Are the Twins Starting the Wrong Primary Catcher?

[Hunter McCall]

14 hours ago, Linus said:

To answer the question: no. There is more to catching than hitting. 

Couldn't agree more!

[Hunter McCall]

14 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Though I'm disappointed in Vasquez' defense so far this year, I believe if we suddenly gave him the most AB's against LH's, the stats would flip the other way, and thus I'm not as concerned about his hitting. The way our starters are pitching, I'm not changing much with our catchers, as they are handling the pitchers great.

You're absolutely right. Good point! Jeffers is feasting off lefties at the moment as he has most of his career!

[Hunter McCall]

1 hour ago, umterp23 said:

So everyone makes it sound like Vasquez is so much better than Jeffers on defensive side and or calling a game:

Vasquez - 15 wins / 12 losses as starting catcher, 8 assists, 2 DP's, .986 Fldg %, 4 - 18 caught stealing for .222 CS %, ranked 18th in MLB in catching defense category

Jeffers - 10 wins / 8 losses as starting catcher, 5 assists, 2 DP's. 1.000 Fldg % - 5 - 12 caught stealing for .417 CS %. ranked 14th in MLB in catching defense category

So it looks like Jeffers isn't as crappy as majority think on the non-hitting side of the position.  Quality backup that has given way to a $10MM starter.  Jeffers has earned more playing time than just being a get-away day catcher as he is positioned now.  

By no means is he the weakest link or catcher is weakest link on the team at the moment.

As I stated, Jeffers is not a bad defensive catcher. He does a fairly nice job. Vazquez's appeal comes from his ability to call a game and help out the starting pitcher. He brings a championship approach and has a plethora of experience calling big games. He's made a couple errors so far this year that makes him look a little questionable, but where Vazquez earns his money is in a category that has no stats. Both guys are good player!

[ashbury]

53 minutes ago, Hunter McCall said:

I think when we look at the pitching staff's strong start, we should give a lot of credit to Vazquez for the work he does calling games. They could potentially shift the starts a hair in order to give Jeffers more at-bats, but as I noted I think Vazquez should remain in the lineup often. I appreciate the perspective!

Catcher's ERA is one of those will o' the wisps people want to believe, but to my knowledge every study that has tried to pin it down wound up finding thing that would carry over from one period of time to the next.  I, too, want to believe that the catcher makes a difference in pitchers' records, but I remain skeptical of whether to give more than about 0.05 credit where ERA is concerned.

[Hunter McCall]

2 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Catcher's ERA is one of those will o' the wisps people want to believe, but to my knowledge every study that has tried to pin it down wound up finding thing that would carry over from one period of time to the next.  I, too, want to believe that the catcher makes a difference in pitchers' records, but I remain skeptical of whether to give more than about 0.05 credit where ERA is concerned.

I put more stock into it than most. i think a catcher's ability to call a game is wildly underestimated. Vazquez does a great job back there on top of his pitch framing which is also very good. He helps his pitchers in more ways than one.

[USAFChief]

15 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Though I'm disappointed in Vasquez' defense so far this year, I believe if we suddenly gave him the most AB's against LH's, the stats would flip the other way, and thus I'm not as concerned about his hitting. The way our starters are pitching, I'm not changing much with our catchers, as they are handling the pitchers great.

Jeffers has 22 PAs against LH pitching this year, Vazquez 13. Neither has has many PAs.

 

And Vazquez has hit .167/.154/.167. for a .321 OPS in those 13.

Jeffers has a .697 OPS in his 22 PAs against lefties. .978 vs RH pitching. 

 

Facing LH pitching hasn't been any kind of advantage to date. In fact it's hurt both, and Vazquez has been putrid.

 

Even up the playing time for a month and see what that looks like. For the record starters have done just fine with both catchers.

I believe the team is 2 games over .500 when Jeffers starts, 3 over when Vazquez starts.

[dxpavelka]

9 hours ago, Hunter McCall said:

You're right, the offense has been abysmal. I think it's due to improve, hopefully soon. If he is still hitting this poorly by mid-June, I think that is where they shift the playing time a bit more heavily toward Jeffers. Jeffers is currently seeing primarily lefties, so he has gotten the benefit of those matchups compared to Vazquez's righty vs. righty matchups.

Mid June is right in the rear view mirror.

 

[Hunter McCall]

14 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Mid June is right in the rear view mirror.

 

Rear-view would assume that it's passed, but it's still a month in the future.

[dxpavelka]

14 hours ago, Hunter McCall said:

Rear-view would assume that it's passed, but it's still a month in the future.

Rear view assumes it's behind you, hasn't passed you and is gaining fast.