Jonathon Lucroy's Defense

[rluzinski]

Is it just me or has Lucroy seemed to be a well below average defensive catcher this year? The numbers seem to back that up. He's thrown out only 25.9% of steal attempts for one. He has only 1 official pass ball but the Brewerslead the NL in wild pitches by a wide margin and I think Lucroy deserves a lot of blame for that. He also does terrible here:

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/7/19/2282186/beyond-the-box-score-2011-catcher-defense-ratings-july-edition

I don't follow the minors as closely as many here. I know his offense was always mentioned while in the minors but what was his reputation defensively? I know he hits well for a catcher but I am worried his defense is really going to cut into his value over the next few years.

[RockCoCougars]

He hasn't been very good, but I'll give him a pass due to the fact that it's only his second year. He needs to improve his work blocking the plate for sure, not too much that you can do about his poor rate in throwing out runners. He's passable behind the plate now, and his bat has made up for his defensive deficiencies. However, I do worry about teams picking on him in the playoffs.

[Baldkin]

Shhh... Russ, don't you know, we can only complain about the backup catchers defense.

 

He really hasn't been that good behind the plate, but I also think a lot of that SB thing is on our pitching staff. Grienke, Yo, and Marcum just do not hold runners on, at all.

[bork]

I don't have the exact numbers, but I remember his SB % being in the 15-20% range prior to the All Star Game. So he brought the % up over the past month or so. He was at 31% last year, so so could some of the early problems be due to the broken finger and missing spring training? He has been more effective throwing out runners lately.

[CheezWizHed]

He was known in the minors as a weak throwing arm, but a quick release to compensate. No idea if that has improved (or worsened). And blocking balls seemed to be a weakness when he came up last year.

[HiAndTight]

I actually disagree a bit here just on the eye test. I think he's pretty damn good at blocking balls in the dirt. We have a couple of pitchers who have just NASTY secondary stuff that's nearly impossible to block. The slider that Greinke threw last night that allowed a run to score bounced before the plate and was moving away. That's something that Molina won't block. It's incredible.

 

So I think a lot of it is Greinke, Yo and Marcum's secondary stuff, Narveson will bounce a lot of curves up there, and while Wolf seems to keep his down and not in the dirt as often, he can bounce a 0-2 curve as well as anyone.

[TooLiveBrew]

He was known in the minors as a weak throwing arm, but a quick release to compensate. No idea if that has improved (or worsened).

 

I think that's still a fair scouting report. His arm strength certainly doesn't stand out.

 

I agree with H&T that Lucroy seems good at blocking balls, though.

[JohnBriggs12]

The Brewers have been successful on roughly 75% of their steal attempts. I would guess that's close to average. I don't think the total number of steals (63) or the steal percentage off of Lucroy (close to average) are major causes for concern in this day and age of baseball where teams don't run all that much.

 

As to the wild pitch count being high, that may have more to do with the type of pitchers on the staff. than it has to do with Lucroy's blocking ability.

[rluzinski]

League average CS% is 29%.

 

So I think a lot of it is Greinke, Yo and Marcum's secondary stuff, Narveson will bounce a lot of curves up there, and while Wolf seems to keep his down and not in the dirt as often, he can bounce a 0-2 curve as well as anyone.

 

Did you look up the numbers?

 

http://www.baseball-refer...com/teams/MIL/2011.shtml

 

Yo, Greinke and Ax have 24 of the 57 wild pitches but the rest of them are shared pretty well. Greinke is on pace to have more WP then in any other season (he has 8 now). Marcum only has 3 and Gallardo has had a bunch over the the last 3 years (of course Lucroy has probably caught over half of those).

[RightFieldCoder]

Baldkin wrote:

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Grienke, Yo, and Marcum just do not hold runners on, at all.

Neither does our first baseman.

[endaround]

Baldkin wrote:

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Grienke, Yo, and Marcum just do not hold runners on, at all.

Neither does our first baseman.Huh? Based on what? He plays off because the Brewers want their 1B to play off like that.

[PKBadger]

Baldkin wrote:

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Grienke, Yo, and Marcum just do not hold runners on, at all.

Neither does our first baseman.

Huh? Based on what? He plays off because the Brewers want their 1B to play off like that.

 

Obviously Prince should be pounding his mitt with his right hand more often.

[RightFieldCoder]

Watching him in person. He either has further to move the glove to make the tag, or he gives away the throw by moving back to the base. Runners can take an extra step with a righty on the mound.

 

I'm not ragging on the decision to have him do that. It makes him field better, which is greater than the little extra stolen base percentage it gives up. I'm just adding it to not using SB% against Lucroy.

[mothershipconnection]

I've thought he looks pretty acceptable behind the plate, but his arm is not impressive. Still, I'll give up a handful of extra steals in exchange for not producing 3 automatic outs per night.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'm happy with having a .730 OPS catcher who hits .290, and doesn't look like a butcher behind the plate. Yeah, he only throws out 30%, but teams don't 'run wild' on him, and he's not awful. He could be better yes, but he's durable, and he can hit.

[rluzinski]

I don't think anyone is unhappy with Lucroy's overall play this year. I just want to know Lucroy' defense has been below average and if we should expect it to be for years to come.

And it seems like people really focus on CS% but that's just one part of a catcher's defensive responsibilities.

[istanbultaye]

I'm not sure what the average years spent in the minors are for most catchers, but Lucroy came out of college early, and only really spent about 3 seasons worth of time in the minors. He's 25 now, so I think his defense still has a good chance of improving.

[Samurai Bucky]

One thing that impresses me is how he can frame a pitch. It may seem like a small thing, but he is able to frame it an inch or so and show it to the umpire in a good spot without making it look like he's moving the glove a few inches. That might be why the Brewers have been getting many of those pitches that are borderline in the FOX Box...

[a3uge]

One thing that impresses me is how he can frame a pitch. It may seem like a small thing, but he is able to frame it an inch or so and show it to the umpire in a good spot without making it look like he's moving the glove a few inches. That might be why the Brewers have been getting many of those pitches that are borderline in the FOX Box...

Lucroy does seem to be pretty good at this. I never understood the guys like Soto who would frame pitches that bounce in the dirt. Even when Soto gets a strike, he moves the ball to the middle of the plate. Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems like he gets less calls this way, because framing to the middle tells the umpire that the pitcher missed. I always loved the way Kendall framed pitches. He didn't frame them all that often, and when he did, it seemed like he'd get the call. He'd have the ability to catch the ball far on his glove while moving it to the edge of the strike zone, seeming like he didn't frame the pitch at all.

It would seem like common sense would say that if you frame every pitch, it loses its effectiveness.