YOU GOT FRAMED
We all know the great catchers -- Johnny Bench, Pudge Rodriguez, Yadier Molina -- but only in the past few years have smart teams like the Yankees and Rays begun to pinpoint a main attribute that makes a catcher great: the ability to frame a pitch. Catcher framing is an act of subtlety, receiving the ball close to the chest, never stabbing at it, and turning pitches that nick the border of the zone -- or at least appear to -- into called strikes. Though framing is an almost indiscernible art form, it is now quantifiable. Baseball Prospectus has developed metrics that measure, in essence, the extent to which catchers are responsible for the calls that go their way. When you consider how many times a good framer influences at-bats, and how many runs that can save during the course of a season, you see how truly valuable he is to his team. Now that's a great catcher.
The Real Deal Behind
The Rising K's
The conventional narrative is that since the end of the steroid era, scoring has dropped and strikeouts have climbed. There are countless ways to illustrate this, and the chart below is one of them. But within that pat storyline is something more complex: The past three years have seen a dramatic increase in called strikes. That suggests the role good pitch-framers are having on the game.
Where The Magic Happens
In 2009, MLB changed its umpire evaluation system from QuesTec to PITCHf/x, a system that compares every ump's calls to sophisticated pitch-tracking technology. The goal was to standardize the strike zone for hitters and pitchers throughout the game, but Baseball Prospectus' framing metrics show that good receivers, like Giants catcher Buster Posey, can still manipulate the strike zone to their advantage. The magic for a good framer happens not only in the four corners of the strike zone but just outside it too. Umpires, and their technological aides, can still be fooled by a skilled illusionist behind the plate.
