Focus on pitch framing paying off for Iannetta
Not only has catcher Chris Iannetta contributed for the Diamondbacks at the plate, including on Friday night when he cracked a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth, he’s shown improvement in his receiving skills compared to last year.
When the Diamondbacks signed him in January, they hoped a renewed focus on pitch-framing would pay dividends, and that’s exactly how it’s played out so far.
The club’s internal metrics show improvements across the board in Iannetta’s framing, with a particular jump in pitches at the bottom of the strike zone. Iannetta is also grading well in data available publicly, including at Baseball Prospectus, where he ranks 16th out of 43 catchers with at least 1,000 framing chances. A year ago, Prospectus had him ranked second-to-last in the majors.
“I pay attention to it a lot,” Iannetta said. “I’ve been really staying on top of it. It’s been a big focus to make sure the strikes are being called strikes.”
Iannetta posted good framing numbers in 2015 before falling off last year, which he attributed to a problem with how he held his glove before receiving a pitch.
“I’d start at the bottom of the zone and then as the pitch was in the air I’d kind of relax and raise it up,” he said, demonstrating. “I’d be here (down in the zone) and I’d raise up to relax and then go back down to catch it a little bit. I wouldn’t (bring the ball down with me), but just the illusion of me going down made it look like it was lower than it actually was.”
Though he’s hitting just .235, Iannetta has five homers and two doubles in 68 atbats, giving him a .485 slugging that’s a big part of his healthy .792 OPS.
“I feel good,” he said. “I’m seeing it OK. Like I said, I’m just working on putting at-bats together and getting in as many good hitters’ counts as I can. I haven’t really been paying much attention to the cumulative stuff and just kind of focusing on the pitcher that day and not giving away an at-bat.”
Walker session goes smoothly
Diamondbacks right-hander Taijuan Walker threw an event-free bullpen session, putting him on target to throw a simulated game on Monday or Tuesday at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, manager Torey Lovullo said.
“He did just fine,” Lovullo said. “Everything is exactly where it should be. I got a little bit of feedback from him as he headed to the training room and he said he felt good.”
Assuming all goes well then, the Diamondbacks could then bring Walker back from the disabled list for a start next weekend in Miami.
“I think a lot of that could be contingent on how he does in his sim game,” Lovullo said in regard to Walker’s specific return date. “We want him back as soon as possible, but we’ve got to make sure he’s OK.”
Staying fresh
Lovullo said Brandon Drury and David Peralta were getting regular days off on Saturday, adding that he’s trying to be even more proactive in scheduling rest for his players given their current 11-game, three-city road trip.
“We’re in the middle of a long, grinding stretch of games,” Lovullo said, “and I think we have to be careful about how much we put guys in there and give them time off their feet.”
He said “nobody is exempt,” hinting that first baseman Paul Goldschmidt could get a day off himself soon.