The Most Valuable Defender in Baseball (It’s Not Close)
October 25, 2025
The Most Valuable Defender in Baseball (It’s Not Close)
5 comments
When “framing” becomes a measurable, quantifiable tracked statistic, then we have long since passed the time for the ABS to become the standard.
“Framing” is nothing more than hoodwinking the umpire into making a bad call or preventing the umpire from making a bad call on a good pitch. all.
The constant here is the unreliability of umpiring, and we have the technological ability do do away with it once and for all. So why wait another minute?
He’s one of the five best catchers in baseball and I swear half this subreddit thinks we should non tender the guy.
Also, not for nothing, but he had three walk off hits this year.
I have regular conversations with local fans desperate to replace our catcher, asking who we could get.
hyperbole
I am really surprised that people assume that an automated strike zone will erase any advantage that his receiving skills represent. I have always imagined that it will just be an adjustment in strategy. Baiting batters into challenging close pitches would seem to be a variation on doing the same for umpires. Once you know sleight of hand you can do thousands of card tricks.
5 comments
When “framing” becomes a measurable, quantifiable tracked statistic, then we have long since passed the time for the ABS to become the standard.
“Framing” is nothing more than hoodwinking the umpire into making a bad call or preventing the umpire from making a bad call on a good pitch. all.
The constant here is the unreliability of umpiring, and we have the technological ability do do away with it once and for all. So why wait another minute?
He’s one of the five best catchers in baseball and I swear half this subreddit thinks we should non tender the guy.
Also, not for nothing, but he had three walk off hits this year.
I have regular conversations with local fans desperate to replace our catcher, asking who we could get.
hyperbole
I am really surprised that people assume that an automated strike zone will erase any advantage that his receiving skills represent. I have always imagined that it will just be an adjustment in strategy. Baiting batters into challenging close pitches would seem to be a variation on doing the same for umpires. Once you know sleight of hand you can do thousands of card tricks.