Defense Archives

I just saw the highlight of Matt Treanor's double play last night. The ball was bunted, and Matt grabbed it out of the air and threw to second for the double play. Seems like a good time to recall this Treanor story.

The Diamondbacks get a two-run homer from Stephen Drew to take a 2-0 lead over the Marlins in the third.

Joe Christensen describes the fielding drill that helped Alexi Casilla make a spectacular play Wednesday night. It's one of the little things Ron Gardenhire works on to make the team better.

Pizza Cutter is doing some very good work on defense at MVN. I like the way he's trying to separate the ability to get to a ball from the ability to field the ball.

Jim Leyland adds another wrinkle to the Tigers defense. He's going to use Carlos Guillen in leftfield sometimes to get Inge games at third base:

Manager Jim Leyland said Saturday that Guillen probably will start in left field today against the Mariners.

Leyland had said after Friday night's game that he might use Guillen in left at least occasionally.

"This is how I can get (Guillen) in the lineup if I want to play (Brandon) Inge at third," Leyland said after Friday night's game.

To his credit, Guillen is game. He was signed as an outfielder but moved to the infield when he started in pro ball.

"I'm not afraid to play left," Guillen said. "You have to have confidence to play this game. You play this game with passion."

Ryan Langerhans is back with the Nationals and just made a possible game saving catch in San Diego. With the score tied at two in the bottom of the eighth, Kevin Kouzmanoff launches one to the stand in leftfield. Ryan leaped, got his glove over the railing, and pulled the ball back in to preserve the tie. He's also singled and driven in a run.

Update: The catch is for naught as Jody Gerut hits a three-run homer down the rightfield line for a 5-2 lead.

Nick Cafardo makes Dustin Pedroia the center of his piece on the Red Sox 5-3 win over the Mariners Monday night. He notes a defensive play in the third as a key moment in the game:

Take the play he made in the third inning of last night's 5-3 win over the Mariners: runners at first and second, two outs, when Jose Lopez hit a ball that for all intents and purposes should have gone through into right field for a run-producing hit. Yet Pedroia, who was positioned more toward second base, got a good jump on the ball and made a diving play to the first base side to retire Lopez and keep Bartolo Colon out of peril.

(Actually, there were runners at first and third.)

I saw the play last night and watched it again this morning. It was a nice play by Dustin, the kind that separates a good fielder from a bad one. It's an easy out if the fielder is positioned differently. Pedroia showed on that play what we normally consider range, the ability to cover a lot of ground to get to a ball.

When I run the Probabalistic Model of Range, I define range as the ability to turn a ball into an out. Positioning plays a large role in that. One would expect the players that can make up for being out of position on a ball with their ability to cover ground will tend to score higher in the rankings. Maybe when we get Joe Maddon's GPS system we'll know for sure.

I like the way Joe Maddon thinks about defense.

NESN is reporting that Varitek is the first catcher to receive four no hitters. They left Torborg off their graphic as catchers who caught three. Can anyone think of anyone else who caught four?

Add to that Schilling's near no-hitter last season, and Varitek's had quite the low-hit career.

Hank Blalock volunteered to move to first base when he comes off the disabled list:

"It's his decision," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "He said he had looked at the team and thought he could help the squad more at first. This is Hank just being a very intelligent baseball man,"

Blalock has played 686 career games at third base and none at first. Washington was giving Blalock some pointers during infield practice Sunday.

The Rangers are sending Blalock to extended spring training in Arizona on Monday. Washington said Blalock will probably stay in Arizona until he comes off the disabled list -- which may be as early as Friday.

"It's a new position for me and I'm not sure how I'll do," Blalock said. "I wouldn't have initiated it if it wasn't something I was excited about."

Blalock was hitting better this season before he tore the hamstring. Rangers this season have gotten a .602 OPS out of their first basemen coming into Sunday's games.

You don't see this too often. Kuroda strikes out Aybar, but the pitch is not caught cleanly. With a man on second and two out, Aybar starts running to first. The catcher, Bennett, throws the ball over the head of the first baseman down the leftfield line. Kotchman scores from second, and Aybar turns on the afterburner and reaches third base. A strikeout triple! The Angels take a 1-0 lead in the fourth.

