Comments on: Varitek’s Value

By: wobatus

wobatus — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:26:29 +0000

Some think tRA is better. Homers to flyballs can be random as well. And some pitchers do suppress babip better than others on average. Ask Carlos Zambrano. if you say he doesn’t, he’ll go all crazy on you and throw a ball into the outfield.

By: pete c.

pete c. — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:41:11 +0000

what is variteks throw out % vs other starting catchers??

By: Jason Jou

Jason Jou — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:11:59 +0000

LarryinLA,

There are numerous reports if you just search for “varitek too many fastballs” or some combinations. Those are all subjective, but I don’t really have the database access to check how much % wise and in relation to the league.

Scappy,

There are complaints when he catches the other pitchers too. All I’m saying is that I don’t think we can really say he’s above average in any capacity when there are doubters out there. If all we have to go on is anecdotal evidence, then I’d expect it to 99% overwhelmingly point to him being a good pitch caller.

By: Greg H.

Greg H. — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:45:47 +0000

Because I have no better way to occupy my time, I calculated the average opponent’s wOBA, EqA and OPS+ of the games each man started and found no difference:

Kevin Cash — 42 starts, .330 wOBA, .259 EqA, 99 OPS+
Jason Varitek — 120 starts, .329 wOBA, .259 EqA, 99 OPS+

Not the best method, but yeah.

By: LarryinLA

LarryinLA — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:58:17 +0000

Does Varitek call more fastballs? My first instinct is to doubt assertions like these. Shouldn’t it be easy to check (controlling for the pitcher).

By: Sal Paradise

Sal Paradise — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:22:54 +0000

You would also have to control for the strength of the opposing teams during those starts if you wanted to do it right. If Daisuke is starting against an anemic offense like Toronto with Cash behind the plate and Texas when Varitek is catching, you’re going to get quite a big split in how their performances look. Or vice versa. You could also look at multiple seasons to see what (if any) Varitek seems to have as an impact on pitchers.

By: Scappy

Scappy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:53:15 +0000

I know part of Papelbon and all of the fastballs is that for some odd reason management wants to try and get his pitches per plate appearance down. To do that they have shelved the splitter in favor of throwing more fastballs and trying to keep them low in the zone. Papelbon’s slider kind of sucks too, so he has become a one trick pony.

Beckett is one of the few two pitch starters (fastball / curve ball). With that kind of choice selection there really isn’t much choice.

The evidence I can supply for Tek calling good games, are the four no hitters he has been a part of. I know a vast majority of the credit needs to go to the pitcher, ~95%. Some credit needs to be given to the guy telling the pitcher what to throw. You could probably assign more or less credit based on how many times the pitcher shook him off. I still remember Schilling shaking him off in 07. I just don’t think the dollar amount is that unreasonable, the number of years are though.

By: Jason Jou

Jason Jou — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:37:25 +0000

Sorry that should be Scappy.

By: Jason Jou

Jason Jou — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:36:29 +0000

Scrappy,

I want to challenge the notion that Varitek is 1.5 WAR in “pitcher handling.” I don’t know how you can just assert “at worst average”. The anecdotal evidence to me is he’s nothing special there. He calls for so many fastballs that I wonder sometimes if his non-index fingers are broken. Of course my experience watching the Red Sox is primarily when Beckett or Papelbon is pitching and with those fastballs, you’re definitely going to call the pitch a lot more. That being said, I think I saw Papelbon use a non-fastball 4 times when I watched him (which was maybe 7 or 8 times this year). There are many examples on the web out there that basically say that Varitek called for the fastball too much this year. If his “pitcher handling” was really 1.5 WAR, then I don’t see how there should be ANY doubt about his calling.

By: Scappy

Scappy — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:36:10 +0000

Fielding Independent Pitching, it only takes the three true outcomes (strikeouts, walks, and home runs) into account when evaluating a pitcher. It is represented just like ERA and can be looked upon as such (anything less than 3 is really good, above 4.5 not very good, etc.)