The New Catcher

Saturday, December 03 2011 @ 07:57 PM EST

Contributed by: Magpie

I hate to be contrary... ah, who am I kidding? I love to be contrary! But I have to say it - I'm really looking forward to watching Jeff Mathis play.  There are things I'm keen to know...

I want to emphasize right away that I'm not looking forward to watching him hit. The numbers tell the tale, and they tell it true. I'm reminded of Kevin Cash. You get the feeling he stands at home plate, closes his eyes, and swings as hard as he can. Every  now and then a pitch intersects the same plane as the bat, and he gives it a ride. But most of the time... SWISH!!

And many of his defensive numbers don't look that impressive. He doesn't seem to throw particularly well. But if you're wondering exactly what it was that Mike Scioscia saw in him, I can tell you right now.

This:

Split               IP      ER  ERA    PA    AB    R    H    2B  3B   HR   SB  CS  BB    SO   K/9    W/9  SO/BB    BAVG    OBP    SLG    OPS

Jeff Mathis  2007   467    202  3.89  1993  1817  221  493   99  15   35   40   8  141  383  7.38   2.72   2.72    .271    .326   .400   .726
Others       2007   968    472  4.39  4166  3746  510  987  190  19  116   67  23  336  773  7.19   3.12   2.30    .263    .328   .417   .746
                                                                                    
Jeff Mathis  2008   793.1  322  3.65  3328  3027  361  769  153  14   93   57  20  230  620  7.03   2.61   2.70    .254    .312   .406   .718
Others       2008   658    322  4.40  2832  2544  336  686  119  14   67   52  11  227  486  6.65   3.10   2.14    .270    .334   .406   .741
                                                                                        
Jeff Mathis  2009   657    291  3.99  2791  2504  308  641  126  14   76   52  18  216  509  6.97   2.96   2.36    .256    .320   .409   .728
Others       2009   788    424  4.84  3458  3058  453  872  172  11  104   76  21  307  553  6.32   3.51   1.80    .285    .353   .451   .803
                                                                                      
Jeff Mathis  2010   553.2  226  3.67  2370  2119  239  534  116   8   48   43  11  203  422  6.86   3.30   2.08    .252    .320   .382   .703
Others       2010   895.2  425  4.27  3880  3437  463  888  197  23  100   90  30  362  708  7.11   3.64   1.96    .258    .332   .416   .748
                                                                                        
Jeff Mathis  2011   698    252  3.25  2866  2628  278  637  138  10   63   48  18  193  505  6.51   2.49   2.62    .242    .295   .374   .670
Others       2011   767    329  3.86  3258  2897  355  751  149  10   79   78  22  283  553  6.49   3.32   1.95    .259    .328   .399   .727

Over the five years, Angels pitchers posted a 3.67 ERA with Mathis catching, and a 4.25 ERA with the team's other catchers. I trust you all realize what a big freaking deal this is. More than half a run a game? That's enormous. It's roughly equivalent to the difference between Jose Bautista and Adam Lind this past season...

With the added bonus of making fully half of your roster a band of very happy, very satisfied, very confident campers...

So what I'm curious about is... how does this happen? Maybe it's a fluke! Maybe it's a coincidence. But I like coincidences, and every team needs some happy flukes. And it's just possible that a fluke that follows a player around, year after year after year, really isn't a fluke.

It might be an ability.

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