Richard Durrett made the case this morning in the Dallas Morning News that the Rangers did what they needed to change themselves for the better, including defense:

The club that bobbled balls, missed cut-off men, made errant throws and beat itself to start the season has morphed into one that is putting together an impressive highlight reel of defensive plays, adding four more to the collection Tuesday.

And it isn't just the defense. These Rangers are manufacturing runs, running the bases smartly, delivering key hits, and, most important, pitching well. Consequently, they are winning games.

That's true, but everyonce in a while the wind shifts back to the old ways. A bobbled ground ball and a mis-read line drive lead to two innings in the seventh inning today, giving the Mariners a 3-2 lead. Scott Feldman pitched very well today, but the two unearned runs mean he's now in line for a loss.

Update: Hamilton makes up for the misplayed line drive with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at three.

With men on first and third and two out in the top of the ninth, Franklin Gutierrez came up with the second great dive of the game. Mench hit a high liner into right center. It looked like it would drop to plate the first run of the game, but it hung up just long enough for Franklin to get over and make the diving catch. Two batters earlier, with a man on second, Rios hit a hard line drive snared by Victor Martinez at first. Lee completes nine scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.67. Now the Indians need to plate a run to get him a win.

Marcum is out of the game after eight innings. Ryan tries to preserve the tie.

Update: Ryan gets two popups as he retires the side in order. The game will be decided in extra innings. The Indians still have just two hits.

Update: Stewart breaks the scoreless tie in the tenth, and Hill follows with a two-run single to give Toronto a 3-0 lead.

Andrew Marshall writes:

Asdrubal Cabrera just turned an unassisted triple play behind Cliff Lee. This offense (Toronto) has become comically bad.

The Indians, of course, have the only unassisted triple play in World Series history, way back in 1920. This evening, the runners were going, Overbay hit a line drive that Asdrubal caught on a dive. The runners had already advanced a base, so Cabrera just had to tag the base and the runner from first to complete the TP. The game remains scoreless in the top of the sixth.

It must be tough to see pop ups in foul area on the third base side in Arizona. Mark Reynolds over-ran a ball near the stands earlier, and just now Schneider called off Wright, then lost the ball. The Mets lead 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth.

My latest column at SportingNews.com examines how the Rays defense is contributing to the improvement in their team ERA.

Jim Leyland decided to switch Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen defensively. So now Miguel's followed the full Albert Pujols path.

There was plenty of praise for Chase Utley's glove last night:

With the bases loaded and one out and the Phillies trailing 3-0, second baseman Chase Utley launched himself parallel to the infield dirt and somehow managed to snag Clint Barmes' hard-hit chopper that seemed destined for centerfield. After landing flat on his torso, he raised his glove and shoveled the ball to shortstop Eric Bruntlett, who made a quick throw to first base for an inning-ending doubleplay.

"After the game, I told him 'Thank you,' " said righthander Kyle Kendrick, who pitched five innings and gave up all five Rockies runs on home runs by Yorvit Torrealba and Garrett Atkins.

Utley saved two runs, for sure.

Who knows how many may have followed?

"Bases loaded, it kind of slowed them down a little bit," Utley said. "A base hit there obviously would have hurt a lot."

Power and defense at second base is a rare combination. Morgan and Sandberg are the only two in my lifetime who did both extremely well. Utley was among the best second baseman in range as measured by PMR last season.

The Tigers broadcast pointed out something about the defensive alignment against Magglio Ordonez. The first baseman is playing way off the line, in what would usually be the hole between second and first. According to them, Ordonez hit a good many balls there last season, and few down the first base line. It's a good defensive adjustment so far, as they've kept Magglio's average down to .264.

When I was in college, my roommates and I used to kid that the threshold for an error was set too low. Our opinion was that if the greatest fielder at the position would have made the play, then it should go as an error.

With Kyle Lohse at the plate and the bases loaded, he slapped a ball to the left of Counsell at third. Counsell was in, he dove, but the ball went under his glove for a two-run single. Since Graig Nettles would have not only snagged the ball, but turned it into a double play, Counsell should really get an E5.. :-)

By the way, I love Brian Barton's socks. He's mixed a 50s uniform with a wild hairdo. The contrast looks great.

Alexei Ramirez starts in centerfield for the White Sox today and makes a spectacular throw to get Emil Brown. Brown hit a ball into the gap in right-center. Ramirez got to the hit in a hurry, grabbed the ball spun and threw a strike to second base without setting himself. Brown was out by a mile. Alexei showed off everything on that play; speed, soft hands, and an accurate and powerful arm. Look for that play on Web Gems tonight.

