Quote:
Originally Posted by statfreak
As a former pitcher I disagree.
Based purely on observation, framing a pitch exists as I've seen catchers catch a pitch outside the zone and subtly move it and it is called a strike. Whether the umpire would have called it a strike or not is unknown, but I'll assume at least in some cases the catching framing the pitch resulted in the umpire calling a pitch a strike instead of a ball. Now, if that is true then the whole complexion of the at-bat changes since a batter's batting average is lower when he has a strike than when he doesn't... and lower still when he has two strikes on him. So, while walks and strikeouts may not change dramatically due to a catcher framing a pitch, it, in general, results in the batter making an out more often than if he didn't have that strike called.
As has been said before, just because it can't be measured, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I will grant that the effect of framing a pitch is difficult, if not impossible, to measure and therefore won't show up in any stats. But even I know that stats are merely a record of what occurred, not how or why it occurred.
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Again, I'm talking ML level here. If you pitched in HS, then everything's different. A great defensive HS catcher is probably worth 1 run+ per game. In College and beyond, that quickly shrinks to statistical insignificance.
Granted, you can't really separate framing from other defensive skills. If you can't detect the cumulative effect, then there's really no compelling argument that framing is significant, but not seen in the results.
To me, the benefit of framing is based on taking advantage of bad umpires.