Travis Sawchik at FanGraphs proposes that Matt Wieters is not drawing much free agent interest because he is a tall catcher, and tall catchers frame pitches poorly:
Wieters hasn’t been an above-average framer since 2011, according to StatCorner. Baseball Prospectus’ framing metrics are more kind but they still rate Wieters as a below-average receiver every season since 2012.
Wieters’ troubles might be tied to his height. Pitches at the bottom of the zone are those that are most often framed successfully. Elite pitch-framing catchers like Jonathan Lucroy and Russell Martin have insisted that getting lower to the ground is key to creating the illusion that a pitch is better than it really is.
Of the top-10 framing catchers last season, eight stood between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-1. Only Tyler Flowers (6-foot-4), and Jason Castro (6-foot-3) were close to Wieters in height. While there are always exceptions to the rule, perhaps in today’s game where framing is valued correctly – or is at least a significant consideration – being a tall catcher is something of a curse.
On the other hand, the standard deviation of results from pitch framing is shrinking. The article seems to posit it’s due to all catchers getting better, but I also wonder if umpires are on to them and are doing a better job of calling the strike zone. That will be the only way to stop the cheating pitch framers.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2hSfUcR
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