The game is scoreless in the second.

I don't think of Victor Martinez as a defensive catcher, but he just made a great play on Coco Crisp. Crisp laid a bunt down the third base line that died at the grass cut out in front of the plate. Martinez sprang like a cat on the ball threw off balance and got Crisp at first. He showed quickness and a strong, accurate arm on that play.

Soccer Dad notes the Orioles posted a .772 DER in their first seven games. They're like a black hole for balls in play.

Orlando Cabrera made a rare poor play for the White Sox. With a man on first, he ranged to his right for a ground ball off the bat of Polanco. Cabrera got there in time, but the ball skipped under his glove. He appeared to be looking for a higher bounce. The official scorer gave Polanco a hit, and a double play cleared the extra runner. The White Sox and Tigers are tied at five in the top of the fifth. Carlos Quentin hit his first home run for the pale hose.

Sox Machine notes the biggest threat to Jerry Owens's health after he returns to the White Sox.

The Soxaholix makes Kevin Youkilis the center of water cooler talk today for passing Steve Garvey for errorless games at first base. Keep in mind, however, that first basemen don't make a lot of errors in general. As for range, Kevin is a bit above average.

Kevin Youkilis can tie a fielding record tonight.

Emil Brown hits a ball to the warning track in straight away center than Ellsbury catches with a backward leap. He crashes into the wall but holds on to the ball. The NESN announcers are calling it a great catch, but I think he leaped too early. If he stays on his feet and keeps running I think he gets under the ball. Still, and out's and out, and it must be difficult playing under that white ceiling.

The A's go 1-2-3 in the eighth. The Sox have three outs to get one run. Lowell, Moss and Varitek are due up.

Giambi receives praise for his play at first this spring:

"The thing I've learned is that you have to change your training," Giambi said. "It stunk going through everything, but it all was a blessing in disguise. Even tearing my foot."

Giambi did much more sprint work this off-season and worked on explosive techniques that made him quicker on his feet.

"A few years ago I would have said there was no chance I'd be training like I am now," said Giambi, who was batting .406 this spring. Tino Martinez is surprised at how well Giambi is playing.

"He's actually moving around better than I thought," Martinez said. "I think he was feeling tentative in the past. The whole key is moving your feet but not being afraid to make a mistake. You don't want to hold the ball when you got an easy out at second and just get the guy at first. In the past he would do that. Now he's not afraid to go and get lead runners. That really helps the pitching staff."

We'll see long that lasts during the regular season. Having Giambi at first, however, gives the Yankees their best offensive team.

The Transaction Guy makes a good case for the Padres 2008 outfield defense hurting the pitching staff this season.

Via WasWatching, Joel Sherman joins the Jeter debate:

But what is being missed here is the preponderance of evidence against Jeter's defensive game. This is not just one set of Ivy League academics calling Jeter the majors' worst fielding shortstop. Just about every respected baseball statistician who has publicized results reveals Jeter is, at best, among the poorest defensive shortstops in the game.

You can attack methodology; you can say no perfect formula has yet been devised to encapsulate all the elements - positioning, speed of the hit ball, field conditions - into a single defensive statistic. However, these metrics keep evolving in sophistication. And Jeter keeps faring poorly in nearly every study year after year. Do you think there is a conspiracy? Do you think statisticians en masse have covertly met and made their quest to soil Jeter's glovely reputation?

"This study has been done a zillion times and the same conclusion is reached every time," an AL official said. "What do you think that means?"

For Jeter devotees, it means assailing the geeks. But as an AL executive said, "this isn't geeks vs. jocks. This is myth vs. reality." In reality, most baseball officials laugh off the three Gold Gloves Jeter won from 2004-06 in the way they do the four Bernie Williams won as having more to do with offense, fame and winning than with actual defense.

I'm very glad this debate is now fully out in the open. It's easy to dismiss one study, but when all of them point in the same direction, year after year, people start to notice. It looks like one of those people was indeed Jeter:

Perhaps the strongest condemnation came from Jeter, who said, "Last year, I didn't have a good year defensively."

