Wednesday, February 4, 2008

In Defense of Chris Coste

Good morning everyone. And Happy Birthday to Phillies catcher Chris Coste! During December’s Winter Meetings, the Pirates and Phillies completed a minor deal. The Phillies acquired catcher Ronny Paulino in exchange for former catching prospect Jason Jaramillo. The Twins Geek asked me at the time if it might mean a new role, or even a new team, for Chris Coste, the Phillies backup catcher the last three seasons. I really didn’t think much of it. Paulino is a AAAA type of catcher who doesn’t hit enough and really doesn’t field very well either.

Coste Catching.jpg

Why would a Minnesota Twins blogger care about the backup catching situation of the Philadelphia Phillies? Well, for those that are unaware, or haven’t noticed the Chris Coste Updates on the left side of this screen, I had the incredible opportunity of playing baseball at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, for two years. At the time, he was a 3B and a pitcher, a three-time conference MVP and a three time Division III All-American. I played 3B which meant that I got to watch Chris Coste play a lot of 3B. The benefit was getting to take a lot of groundballs together. Chris is a great guy, and I was thrilled when, after living the life of a minor league journeyman for a dozen years, he was called up to the Phillies in May of 2006. His book, The 33 Year Old Rookie, came out last March, and it is excellent. I definitely would recommend it to everyone.

Back to the situation at hand, the Phillies acquired another catcher with big league experience. Mike McFeely of the Fargo Forum wrote on his blog A McFeely State of Mind an article stating that the trade could cost Coste his job. At the same time, during the rumor mill that is the Winter Meetings, there was talk of Coste potentially being traded. His name was mentioned with the Florida Marlins, the Baltimore Orioles and with the San Diego Padres. The latter was later denied by the Padres. The reason? The Padres were concerned about Coste’s defense.

His defense? I started thinking about it and noted that during the second half of the 2008 season, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel would frequently use starter Carlos Ruiz as a 9^th inning defensive replacement when Coste started. Why? Well, the thought is that Ruiz is the better defensive catcher, and when you have got Brad Lidge and his monster slider on the mound, they would want their better defensive catcher.

I just kind of shook my head at this, and figured it was time to do a little bit of research. I know that there has always been a perception that Coste is an offense-first catcher. If you read his book, he talked about being hurt in his minor league career by being so versatile, by being able to play catcher, first base, 3B and even the outfield. Coste always considered himself a catcher who could play other positions, but that he is a very good catcher. So, again, I thought taking a look at the numbers would be appropriate. From having watched the Phillies on many occasions over the past two or three years, my thought would have been that Ruiz was a more “natural” catcher, whereas Coste appears mechanical and very fundamentally sound. There is no way to measure it statistically, but it appears that Coste does a great job of framing pitches and call the game where Ruiz makes things look really easy behind the plate. If I were to hypothesize what the statistics would tell us, I would guess that Ruiz would have better numbers. In reality, this research is not done to say that Chris Coste should be a deemed a Gold Glove catcher. In fact, I have read quotes that Coste considers Ruiz a great friend and teammate and he enjoys watching him catch. So I am not even saying that he should be starting for the Phillies. I think my main point in doing this would be to point out that Chris Coste’s defense should not be considered a liability, but in fact, a strength.

So, I went to The Hardball Times and found their Catcher Statistics. I then sorted by the number of innings caught in 2008 and will look at only the top forty. Chris Coste and his 613 innings caught ranks 29^th. Now before going further, I need to point out that catcher statistics are difficult to interpret because many of them are dependent upon others. Let’s start with arguably the worst catcher statistic, Caught Stealing Percentage. (Note – Ronny Paulino caught 210 innings in 2008 for the Pirates.)

Caught Stealing Percentage – This is a bad statistic because it is dependent upon the pitcher on the mound, his move to first, his pitch repertoire, his control and several other variables. Chris Coste threw out 15.4% of would-be base stealers in 2008. That ranks 35^th out of the top 40 catchers. However, Carlos Ruiz threw out just 17.7% Former Twin AJ Pierzynski was ranked the lowest, throwing out just 9.4% Joe Mauer threw out 26.4% Leading the list was the Yankees Jose Molina who threw out 43.2% To show how random this stat can be, I don’t think anyone would consider Jason Kendall or Victor Martinez good throwing catchers, but in 2008, Kendall threw out 39.6% (in 2007, he threw out just 15.3%) and Martinez threw out 31.2%

Although the number is not impressive, Coste threw out the Mets’ Jose Reyes three times, including once from his knees. He has also thrown out his former teammate Coco Crisp from his knees. Carlos Beltran is successful 88% of the time he attempts to steal bases (89% over the last three seasons), and Coste has thrown him out. Given a legitimate opportunity, Coste has a strong and accurate arm. Maybe even more impressive, there is a stat from Baseball Prospectus that no runner had been caught stealing with Brad Lidge on the mound since August of 2005. Late in the 2008 season, with Lidge on the mound, Dan Uggla was thrown out attempting to steal by Chris Coste.

