2010 in Review: Catcher

by Ryan on Oct 12, 2010 9:53 PM EDT in Analysis

Posts in this series:

Team Offense	Team Pitching	Team Defense
Catcher	First Base	Second Base
Shortstop	Third Base	Designated Hitter
Left Field	Center Field	Right Field
Starting Pitching	Relief Pitching

Part I: Review

Carlos Santana and Lou Marson started the season as catching prospects, and each got a chance to play. Marson started the season as the Indians' starting catcher, and even though he has the skill set to be a starting major-league catcher, he was just keeping the position warm until Carlos Santana was deemed ready to play or was least likely to attain Super Two status after the 2012 season. Santana was recalled on June 11th, and made an immediate impact at the plate, hitting .260/.401/.467 in 46 games. Santana injured his knee in a collision at home plate, and underwent season-ending surgery in August, so Marson finished the season as the starter. Mike Redmond was brought in to back up Marson, and was let go on July 16th. Chris Gimenez served as the primary backup the rest of the season. Luke Carlin, who was picked up to help Columbus down the stretch of their season, was recalled in mid-September and got into 6 games at the end of the season.

Defense

	Age	G	GS	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	RF/9	RF/G	PB	WP	SB	CS	CS%
Lou Marson	24	87	81	725.0	552	504	44	4	1	.993	6.80	6.30	5	25	51	31	38%
Carlos Santana	24	40	40	340.0	270	245	22	3	2	.989	7.07	6.68	4	16	22	12	35%
Chris Gimenez	27	24	19	168.2	124	109	14	1	2	.992	6.56	5.13	1	8	23	11	32%
Mike Redmond	39	22	18	162.1	99	87	11	1	1	.990	5.43	4.45	1	5	25	2	7%
Luke Carlin	29	6	4	37.0	38	34	4	0	1	1.000	9.24	6.33	0	0	4	2	33%
League Average										.990	7.44	6.54					26%
Team Total		162	162	1433.0	1083	979	95	9	7	.992	6.75	6.00	11	54	125	58	32%

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/11/2010.

Both Marson and Santana were very good in stopping the run; Marson has a quicker release, Santana has the better arm, but both were equally effective in throwing out runners attempting to steal. As a team, the Indians finished third in the AL in Caught Stealing Percentage, in the middle of the pack with 11 Passed Balls. Defense was not a problem here.

Offense

The Indians' catchers managed a 90 OPS+ thanks to Santana's contributions, which was good enough for 7th in the AL, one of the few positions in which they cracked the top half of the league.

Rk		G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
1	MIN	162	678	602	86	179	46	2	10	1	3	59	80	.297	.364	.430	.795	259	.326	109	127
2	BOS	162	692	630	82	172	39	0	27	1	0	55	100	.273	.330	.463	.793	292	.285	100	125
3	NYY	162	648	545	66	144	32	4	13	4	2	78	104	.264	.364	.409	.773	223	.302	98	122
4	TOR	162	621	579	71	154	29	0	27	1	0	23	146	.266	.304	.456	.760	264	.308	98	115
5	CHW	162	652	603	65	165	33	0	18	5	4	30	72	.274	.314	.418	.732	252	.285	94	108
6	BAL	162	639	571	51	144	27	2	10	1	1	59	114	.252	.321	.359	.680	205	.295	95	95
7	LAA	162	592	542	59	120	27	3	20	6	1	34	162	.221	.274	.393	.667	213	.275	89	89
8	CLE	162	612	525	67	114	36	0	11	10	1	72	113	.217	.315	.349	.663	183	.254	90	90
9	OAK	162	678	615	68	142	22	2	16	4	2	47	90	.231	.295	.351	.646	216	.245	84	85
10	TBR	162	653	559	74	122	25	2	10	3	1	75	115	.218	.319	.324	.643	181	.256	76	85
11	KCR	162	675	605	52	157	29	0	1	14	8	46	74	.260	.316	.312	.628	189	.289	74	81
12	DET	162	622	557	51	124	24	0	12	5	3	52	119	.223	.294	.330	.624	184	.262	67	79
13	TEX	162	631	546	52	116	16	1	13	1	2	52	113	.212	.288	.317	.605	173	.240	61	74
14	SEA	162	599	541	50	109	25	0	10	1	2	43	146	.201	.263	.303	.566	164	.253	78	62
	TOT	2268	8992	8020	894	1962	410	16	198	57	30	725	1548	.245	.312	.374	.686	2998	.278	87	96

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/11/2010.

