’s definitely a valuable piece to have on the bench.
Wolters has 3.6 Framing Runs in only 1381 chances this year, which is quite impressive for such a raw player at the position. He’s also still able to play the infield, and he has a couple of times on the season. His biggest value is definitely behind the plate, though, with his framing and his excellent lateral movement and blocking skills, with a great arm allowing him to nail 33% of base runners this year.