Stolen Base Attempts per Game – This may be a more telling story. If teams believe that a catcher can be run on, they are more likely to run. Just makes sense, right? Of the top forty catchers in 2008, the average SBA/G is 0.733. Chris Coste’s is 0.76 and is tied for 20^th of the 40. Carlos Ruiz, the Phillies starter, is run on at a rate of 0.86. Twins Fans, Joe Mauer ranked fourth at 0.52 which basically means that one runner will attempt to steal a base every 18 innings when Mauer is behind the plate. Brad Ausmus leads the way at 0.36, and as you would expect, the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina is at 0.44. On the other end of the spectrum, Ramon Hernandez was 40^th at 1.04. (Note – Ronny Paulino threw out 25.8% of base runners, but his SB/G was at 1.07.)

So controlling the running game is one part of what a catcher does. Another job of a catcher is to keep the ball from getting past him on every pitch. Simply stated, a big part of a catcher’s job is to catch the ball. In reality, the one thing that a catcher can actually control is the number of Passed Balls he allows. In 613 innings in 2008, Chris Coste had just one passed ball, which was by far the best rate in baseball. Wild Pitches are tough to judge. A catcher obviously attempts to save his pitcher of as many wild pitches as he can. However, if a curveball bounces on the plate, or in the batter’s box, there isn’t much the catcher can do. Have you seen those Brad Lidge sliders? Being able to block 99% of them in the dirt is pretty impressive. In Coste’s case though, it seems as if he can block 999 in a row, but when he lets one slip by, it is ‘because he isn’t a top-notch defensive catcher.’ Right? By the way, the research shows that Brad Lidge threw five wild pitches in 2008, four with Carlos Ruiz behind the plate. Again, this isn’t saying that Coste should be the starter, but it does make you wonder why Charlie Manuel would find it necessary to replace Coste with Ruiz in late-season, late-inning situations.

WP+PB/G – Wild Pitches PLUS Passed Balls per Game – Of the Top 40 catchers in 2008, Chris Coste ranked #4 at 0.235. Ahead of him were Jason Varitek (0.233), Kurt Suzuki (0.207) and Brad Ausmus (0.205). Carlos Ruiz came in at 0.25 which was sixth overall. Joe Mauer ranked 12^th at 0.329. Brandon Inge (0.565) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (0.562) filled the final two spots on the list. Ronny Paulino was at 0.312.

Catcher ERA – This is another statistic that is difficult to read into too much. Rod Barajas of the Blue Jays led the majors with a catcher’s ERA of 3.32. However, the pitchers throwing to him included Roy Halladay, AJ Burnett and when healthy, Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum. Chris Coste’s Catcher ERA was 3.97 which was good for 14^th. Carlos Ruiz was 10^th at 3.85. But then you have to note that Ruiz got to catch Cole Hamels while Coste got to catch Adam Eaton., and the struggling Brett Myers. That alone could make up the difference. For your information, Joe Mauer ranked two spots behind Coste, with a 4.22 CERA. The Worst? Brandon Inge’s came in at 5.67. In 39^th was the Tigers new catcher Gerald Laird at 5.21. Of course, that has a lot to do with catching for the Rangers. So it won’t surprise you that Saltalamacchia came in at #38 at 5.14.

Summary – There is some perception around the game that Chris Coste is somehow subpar defensively. Now catcher’s statistics have to be taken for what they are, and we have to understand the limitations that each presents. However, by looking at these statistics, I think we find that Chris Coste is, at worst, an average big league defensive catcher. He has thrown out some of baseball’s best base stealers. Teams do not run on him excessively when he is behind the plate. He had the best Passed Ball rate of the forty catchers with the most innings caught. He is one of the best at limiting wild pitches too. What’s not to like?

In an excellent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Paul Hagen, Coste explained, “Baseball people have always assumed that I was a weak defensive catcher, and once the label of poor defense was attached it became nearly impossible to shake. I could block a thousand dirt balls in a row, but the first one that gets by me is the one people will remember.”

He continued, “Believe me, I don't claim to be a defensive wizard. I am Carlos Ruiz' biggest fan. He deserved to be the World Series catcher and deserves to be the starter in 2009. I do know that I'm far better than what people think."”

NOW DON’T FORGET THE BAT! - Now, we have alluded to the fact that Coste is perceived to be a very strong offensive catcher, but let’s take a couple sentences and just remind people of just how good. In 601 career at bats (essentially one full season), he has hit .288/.338/.449 with 34 doubles, 21 homers and 90 RBI. I think that is a very strong statement. I would think that most Major League Baseball teams would be happy with a backup catcher who can do what Chris Coste can do. In fact, I would venture a guess that there are several big league teams that would be happy if he was their regular catcher.

The Phillies are in a good situation behind the plate. Carlos Ruiz is a solid major league catcher, particularly defensively. Chris Coste is a very good offensive catcher, and I think the numbers today show that he is no slouch behind the plate or calling a game either. Good teams, playoff teams, are generally good because they have strong pitching. But I think more than that, some of the credit for the good pitching has to be given to good catching. Likewise, the Twins are in a great situation behind the plate. Joe Mauer is as good as it gets offensively and defensively. Mike Redmond has proven year in and year out the value of a solid backup catcher. Jose Morales is not a bad #3 guy, if he could only stay healthy. The sky is the limit for Wilson Ramos. And maybe some of these defensive metrics help better explain the value in a catcher like Drew Butera.

Here are the defensive statistics (Hardball Times Catching Stats) for the Top 40 catchers by Innings Caught.

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