It doesn't sound like much, especially since Jeter limited a serial inadequacy to just 2007. Except Jeter is not one to ever publicly apologize for, or criticize, his own game. But this is more than words with Jeter. He rededicated himself in the offseason with exercises designed to improve his lateral quickness and first-step explosiveness. One Yankee official saw this version of Jeter and said, "He set the clock back five years."

"I'm a lot quicker, a lot more agile," Jeter said. "Only time will tell, but that is what I worked on."

Actions speak louder than words.

Via WasWatching, Jeter says no to a position shift:

Many scouts believe Jeter would be able to make an easy transition to the outfield, where his speed, strong arm and terrific instincts would make him a natural. Asked about the possibility, Jeter waves off the question before it's finished.

"I ain't going out there," Jeter said. "It's not as easy as it sounds to just pick up a glove and say, 'I'm going to be an outfielder today.' It doesn't work like that."

As for his current position, Jeter feels he's a better shortstop now than he was during the early years of his career thanks to experience. By making the necessary adjustments on a regular basis, Jeter is constantly addressing what he feels are his strengths and weaknesses in the field. Just don't ask him what those are.

"I'll leave that to the computers to figure out," he said with a grin.

He doesn't move to his left or right well.

Via MLB FanHouse, Derek Jeter and Gene Michael talk about the shortstop's poor range:

"Maybe it was a computer glitch," the three-time Gold Glove winner said of the report. But Jeter just didn't laugh this one off. He defended himself, saying, "Every [shortstop] doesn't stay in the same spot, everyone doesn't have the same pitching. Everyone doesn't have the same hitters running, it's impossible to do that."

Jeter, 33, pointed out you can get the exact same ground ball off the exact same pitcher and there could be an average runner or there could be Ichiro running. "How can you compute that?" he asked.

You can't. That's one reason Yankees senior advisor Gene Michael was infuriated by the University of Pennsylvania report.

"Something like that is a disgrace," the scout said. "It made me ill when I read that article. First of all, what pitching staff was out there? Each team has a different staff. Derek doesn't really have a sinkerball pitching staff whereas other shortstops, you sit behind certain pitchers, you're going to get a lot of ground balls.

"You simply can't do that by those charts, that's a bunch of baloney," Michael added. "It's disgraceful. You have to use a scout's eye to determine range."

Of course, we do take most of those factors into account. For every Ichiro running to first, there's a Jason Giambi. Over time, those factors even out. As for the pitching staff, the Yankees have undergone numerous changes over the last few years, and somehow Derek stays at the bottom of the pack.

I'd also like to comment on one thing from the FanHouse post (emphasis added):

Baseball's different. It's very easy to watch Jeter fly deep in the hole, plant, pivot and gun a runner and come to the conclusion that he's a great fielder. It's a pretty play, full of athleticism and grace and that's more memorable than a grounder that finds a hole or a double play that doesn't get turned. That doesn't make it more important, though. These kinds of analysis help us understand baseball in its fullest context. That context, however, doesn't matter much when Jeter cuts off a poor throw, flips it to the plate and saves a run.

If Jeter actually planted and pivoted in the hole, I think his numbers would be better. What he actually does is stop, jump and throw, using only his arm to get the ball to first. His movement is more like a skater transferring kinetic energy from the horizontal to the vertical with a toe pick. None of that energy is being used to hurl the ball toward first base. I cringe every time he tries to make that play, because no matter how good it looks, it's the wrong way to throw. If he stopped, planted and used his whole body to send the ball across the diamond, he'd make a stronger and more accurate throw. How many times does that toss pull the first baseman off the bag or sail over his head? David Eckstein can make the plant and throw play, why can't the bigger and stronger Jeter?

Update: Tango's take.

Update: 100% Injury Rate chimes in. He points to some old data that shows Jeter wasn't the best fielding shortstop on his team, with the same pitching staff. The same things shows up in 2007 PMR. As a team, the Yankees shortstops produced 38 fewer outs than expected. Jeter, however, produced forty fewer outs than expected! So the replacements were a bit better.

One of the things to come out of the talk yesterday was that Troy Tulowitzki seemed to be covering for Garrett Atkins defensive woes. Tulowitzki produced 50 outs more than expected in 2007, while Atkins missed about 48 outs. You can see from their ground ball PMR graphs, that the difference happens in the hole:

Alan Schwarz, during the talk, wondered if this was more a reflection of strategy on the part of the Rockies as opposed a Garrett Atkins fielding deficiency. Apparently not.

