Comments on: Saltalamacchia Injury May Be a Blessing

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:38:29 +0000

In this case, yes it is.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:43:54 +0000

Yes, because your opinion is definitely more right than others.

By: RA

RA — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:24:34 +0000

Rizzo if you read the post, I said specifically that Teagarden was probably a little better than Salty defensively but not by much. You keep an eye on that Millwood number with Teagarden the rest of the season and see what happens.

By: rizzo

rizzo — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:04:35 +0000

Salty in 21 starts with Millwood has thrown out 4-17, perfectly in line with his total stats. Millwood hasn’t had an effect on Salty’s throwing numbers.

Teagarden has caught Millwood in 3 starts and is 2-2 throwing out runners for what it’s worth.

I’ve never said that Teagarden is better all around, but if you’re going to suggest that Salty is better defensively I’d like to see that expressed statistically.

By: KJOK

KJOK — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:47:51 +0000

The truth is that, despite showing encouraging improvements, the Rangers pitching staff can still use all the help it can get – and we’ve seen how defense can positively impact results thanks to the presence of rookie Elvis Andrus at shortstop.

After park adjustments, the Rangers are right at the top of the league in run prevention, so while I agree that defense is a big part of that, I don’t see that changing catchers is going to suddenly put the Rangers near the bottom on run prevention.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:37:19 +0000

“In truth, a catcher’s offensive contributions are really a bonus. It’s on defense where a backstop really needs to shine.”

I would not have expected to read such a thing at this site. I am very disappointed.

By: RA

RA — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:10:05 +0000

Note to Rizzo. Let’s see if Teagarden can keep up his high rate now that he is playing every day and getting a chance to stop runners with Millwood on the mound. Let’s see what it is when he has 80 chances like Salty.

By: rizzo

rizzo — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:33:51 +0000

How can you say that Teagarden doesn’t control the running game? The statistics simply don’t back up that statement.

By: rizzo

rizzo — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:32:08 +0000

I don’t know about ‘game calling’ and ‘receiving’ since I don’t know how you’d really measure those skills in a catcher, but the stolen base stats for the 2 are very different:

Salty has thrown out 17-78 base runners in 714 innings

Teagarden has thrown out 8-20 in 320 innings.

Not only has Teagaren thrown out a much higher percentage of runners, but runners are testing him far less frequently (1 attempt every 16 innings as opposed to 9.2 innings for Salty).

If Rangers pitchers truly struggle at holding runners then Teagarden must really have a cannon since A) they aren’t running on him and B) they aren’t successful when they do.

Neither are much with the bat right now, but the evidence suggests that Teagarden is a good bit better defensively.

By: Todd

Todd — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:23:22 +0000

I have watched about 98% of the innings played this year by the Rangers. I completely agree with Dave R and RA.

Poor article.

Salty has more upside than TTea.