WHAT’S THE CATCH?
Ex-Yank Flaherty examines postseason backstop struggles
Yasmani Grandal has had a rough week.
The Dodgers' catcher had been among the top names in a weak market of catchers who will hit the free agent market this winter, but his struggles at and behind the plate could have teams taking a closer look at him before making an offer.
The Mets are among the teams that would be looking for an upgrade at catcher this winter and the veteran Grandal and his productive bat has been attractive to some in the organization.
But Grandal's struggles behind the plate have been exposed this postseason at the same time he's slumping. He's not the only catcher who has had problems handling pitching this season and it is magnifying how thin the position is across baseball.
A thin market at the catching position is part of the reason why the Yankees have been adamant that they plan to stick with Gary Sanchez, who led the majors in passed balls this season despite missing 57 games with injuries. And it is something that the Mets will have to weigh -- when they eventually hire a GM -- as they decide what to do with their catchers Travis d'Arnaud (who will miss the start of the season after Tommy John surgery and a possible non-tender candidate), Kevin Plawecki and Tomas Nido.
Grandal had the top WAR (a 3.6 wins above replacement value) of a free agent catcher's class that includes Houston's Martin Maldonado (0.9), who has two passed balls and seven wild pitches in six games behind the plate this postseason. Wilson Ramos (2.4) is the second highest in WAR among available free agent catchers, followed by Kurt Suzuki (2.0).
Scouts have long been complaining about a lack of talent in the catching pool and now it's being exposed on the major league level.
“It's been rough to watch,” John Flaherty said of watching the catching this postseason.
The former major league catcher and current YES analyst sees today's catchers struggling as part of the changes in the game on the field and behind the scenes.
“In today's analytic-based front offices, catchers' defense is valued differently,” Flaherty said. “Like pitch framing and game-calling.”
Pitch framing and “stealing strikes” - meaning being able to sell a pitch in the strike zone to a homeplate umpire - are valued in the analytical-heavy front offices as well as the ability to stick to the game plan. Those plans on how to pitch an opposing lineup are usually handed down from the baseball operations department and catchers are now evaluated on how closey they stick to the script.
“There is less seeing how a catcher reacts to situations by gut and feel for a game or a pitcher,” Flaherty said. “That's part of it.”
It is also partly catchers struggling to catch up with the changes in pitching over the last five years.
“The velocity is up and the spin rate is up, but you are seeing guys who don't have as much control,” Flaherty said Thursday in a phone interview. “I see catchers and it looks like it's going very fast for them and they don't have confidence in where the ball is going. They are asking them to cover the whole plate, inside and out, up and down and that's really hard to do.”
Grandal put on a display of how hard it was in the Brewers' two wins in this National League Championship Series. He committed two errors and allowed three passed balls. His mistakes led directly to the Brewers scoring runs. In Game 3, a passed ball allowed a run to score as the game got away from the Dodgers.
The fact that he is hitting .200 with six strikeouts didn't help his case and he was benched in Game 4 and 5 for backup Austin Barnes.
He is the posterboy for the lack of good catching out there right now, but Flaherty thinks we will see a turnaround in the future.
Like major league hitters, who have adjusted and learned how to hit the high velocity fastballs that are now so common in the big leagues, catchers too will have to adjust, Flaherty said.
“Catchers will have to make the changes to adapt to the pitching, you will see that,” Flaherty said. “Whether it's how they position themselves or their stance. Maybe if they're a little lazy or sitting back a bit, they will have to move a little bit more.
“They will have to make the changes,” Flaherty said.