Comparing Defensive Abilities of Red Sox Catchers (Including Ryan Hanigan)

(Photo courtesy of Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

By Dakota Antelman

Going into last season, finding catchers with defensive ability was key for the Red Sox.

Wary of the struggles of guys like Jarod Saltalamaccia, they added slightly stronger defensive catcher AJ Pierzynski. Catching opponents stealing was a key struggle for the Red Sox in 2013 and they wanted to remedy it with Pierzynski's arm.

Though complications brought on by Pierzynski's behavior with the team led to his premature removal from the clubhouse and the roster, the need for a catcher with both pitcher cohesion abilities as well as raw defensive abilities has not gone anywhere.

For a team that has shown the willingness to add catchers in this off season in particular, the Red Sox are in a mindset and a personnel place where they could get a defensive rock.

But have they already gone out and done that?

Below is a statistical comparison of the four catchers currently on the Red Sox roster' (Christian Vazquez, Blake Swihart, Dan Butler and Ryan Hanigan) individual defense...

	Ryan Hanigan	Blake Swinhart	Dan Butler	Christian Vazquez
Team last season	Tampa Bay (MLB)	Pawtuket (AAA) Portland (AA)	Pawtucket (AAA) Red Sox (MLB)	Pawtucket (AAA) Red Sox (MLB)
CS%*	.211	.456	.267	.442
Errors	1	8	3	7
Fielding Percentage	.998	.990	.986	.992
Games	79	91	61	106

*Caught stealing percentage

When we think about defensive catchers, the first statistic that comes to mind is caught stealing percentage. It is the flashiest thing a catcher does just as it is one of the hardest. Being good at gunning down runners attempting to steal takes a combination of awareness in communication with a pitcher, manipulation of mind games that try to get a runner to commit early and of course brutal accuracy in throwing the ball to the base.

Some of the MLB's players who are best at combining those qualities can throw nearly 50% of runners out but the majority of catchers rarely put together seasons where they throw out more than 20% of attempted base stealers.

Compared to the current Red Sox depth chart, these numbers seem to make the Sox look pretty good. 

Two of their four catchers threw out more than 40% of runners last season. Blake Swinhart, who split time between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Portland Sea Dogs, led the entire Red Sox organization in the category last summer when he threw out 45.6% of runners. Needless to say, the majority of the outs that boosted that average were recorded with Portland against players with much less base stealing experience than any of the other Red Sox catchers featured. Taking experience into account, Christian Vazquez put up some of the best numbers. He threw out 44.2% of runners.

Furthermore when one takes into account the runners he threw out solely in his 54 MLB games, Vazquez's numbers are even more staggering representing a CS% of 51.7%.  

Beyond CS% is fielding percentage. Fielding percentage is a statistic that seems to provide some additional insight into how a catcher plays when the ball is not in his glove. It measures an ability to field the occasional foul-ball-pop-fly and get an occasional out as well as cover bunts or short choppy hits that trickle painfully along the baselines. 

Ironically some catchers Red Sox fans know to be horrible at catching runners stealing have been inexplicably talented in ranging plays. Such could partially be the case next season if Ryan Hanigan gets any playing time. Hanigan, despite throwing out just about 21% of attempted base stealers, had a remarkable .998 fielding percentage. He led the four catchers featured in this story, in that category.

On the flip side though, Christian Vasquez's statistics back up the statement that he is a genuinely smart player. He is second among featured Red Sox catchers with a fielding percentage of .992. 

In terms of fielding percentage, Hanigan holds a slight advantage over Vazquez. Needless to say, the completeness of Vazquez as a catcher holds true and demands recognition. 

(Photo courtesy of David Goldman/AP)

In other statistical categories, Dan Butler, and Blake Swinhart hold their own. Butler committed just three errors last season, the fewest of any featured players who were in the Red Sox system last year (ie. not Ryan Hanigan). Swinhart impresses with his .990 fielding percentage but is bitten by the eight errors counting against him.

Alas however, there remains one final discrepancy in these four catchers' statistics that is far beyond their control; games played. 

A difference in games played undermines the integrity and representative quality of some of these individual statistics. For example, Vasquez, who played 103 games, put up a 42.2 CS% that is arguable much more meaningful than the 45.6 that Swinhart put up. 

The same goes for nearly every category where Vazquez has a statistical edge. Any small advantage or even slight disadvantage he has is compensated for and turned into a large advantage by his ability to work more games and distribute his workload over those games.

Going into the preseason, having that kind of reputation as being a good worker will bode well for Vazquez. 

Across the board however, who gets starting reps during the season will be determined by their ability to play good defensive baseball during the slate of spring training games. 

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Will Middlebrooks traded to San Diego Padres for Ryan Hanigan

(Photo courtesy of Matt Stone/Boston Herald) 

by Dakota Antelman

After 232 games with the Red Sox, third basemen Will Middlebrooks’ days in Boston seemed all but done by the midafternoon hours of Friday December  19th.

Pending a physical, Middlebrooks was traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan.

Middlebrooks had expressed an understanding that he did not fit within the Red Sox system back in October but for the much of the offseason to this point, it appeared the Red Sox were willing to stand by their once touted prospect.

Middlebrooks of course was the player who played well enough in his rookie season to push previous Red Sox third basemen Kevin Youkilis out of Boston and soon after, the MLB. He hit 15 home runs in his rookie year while also flashing the glove with repeated and pinpoint accuracy and poise. Since that 2012 season though, Middlebrooks has been a different player. Fraught with injuries and mechanical issues, he has spent long stretches of time on the DL and even longer ones trundling away in the minors.

Management stood by him nonetheless, insisting that he could soon return to his 2012 power hitting form. But alas, there came a point following this most recent 2014 season where even his coaches had to draw a line.

Back in November they signed third basemen Pablo Sandoval to a $100M contract. Sandoval’s introduction into the infield mix effectively clogged up the rotation enough so that it was overtly clear how imminent Middlebrooks’ departure was.

Very quickly, the Middlebrooks situation turned from one where the Red Sox were trying to create a position/excuse to keep him around, to one where they were eager to get the highest return out of him on the trade market.

While whether or not the latter of those criteria was met by today’s trade is up for debate, the Sox acted decisively, finally severing ties with Middlebrooks.

Ryan Hanigan, who they got in the trade, comes to Boston as a seven year MLB veteran. He spent the first six years of his career with Cincinnati logging around 70-80 starts per season before being sent over to Tampa for last season.

He played a decent season at the position of backup catcher for the Rays starting 84 games and bringing a .218 average with him to a total of 225 plate appearances. He was in turn traded to the Padres from the Rays last week and obviously, did not play a game with them.

His arrival in Boston, which will occur unless anything unforeseen comes up in Will Middlebrooks’ physical, will give the Red Sox a fourth catcher under contract for next season. That will provide added depth to the already intense competition between Boston catchers for the starting job.

Hanigan will be competing with Christian Vasquez, Blake Swiheart and Dan Butler from day one.

Alas, Will Middlebrooks is a departed sole in terms of the Red Sox roster. The two year experiment the team conducted with him frankly did not work out and they have moved on. A consolation prize for doing so; the Red Sox now have one of the deepest catching lineups in the division and will have immense power of choice as to who will lead the unit come April.

The hot stove keeps on burning this offseason.

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