Catcher Defense in April: Avila in Middle of Pack

Last December, I ranked all the catchers in baseball in 2010 based on their fielding statistics (stolen bases, caught stealing, passed balls , wild pitches, throwing errors and fielding errors).  Today, I'm going to do the same thing for April, 2011.

The system is complex and I'm not going to rehash the whole thing here.  If you want to see the details, you can read my earlier article.  I do want to give credit to others who inspired me with similar work in the past:  Sean Smith, Justin Inaz, Matt Klaasen and Mike Rogers.

Before looking at the April data, remember that one month is a small sample size and that you should use the same caution you use with any short period of data whether it be hitting, pitching or fielding.  Also keep in mind that these numbers do not capture everything that a catcher does.  For example, they say nothing about game calling or understanding of pitcher abilities and tendencies. I am are only going to evaluate catchers based on what we can most easily measure - controlling the running game, pitch blocking and avoiding errors.

Table 1 contains data for all catchers with at least 100 innings in April.  The CSRuns column gives us an estimation of how many runs each catcher saved/cost his team compared to the average catcher by controlling the running game.  It is based on stolen bases against and caught stealing.  Athletics catcher Kurt Suzki is the MLB leader with 5.0 runs saved.  A negative sign before a number indicates that a catcher cost his team runs.  The worst receiver was A.J. Pierzynski who cost the White Sox -2.3 runs.  Alex Avila was right in the middle at 0.3.

The next column (WPPBRuns) tells us how many runs catchers saved/cost their teams with pitch blocking or preventing passed balls and wild pitches.  Number one is Cubs backstop Geovanny Soto with close to two runs saved (1.8).  Pierzynski and Mariners receiver Miguel Olivo have cost their teams almost two runs (-1.8).  Avila is closer to the bottom on that statistic costing the Tigers an estimated 0.6 runs with pitch blocking.

The TERuns column tells us about throwing errors.  There is not a lot of variation between catchers there, but Avila is tied for first with a few others at 0.3.  Conversely, Russell Martin has cost the Yankees 0.5 runs on throwing errors.

The FERuns column indicates how many runs catchers have saved/cost their teams with fielding errors.  Again, there is not a of of variation. There are a lot of catchers including Avila tied at 0.1.  The worst is Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers (-0.5).

The final column (CatchRuns) is the sum of the previous four columns.  It tells us how many runs catchers saved/cost their teams on the above items combined.  The leader is Suzuki who has saved the Athletics almost five runs (4.7).  The worst is Pierzynski who has cost the White Sox four.  Avila has been right around league average (0.1 runs).

In summary, Avila has been average at controlling the running game, a little below average at pitch blocking and a little better than average at avoiding errors.  Overall, he is in the middle of the pack which combined with his strong hitting made April a successful month for the Tigers young catcher.  

Table 1: Catcher Runs Saved/Cost through April 30, 2011

Player	Team	Inn	CSRuns	WPPBRuns	TERuns	FERuns	CatchRuns
Kurt Suzuki	OAK	184	5.0	-0.6	0.3	0.1	4.7
Matt Wieters	BAL	195	1.7	1.7	0.3	0.1	3.8
Kelly Shoppach	TBR	122	1.4	1.4	-0.1	0.0	2.8
Buster Posey	SFG	193	2.3	0.9	0.0	0.1	3.3
Ramon Hernandez	CIN	115	2.4	0.5	0.2	0.0	3.1
Geovany Soto	CHC	203	1.2	1.8	0.0	-0.4	2.6
Drew Butera	MIN	106	0.5	1.2	-0.1	0.0	1.7
Nick Hundley	SDP	200	0.9	0.7	0.0	0.1	1.6
Brayan Pena	KCR	107	0.5	1.0	-0.1	0.0	1.4
Wilson Ramos	WSN	134	1.0	0.7	-0.3	0.0	1.4
Yorvit Torrealba	TEX	181	0.6	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.9
Matt Treanor	KCR	139	1.3	-0.6	-0.3	0.0	0.4
Yadier Molina	STL	180	0.9	-1.5	0.0	0.1	-0.6
Carlos Santana	CLE	172	-1.1	1.2	0.3	0.1	0.4
Rod Barajas	LAD	200	-0.9	1.0	0.0	0.1	0.2
Alex Avila	DET	187	0.3	-0.6	0.3	0.1	0.1
Hank Conger	LAA	110	-0.3	-0.1	0.2	0.0	-0.2
Chris Iannetta	COL	176	-0.3	-0.4	0.3	0.1	-0.4
Ryan Doumit	PIT	110	-0.3	-0.1	-0.4	0.0	-0.7
Jeff Mathis	LAA	125	0.0	-0.8	-0.1	0.0	-0.8
John Buck	FLA	198	-1.4	0.6	-0.2	0.1	-0.9
Humberto Quintero	HOU	149	-0.9	0.6	-0.3	-0.4	-1.0
Brian McCann	ATL	214	0.8	-1.1	0.3	-0.4	-0.4
Carlos Ruiz	PHI	164	-1.5	1.1	-0.0	0.1	-0.4
Miguel Montero	ARI	203	-0.2	0.1	-1.1	0.1	-1.1
Russell Martin	NYY	199	-0.7	-0.7	-0.5	0.1	-1.9
Ryan Hanigan	CIN	126	-1.6	0.6	-0.1	0.0	-1.0
Jarrod Saltalamacchia	BOS	128	-0.8	-0.7	-0.1	0.0	-1.5
J. P. Arencibia	TOR	146	-0.4	-0.8	-0.3	0.1	-1.5
Jonathan Lucroy	MIL	105	-1.2	-0.4	0.2	-0.5	-1.9
John Jaso	TBR	121	-2.1	-0.5	0.2	0.0	-2.4
Miguel Olivo	SEA	184	-0.7	-1.8	-0.3	0.1	-2.6
Josh Thole	NYM	177	-1.5	-1.6	-0.0	0.1	-3.0
A.J. Pierzynski	CHW	204	-2.3	-1.8	0.0	0.1	-4.0