As you can see in this breakdown, Santana carried the positional mail, matching Marson's extra-base totals in less than half the games.

Rk		G	PA ▾	AB	R	H	2B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
1	Lou Marson	84	294	262	29	51	15	3	8	1	26	55	.195	.274	.286	.560	75	.234	100	61
2	Carlos Santana	40	169	130	21	34	12	5	2	0	34	23	.262	.408	.469	.878	61	.274	102	151
3	Mike Redmond	20	68	63	7	13	4	0	0	0	2	10	.206	.242	.270	.512	17	.245	100	47
4	Chris Gimenez	21	65	56	6	11	5	1	0	0	8	20	.196	.297	.339	.636	19	.286	106	82
5	Luke Carlin	5	16	14	4	5	0	2	0	0	2	5	.357	.438	.786	1.223	11	.429	100	244
	Team Total	162	612	525	67	114	36	11	10	1	72	113	.217	.315	.349	.663	183	.254	90	90

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/11/2010.

Part II: Looking Towards 2011

Not Coming Back

Mike Redmond (Released, 7-16-10)

Redmond was to help Marson along in his first season as a starter, but Mike couldn't run, couldn't throw, and couldn't really hit. Chris Gimenez replaced him as the backup catcher in mid-July. Redmond announced his retirement earlier this month.

Returning

Carlos Santana (Pre-Arbitration) - 1 Option Year Remaining

Lou Marson (Pre-Arbitration) - 1 Option Year Remaining

Chris Gimenez (Pre-Arbitration) - 1 Option Year Remaining

The Indians don't have to worry much about this position this offseason, other than monitoring Santana's rehab.

If Santana is healthy, he'll be the starting catcher. Before the injury, the Indians were going to have him learn to play first base so that he could stay in the lineup on his normal days off, which would have perhaps allowed the Indians to give Lou Marson enough playing time to keep the rust off him. But now that Santana will spend his off-season rehabbing his knee, I would think that those plans have been delayed, and Santana will be just a catcher at least to start the 2011 season.

Both Marson and Gimenez have an option year remaining, so the Indians can go with either as Santana's backup. I'm going to guess they'll send Marson to Columbus, at least until they can give Santana some playing time at first base.

To Be Determined

Luke Carlin (Pre-Arbitration) - No Option Years

Carlin will likely be DFAd this fall or non-tendered in December to make room for a prospect or free agent on the 40-man roster.

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Comments

Despite the horrendous looking batting line from the position this season, I’m not worried about it in the near future. Hopefully Santana doesn’t get stuck with everyday catching duties, but I think Marson will become an above average regular backup. Marson’s not going to be a power hitter ever, but his BABIP were well outside of his career norms. He is a guy for whom regression to the mean should be hugely positive next season.

by APV on Oct 13, 2010 3:21 PM EDT reply actions

Anybody else thinks its bad mojo to have your bestest offensive player be the catcher? It definitely took its toll on Vic, and Carlos has already suffered the effects.

Carlos is the only elite bat in the entire system. Period. My first reaction after the collision (actually, right after “Did he hold onto the ball?”) was, “Geez, find him another position”.

by mcrose on Oct 13, 2010 9:13 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t see that it “took its toll” on Victor. Starting 140+ games at catcher, that maybe took its toll.

by Jay on Oct 13, 2010 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Vic often looked and moved like a player much older than his actual years – no question playing catcher can wear a player down over the course of the year and career. It’s the most demanding defensive position, and it can easily have a detrimental effect on offensive performance, whether you’re missing games due to injury or simply worn down.

by mcrose on Oct 14, 2010 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions

On Marson: “even though he has the skill set to be a starting major-league catcher”

Except for the ability to hit.

by Boomhauer on Oct 14, 2010 11:51 AM EDT reply actions

I think you’re missing the forest for the trees here. Marson is a rookie, and a relatively young one for a catcher. He has a track record of hitting well enough in the minors that he should eventually hit in the majors.

For a rookie catcher, with strong defensive skills, he wasn’t THAT terrible at the plate.

by Jay on Oct 14, 2010 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions