The Jays have had an excellent catching tandem this season but while Kirk gets a ton of credit for his framing and defense I think it's interesting to look at the pitching splits by catcher. I haven't dug deep enough to note if Heineman generally catches the pitchers that are having better years but in addition to the better ERA, SO/W, BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS shown in the screenshot, there is a considerable difference in HR/9, BB/9, and K/9 when Heineman catches.

Is this attributed to the pitchers each of them catch, differences in pitch calling, tipping pitches, or just fluky? Thoughts?

HR/9 – Kirk 1.36, Heineman 1.22

BB/9 – Kirk 3.39, Heineman 2.82

K/9 – Kirk 8.81, Heineman 9.49

6 comments

  1. Going to do the boring thing and point out sample size – you simply can’t compare 367 innings against 852.

    Heineman coming into to pinch for Kirk means he also does a lot of 8/9th innings, which would impact things.

  2. I’m actually surprised by this, because it felt like when Kirk was out for a week+ we were giving up 6+ runs a game

    I do think it’s just fluky, but I will also say that Heineman could have a shot and do decently in a low end starter role or a 50/50 split on another team

  3. You have Kirk for the offence but during the Yankees series, he was 0 for 7 with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts… not exactly ideal.

  4. Kirk’s numbers are skewed by catching more of the bad starts before scherzer joined the rotation. The francis and Lucas starts for example.

  5. cERA is known to be bunk science.

    Heineman catches on day games after a night game most of the time, which coincidentally is the time that teams will give a player a rest day.

    It can also be explained that Kirk has 850 PAs of Berrios/Francis while Heineman has 75 PAs of Berrios/Francis

  6. Kirk is in one of the best in the league when it comes to framing pitches, and I don’t think it has anything to do with pitch calling either.

    Maybe it’s because he struggles to hold runners on? His POP time sucks and his arm isn’t great either, so pitchers might be more distracted by baserunners when he’s in the game.

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