Last spring, rookie Troy Tulowitzki had to take it. This year, as a rich, budding star, he's dishing it out.

Saturday, Tulo's target was third baseman Garrett Atkins.

"Atkins doesn't do much over there," Tulowitzki said with a sly grin. "He kind of just stands there and watches balls."

Tulowitzki was kidding, but there's a element of truth there. Note that the Rockies didn't lock up Atkins long term.

Hat tip, Purple Row.

One criticism leveled at the Probabilistic Model of Range this year is that due to building the models based on the visiting team fielders, teams with good offenses get a bonus defensively. The example given is the Yankees, but there are other high offense teams ranked high in terms of PMR.

The idea is that since the Yankees hit well, their opponents DER must by definition be low. A ball put in play by the Yankees must have a lower probability of being turned into an out. This causes the model to underestimate the fielding ability of opponents, and over estimate the fielding ability of the Yankees. If the model contained one parameter, ballpark, then this would be absolutely true. However, there are six parameters, including a vector indicating the direction of the ball. I propose that the Yankees hit better than their opponents not because a random ball in play has a higher probability of falling for a hit, but because the Yankees do a better job of hitting balls where they are tough to field.

The following table shows the number of ground balls hit by the Yankees and their opponents by vector:

Vector	Yankees	Opponents	Predicted DER
25	4	4	0.000
26	12	14	0.000
27	37	26	0.766
28	118	57	0.898
29	175	118	0.706
30	193	156	0.671
31	148	119	0.844
32	111	82	0.934
33	164	136	0.868
34	114	105	0.585
35	100	74	0.535
36	117	124	0.624
37	101	108	0.617
38	116	150	0.838
39	119	131	0.865
40	163	139	0.764
41	165	174	0.550
42	110	130	0.688
43	61	55	0.847
44	35	40	0.572
45	7	13	0.010
46	5	5	0.000

As you can see, the low probability vectors are 29-30, the shortstop hole, 34-37, up the middle, 41-42, the second base hole, and 44, right down the first base line. I'm not looking at the foul vectors where a ball is always a hit. Breaking these down:

Ground balls	Yankees	Opponents
In Holes	1110	1029
At Fielders	882	895

So the Yankees hit more grounders where they are less likely to be fielded, and fewer grounders where they are more likely to be fielded than their opponents. Later I want to look at how the Yankees field home and road. If they field much better at home, then the objection still my have some validity.

To complete the survery of range, here are how pitchers rank. First the teams:

Team Pitchers PMR, 2007, Visit Smooth Distance Model, 2007 data only

Team	In Play	Actual Outs	Predicted Outs	DER	Predicted DER	Ratio
Astros	4530	205	183.71	0.045	0.041	111.59
Padres	4476	243	228.50	0.054	0.051	106.35
Rockies	4599	218	206.59	0.047	0.045	105.52
Indians	4548	181	171.92	0.040	0.038	105.28
Mets	4362	173	164.61	0.040	0.038	105.09
White Sox	4545	196	186.52	0.043	0.041	105.08
Yankees	4511	181	172.92	0.040	0.038	104.67
Tigers	4486	167	159.73	0.037	0.036	104.55
Red Sox	4226	149	142.79	0.035	0.034	104.35
Mariners	4535	174	167.33	0.038	0.037	103.99
Blue Jays	4349	200	194.00	0.046	0.045	103.09
Phillies	4505	193	187.33	0.043	0.042	103.02
Pirates	4608	204	200.82	0.044	0.044	101.58
Cubs	4177	166	163.95	0.040	0.039	101.25
Rangers	4518	197	195.59	0.044	0.043	100.72
Braves	4404	206	204.60	0.047	0.046	100.69
Devil Rays	4378	148	147.07	0.034	0.034	100.63
Twins	4384	150	152.30	0.034	0.035	98.49
Orioles	4403	160	162.54	0.036	0.037	98.44
Nationals	4591	167	170.78	0.036	0.037	97.78
Marlins	4491	178	182.52	0.040	0.041	97.52
Angels	4325	143	146.86	0.033	0.034	97.37
Giants	4467	159	163.87	0.036	0.037	97.03
Diamondbacks	4351	207	213.40	0.048	0.049	97.00
Cardinals	4587	158	166.21	0.034	0.036	95.06
Athletics	4499	165	174.70	0.037	0.039	94.45
Brewers	4392	179	192.64	0.041	0.044	92.92
Dodgers	4310	189	205.96	0.044	0.048	91.76
Reds	4533	162	180.13	0.036	0.040	89.93
Royals	4528	151	179.20	0.033	0.040	84.27

