Lessons learned from my injury time ridin' the pine

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Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
I'll second the idea that you're going to make a good coach someday...perhaps quicker than many other "good" coaches.
 
Aug 29, 2011
2,581
83
NorCal
I can't remember the source, and I don't know how reliable their data are. If you are interested, try Google. If you are not that interested, believe whatever you want.

Not doubting you read that but I too would be interested in that study. I did try google but haven't found it yet. I'll keep looking.

But Yadier Molina is not the game's best framer. That would be Buster Posey who is quite literally twice as good as the 4th best catcher in MLB according to some pain staking review of all Pitch Fx data. Yadi ranked 8th, still very good but his reputation for framing is better than his actual framing skills - article here with links in article to additional data and methodology
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...-at-framing-pitches-based-on-framing-metrics/

That's not a knock on Yadi, he was and is one of the best all around catchers in the game over the past few decades, his game really has no weakness defensively and you could do a lot worse picking catchers to study; but on pure pitch framing he's only very, very good, not elite.
 
Feb 21, 2017
198
28
To jump in, as we have a bit of a catching obsession in our household and I have all this memorized. The article people were looking for was in Grantland and called “The Art of Pitch Framing” and it references an article from Baseball Prospectus.

The person was Jose Molina and yes there are so many Molina catchers it is hard not to confuse them. The point was over a period of about 5 years Jose Molina was so good that he was able to save his team over 100 runs. The article compared that to a poor MLB receiver (and for reference Barry Bond run production during his peak) and what that means to WAR or win-share. Link is below and every can geek out as there are tons of articles on framing with much debate over if it overblown.

For Gabby (using my coach hat) let simplify this for usage.

Blocking: Strong arms are good but unfortunately it what most coaches see and all they ever measure in a catcher. A catcher with a strong arm who can’t block lets the runner get to second on the passed ball so advantage is negated. Also the pitcher has no confidence throwing her nasty drop particularly with a runner on third. Plus if the batter knows it won’t be called with the runner on third, they get to sit on a fastball.

Framing: As Eric F mentioned the idea is to keep a strike a strike. A photo frame enhances a photo it doesn’t move because that would be a distraction. If you see Molina in the article he starts with thumb at bottom of zone and works every pitch up and/or in with a very slight quarter turn. This skill requires practice so doing things like holding a golf ball in your pinky/ring fingers and catching a tennis ball with your thumb/index/middle finger (flexing only wrist) will improve your ability to receive. Also just take balls off a machine over and over. Pitching machines are better for catcher drills than actual hitting.

Pitch calling: This is an art so they best thing is study and watch. MLB charts every pitch so you can see how they work batters and there are patterns. Obviously a good mentor is best.

A good catcher is the coach on the field and your willingness to observe and learn makes you my new favorite player. Most youth/HS teams go as far as the catcher takes them.

Article: http://grantland.com/features/study...co-cervelli-chris-stewart-jose-molina-others/



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Aug 5, 2015
85
8
I can't remember the source, and I don't know how reliable their data are. If you are interested, try Google. If you are not that interested, believe whatever you want.
Great, make an extraordinary claim as fact, then backtrack and put it on me to substantiate when questioned.
 

softgabby

Gear Empress
Mar 10, 2016
1,073
83
Just behind home plate
To jump in, as we have a bit of a catching obsession in our household and I have all this memorized. The article people were looking for was in Grantland and called “The Art of Pitch Framing” and it references an article from Baseball Prospectus.

The person was Jose Molina and yes there are so many Molina catchers it is hard not to confuse them. The point was over a period of about 5 years Jose Molina was so good that he was able to save his team over 100 runs. The article compared that to a poor MLB receiver (and for reference Barry Bond run production during his peak) and what that means to WAR or win-share. Link is below and every can geek out as there are tons of articles on framing with much debate over if it overblown.

For Gabby (using my coach hat) let simplify this for usage.

Blocking: Strong arms are good but unfortunately it what most coaches see and all they ever measure in a catcher. A catcher with a strong arm who can’t block lets the runner get to second on the passed ball so advantage is negated. Also the pitcher has no confidence throwing her nasty drop particularly with a runner on third. Plus if the batter knows it won’t be called with the runner on third, they get to sit on a fastball.

Framing: As Eric F mentioned the idea is to keep a strike a strike. A photo frame enhances a photo it doesn’t move because that would be a distraction. If you see Molina in the article he starts with thumb at bottom of zone and works every pitch up and/or in with a very slight quarter turn. This skill requires practice so doing things like holding a golf ball in your pinky/ring fingers and catching a tennis ball with your thumb/index/middle finger (flexing only wrist) will improve your ability to receive. Also just take balls off a machine over and over. Pitching machines are better for catcher drills than actual hitting.

Pitch calling: This is an art so they best thing is study and watch. MLB charts every pitch so you can see how they work batters and there are patterns. Obviously a good mentor is best.

A good catcher is the coach on the field and your willingness to observe and learn makes you my new favorite player. Most youth/HS teams go as far as the catcher takes them.

Article: The Art of Pitch Framing «



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you so much for the advice, Can Of Corn (great username...I love it).

I'm definitely working on my skills behind the plate as I love catching and am always looking for opportunities to better myself. I've always felt confident with my arm strength as I can get the ball in the vicinity of where it needed to go but couldn't really pinpoint areas to throw it to a specific spot. I've always been the least confident in my blocking and framing. As far as blocking, I can get to a ball...but it's being quick to get to it and recognizing what the pitch is has been my weakest points. Also my ability to frame a pitch was weak. Yeah, I could catch a ball. But I struggled to make a pitch close to the strike zone a strike. I'm starting to grasp what I'm learning by watching YouTube and the NECC vids and feel like I'm improving my skills.
 

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