Quote:
Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla
Having watched your namesake make many a start in Arlington Stadium, I quickly soured on a catcher that was a local favorite but didn't seem to care how many PBs he gave up (he displayed horrendous defensive fundamentals epitomied by nonexistent foot work behind the plate).
On the other hand, a young Chad Krueter (who was not picking up a big league check because of his bat) was a pleasure to watch, defensively.
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It's been a long time since I read the Bill James piece, but I think he controlled for this and cited catchers working with knuckleballers as a separate issue. Regardless, in a case like this, it's really just a matter of the catcher's fielding and/or error rating. As you've pointed out, it's not an issue of the catcher influencing my performance but rather how well he can catch a knuckleball that moves erratically. The original issue here is about the belief that a catcher can affect a pitcher's performance based on how well he 'manages' a game or a pitching staff.
In response to the post about the Red Sox staff since Varitek retired, I know the post was intended as a joke. But, in all seriousness, how did the same staff perform before he retired when the backup catcher started instead? That's the sort of analysis that James did, and it was amazing to see how the same pitchers performed at the same level or even sometimes better when the backup started ahead of a catcher who was believed to be a seasoned veteran who really handled pitchers well.