The Padres not only induce the most predicted outs back to the pitcher, they exceed those outs by a great deal. Maddux is one reason:

Individual Pitcher PMR, 2007, Visit Smooth Distance Model, 2007 data only (400 balls in play)

Player	In Play	Actual Outs	Predicted Outs	DER	Predicted DER	Ratio
Chris Sampson	414	24	15.23	0.058	0.037	157.55
Matt Cain	571	26	19.79	0.046	0.035	131.37
Chad Durbin	417	15	11.48	0.036	0.028	130.65
Shaun Marcum	456	27	20.71	0.059	0.045	130.37
Steve Trachsel	549	35	26.89	0.064	0.049	130.17
Mike Mussina	512	27	20.84	0.053	0.041	129.54
Woody Williams	632	36	27.90	0.057	0.044	129.04
Aaron Cook	572	37	28.69	0.065	0.050	128.98
Miguel Batista	615	26	20.17	0.042	0.033	128.92
Jon Garland	705	34	26.84	0.048	0.038	126.66
Kelvim Escobar	572	17	13.58	0.030	0.024	125.21
Wandy Rodriguez	536	21	16.87	0.039	0.031	124.46
Greg Maddux	681	53	42.87	0.078	0.063	123.64
Ervin Santana	457	13	10.59	0.028	0.023	122.72
Jake Peavy	571	30	24.58	0.053	0.043	122.03
Brandon Webb	692	53	43.55	0.077	0.063	121.69
Mike Bacsik	414	15	12.35	0.036	0.030	121.42
Tim Wakefield	600	24	19.83	0.040	0.033	121.05
Carlos Zambrano	610	30	25.00	0.049	0.041	119.98
Javier Vazquez	583	28	23.46	0.048	0.040	119.34
Adam Eaton	525	22	18.49	0.042	0.035	119.00
Nate Robertson	573	27	22.77	0.047	0.040	118.56
John Danks	427	15	12.83	0.035	0.030	116.94
James Shields	615	26	22.26	0.042	0.036	116.80
Justin Verlander	577	17	14.69	0.029	0.025	115.76
Chien-Ming Wang	643	34	29.61	0.053	0.046	114.84
Carlos Silva	699	27	23.54	0.039	0.034	114.70
John Smoltz	586	30	26.16	0.051	0.045	114.69
Dustin McGowan	484	31	27.18	0.064	0.056	114.04
Justin Germano	426	21	18.42	0.049	0.043	114.04
Ted Lilly	586	24	21.09	0.041	0.036	113.81
Dontrelle Willis	667	39	34.32	0.058	0.051	113.64
Kyle Davies	432	16	14.08	0.037	0.033	113.60
Sergio Mitre	522	29	25.58	0.056	0.049	113.35
Daisuke Matsuzaka	555	24	21.21	0.043	0.038	113.18
Joe Blanton	750	28	25.10	0.037	0.033	111.54
Jake Westbrook	481	27	24.51	0.056	0.051	110.17
Andy Sonnanstine	408	14	12.81	0.034	0.031	109.28
Matt Chico	548	16	14.77	0.029	0.027	108.33
Jamie Moyer	633	30	27.83	0.047	0.044	107.81
Johan Santana	555	24	22.27	0.043	0.040	107.75
Tom Glavine	674	27	25.15	0.040	0.037	107.37
C.C. Sabathia	701	24	22.47	0.034	0.032	106.80
Brett Tomko	415	16	14.99	0.039	0.036	106.77
Jarrod Washburn	627	20	18.81	0.032	0.030	106.33
Noah Lowry	502	23	21.69	0.046	0.043	106.02
Jeremy Guthrie	527	21	19.85	0.040	0.038	105.81
Chris Capuano	456	28	26.47	0.061	0.058	105.77
Fausto Carmona	654	36	34.14	0.055	0.052	105.43
Roy Halladay	722	36	34.31	0.050	0.048	104.94
Mark Buehrle	648	33	31.47	0.051	0.049	104.86
Bronson Arroyo	661	27	25.79	0.041	0.039	104.71
David Bush	594	24	23.12	0.040	0.039	103.80
Kyle Kendrick	401	20	19.29	0.050	0.048	103.69
David Wells	545	20	19.32	0.037	0.035	103.52
Erik Bedard	431	17	16.46	0.039	0.038	103.29
