Dec
16
2008
Rockets and Pop Guns
Posted by erik in Bryan Anderson, Nick Derba, tags: Blake Murphy, Brandon Yarbrough, Bryan Anderson, Kevin Moscatel, Luis de la Cruz, Nick Derba, Paul Vasquez, Steve Hill, Tony CruzBen Badler takes a look at catchers in the minors who best controlled the running game. The good news is out of the 55 catchers on his list, 3 Cardinals are in the top twenty in caught stealing percentage.
- Nick Derba caught 34 out of 78 attempts (43.6%) and came in 5th on Badler’s list.
- Luis De La Cruz caught 20 out of 52 (38.5%), coming in 13th.
- Bryan Anderson was much improved from last year, catching 41 out of 109 attempts (37.6%), good for 19th. Last year his CS% was 26.8%. Hopefully that will squelch some of this nonsensical talk that he should be moved to another position.
Badler only looked at players whose names were in one of their handbooks so I figured I may as well could look around and see how well our other catchers controlled the running game. Onward bullet points, ho!
- Arnoldi Cruz: 15-for-55, good for 27.2%.
- Blake Murphy: 20-for-53, 37.7%.
- Paul Vasquez: 31-for-74, 41.9%
- Brandon Yarbrough: 26-for-75, 34.6%
- Kevin Moscatel: 12-for-35, 34.2%.
- Steve Hill: 1-f0r-4, I don’t have is AFL #’s, unfortunately.
Some quick thoughts:
- The reverse-Inge experiment with Cruz is probably still worth exploring, but he has some work to do. That percentage would put him well in the bottom third of Badler’s list.
- Nick Derba fooled us into thinking he could hit, posting a .377 wOBA for the Quad Cities last season. This season at Palm Beach his wOBA .274, but he dominated the running game. Another Jason Motte experiment in line?
- Murphy was my favorite late round pick last season, and here is another reason why. The 42 round pick completely dominated college ball both on offense and defense, then he hit pretty well in Batavia before struggling a bit at the QC. We’ll see what he can do over a full season before I get really interested.
- Paul Vasquez came from the independent leagues to hit for a .394 wOBA in the Quad Cities. He struggled in under 70 plate appearances at Palm Beach. Maybe he’s a hidden gem.
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What kind of hyperventilating established player geek would suggest Anderson should move to another position?
Well its obvious he’ll never be the starting catcher or the S. Louis Cardinals. Why not see if he can play second? They can play AK in right field, but can’t see if Anderson can play second?
Why is it obvious he’ll never be the starting catcher in StL? Yadi has been a very good defensive catcher and had a decent offensive year, but there’s no reason they couldn’t share time. Anderson projects to be better offensively. Based on positional scarcity, it is much more difficult to find someone who can hit and play catcher than almost any other position. His value is at catcher, whether that means as a trade chip or as a contributing member of the Cards.
A second baseman that could hit .340 is just as valuable.
anderson is most valuable as a piece in a deal that nets the cardianals roy halladay or some young cost controlled pitcher
To play 2B, you should have some range to your right and left. Anderson, like a lot of catchers, doesn’t have great speed. Whatever offensive output he’d make would likely be negated by his lack of defense. He’d have to hit .340, and to suggest that he would would make you a hyperventilating prospect geek to the max, or at least one heckuva optimist.
Secondly, he’s already a pretty fine C. He’s improved in catching base stealers. He has improved in blocking the plate. He more valuable as a catcher b/c catchers are more scarce as Todd said. The only problem is, there seems to be a lot more than usual good catchers in the minors right now, making Anderson a little trickier to move.
Thank you Erik. I don’t know where this idea started that anybody could switch to 2b and become Craig Biggio. Craig Biggio was a great athelete and he will be in the hall of fame. Brian Anderson probably won’t but if he does it will be as a catcher. At this point I think he will have a career as a major league backup catcher and a very good one. Like most of us though I do look at the fact that he has been young for every league he’s played in, has always hit for average and has the body of a power hitter. I’d like to see him at Memphis one more year to see if this potential emerges but I do agree that, if a team is willing to give up a commensurate player that we need, we should be willing to include him in a deal.
I actually don’t think moving Anderson to 2B is as unthinkable as some make it out to be. I do question his ability to range to his left at catcher, as that seemed to be the problem (late brake) at catcher when I saw him, but that was only a few games, but I’d fear the same at 2b, which is actually more important to go to your left than at catcher IMO. Oh well, I really would like to see him supplant yaddy, even though he’s one of my fav players. Everyone talks about Anderson as a trade bait, I think yadi would net more and would be better to move.
“A second baseman that could hit .340 is just as valuable.”
Pujols’ career BA – .334
Anderson is not going to hit .340 in the big leagues. I haven’t seen him play much, so I can’t really judge his athleticism, but not many guys can make the C-2B transition. While it would be great if it could happen, I wouldn’t bank on it.
Right. Also consider positional adjustments, you’re knocking ten runs or one win off of his value.
With the beating a catchers body takes over a season/career it could never be a bad thing to have 2 really go catchers at your disposal.IMo though Abderson will more than likely be used as a chip either before spring training ot the trade deadline in july.I hope they at least wait til july just to showcase him a little more and see if theat power starts to blossom after another half season at AAA.
Geez just read my last post pay no attention to my lack of spelling skills this morning apperently not enough coffee yet