Jeff Suppan	708	34	32.99	0.048	0.047	103.05
Barry Zito	608	21	20.40	0.035	0.034	102.94
Jason Marquis	626	25	24.34	0.040	0.039	102.70
Jeff Francis	662	30	29.40	0.045	0.044	102.04
Kameron Loe	464	28	27.74	0.060	0.060	100.93
Livan Hernandez	704	38	37.71	0.054	0.054	100.78
Paul Maholm	583	30	29.99	0.051	0.051	100.02
Matt Morris	693	28	28.14	0.040	0.041	99.50
Kip Wells	522	20	20.10	0.038	0.039	99.48
Ian Snell	606	20	20.14	0.033	0.033	99.33
Odalis Perez	494	18	18.33	0.036	0.037	98.20
John Maine	527	17	17.37	0.032	0.033	97.86
Cole Hamels	495	23	23.78	0.046	0.048	96.70
Chad Gaudin	603	21	21.76	0.035	0.036	96.51
A.J. Burnett	414	15	15.67	0.036	0.038	95.73
Mike Maroth	417	17	17.85	0.041	0.043	95.22
Tim Hudson	722	41	43.25	0.057	0.060	94.81
Felix Hernandez	567	26	27.45	0.046	0.048	94.73
Jered Weaver	514	18	19.04	0.035	0.037	94.51
Brian Bannister	540	20	21.19	0.037	0.039	94.40
Oliver Perez	483	11	11.65	0.023	0.024	94.40
Micah Owings	461	22	23.32	0.048	0.051	94.34
Kyle Lohse	615	22	23.48	0.036	0.038	93.71
Jeff Weaver	511	10	10.72	0.020	0.021	93.32
Chuck James	484	15	16.10	0.031	0.033	93.18
Tom Gorzelanny	642	24	25.76	0.037	0.040	93.18
Roy Oswalt	675	36	38.80	0.053	0.057	92.79
Adam Wainwright	654	28	30.29	0.043	0.046	92.44
Jose Contreras	647	22	23.80	0.034	0.037	92.43
Scott Kazmir	534	16	17.46	0.030	0.033	91.64
Lenny DiNardo	430	15	16.48	0.035	0.038	91.04
Derek Lowe	604	27	29.69	0.045	0.049	90.95
Andy Pettitte	690	26	28.59	0.038	0.041	90.93
Paul Byrd	686	21	23.15	0.031	0.034	90.72
Aaron Harang	642	23	25.44	0.036	0.040	90.42
Doug Davis	597	32	36.17	0.054	0.061	88.47
Scott Olsen	578	21	23.75	0.036	0.041	88.41
Josh Fogg	556	21	23.79	0.038	0.043	88.26
Scott Baker	454	13	14.84	0.029	0.033	87.58
Rich Hill	527	21	23.98	0.040	0.046	87.57
Brad Penny	643	25	28.93	0.039	0.045	86.41
Kevin Millwood	571	16	18.75	0.028	0.033	85.32
John Lackey	668	24	28.71	0.036	0.043	83.60
Braden Looper	581	19	23.06	0.033	0.040	82.41
Chad Billingsley	400	17	20.94	0.043	0.052	81.18
Josh Beckett	566	11	13.68	0.019	0.024	80.41
Vicente Padilla	407	12	15.11	0.029	0.037	79.44
Chris Young	448	11	14.27	0.025	0.032	77.08
Claudio Vargas	419	14	18.20	0.033	0.043	76.91
Edwin Jackson	516	12	15.91	0.023	0.031	75.43
Jeremy Bonderman	533	14	18.78	0.026	0.035	74.53
Boof Bonser	539	14	18.92	0.026	0.035	74.00
Jorge de la Rosa	431	11	15.32	0.026	0.036	71.79
Gil Meche	663	20	28.05	0.030	0.042	71.31
Julian Tavarez	455	11	15.86	0.024	0.035	69.38
Brad Thompson	451	10	14.58	0.022	0.032	68.61
Matt Belisle	570	15	22.66	0.026	0.040	66.18
Dan Haren	661	17	26.01	0.026	0.039	65.36
Daniel Cabrera	608	13	20.82	0.021	0.034	62.44
Ben Sheets	431	11	19.19	0.026	0.045	57.31
Curt Schilling	485	7	12.87	0.014	0.027	54.40

Peavy is also very good, however. Looking at Schilling's low ranking should give his opponents a clue as to his weakness next season. Bunting for hits against Curt might be a very good idea.

Fielding by catchers isn't the most important aspect of the job, and the number of outs attributed to the postion are few. But for completeness, here are the tables for the position. First, teams:

Team Catchers PMR, 2007, Visit Smooth Distance Model, 2007 data only

Team	In Play	Actual Outs	Predicted Outs	DER	Predicted DER	Ratio
Cardinals	4587	57	47.59	0.012	0.010	119.76
Braves	4404	64	55.33	0.015	0.013	115.67
Rockies	4599	76	66.39	0.017	0.014	114.48
Yankees	4511	66	59.51	0.015	0.013	110.90
Dodgers	4310	68	62.43	0.016	0.014	108.91
Angels	4325	39	35.96	0.009	0.008	108.47
Marlins	4491	57	53.73	0.013	0.012	106.09
Nationals	4591	60	57.21	0.013	0.012	104.87
Astros	4530	58	55.59	0.013	0.012	104.33
Tigers	4486	50	47.96	0.011	0.011	104.25
White Sox	4545	50	49.10	0.011	0.011	101.82
Giants	4467	58	57.06	0.013	0.013	101.64
Cubs	4177	51	50.42	0.012	0.012	101.15
Reds	4533	74	73.68	0.016	0.016	100.44
Blue Jays	4349	50	49.79	0.011	0.011	100.42
Royals	4528	46	45.90	0.010	0.010	100.22
Rangers	4518	48	48.05	0.011	0.011	99.90
Red Sox	4226	49	49.56	0.012	0.012	98.88
Devil Rays	4378	41	41.89	0.009	0.010	97.88
Indians	4548	36	37.23	0.008	0.008	96.70
Diamondbacks	4351	50	51.94	0.011	0.012	96.26
Padres	4476	59	61.48	0.013	0.014	95.97
Orioles	4403	37	38.96	0.008	0.009	94.97
Mariners	4535	42	44.86	0.009	0.010	93.63
Pirates	4608	51	54.75	0.011	0.012	93.15
Phillies	4505	56	60.25	0.012	0.013	92.95
Twins	4384	30	32.50	0.007	0.007	92.32
Athletics	4499	37	41.10	0.008	0.009	90.03
Mets	4362	50	56.67	0.011	0.013	88.22
Brewers	4392	51	59.91	0.012	0.014	85.13

The Mets are Brewers, who just completed a trade at the position, came out at the bottom team wise. New York might have been better off with Torrealba, at least fielding wise.

Individual Catcher PMR, 2007, Visit Smooth Distance Model, 2007 data only (1000 balls in play)

Player	In Play	Actual Outs	Predicted Outs	DER	Predicted DER	Ratio
Yadier Molina	2719	32	26.82	0.012	0.010	119.33
Brian McCann	3433	52	43.65	0.015	0.013	119.14
Yorvit Torrealba	2863	54	45.73	0.019	0.016	118.07
Miguel Olivo	3131	44	37.90	0.014	0.012	116.11
Jorge Posada	3484	50	43.52	0.014	0.012	114.90
Eric Munson	1012	17	15.02	0.017	0.015	113.21
Jeff Mathis	1421	21	18.96	0.015	0.013	110.78
Jose Molina	1431	16	14.52	0.011	0.010	110.18
Kelly Shoppach	1365	14	12.72	0.010	0.009	110.07
Gerald Laird	3118	37	33.82	0.012	0.011	109.40
Russell Martin	3687	60	55.76	0.016	0.015	107.60
Gregg Zaun	2559	32	29.91	0.013	0.012	106.98
Brad Ausmus	2728	33	31.07	0.012	0.011	106.22
Chris Iannetta	1613	20	18.83	0.012	0.012	106.20
Toby Hall	1002	10	9.45	0.010	0.009	105.82
Gary Bennett