Stats have always been a part of baseball, stats like batting average have been around for 100 years, that is why we still have data from the 1800s, the thing that has changed is what stats we actually look at, older stats like batting average are good but it doesn't paint the whole picture of how good a player actually is. Advanced stats have really taken off in the last 20 years but stats were always there
i can add to this, batting averages dont really matter nowadays with certain hitters, there are contact hitters and power hitters. power hitters swing and miss alot hence the bat batting avg but damn do we get good clips out of them
the ONLY stats for hitters that really matter are runs scored and runs batted in. If you score alot of runs it means you get on base and are a good baserunner.. if you drive alot of runs in, you hit well in run scoring situations and/or are a power hitter.. Runs win ballgames. Getting the most hits does not win games, teams have been no-hit and won the game (and can, with the runner on second in extra innings rule, now possibly not even get a batter to first base and still win the game! But I digress...) OBP does not win games. Throw any other stat out there for hitters and that stat doesn't count at the end of the game. What wins games is getting more runs than the other team.
9:30 It is normal. The reason there wouldn't be a throw during a steal attempt is that by a certain point, you'd have no chance of catching the runner, and rushing to make a throw would if anything would likely result in overthrowing the ball, and letting the runner go to third. Better to cut your losses than take a chance and make it even worse. Also extending on another point you made, a catcher's throw is arched rather than straight because a) he's starting the throw from a crouched position meaning he can't get any bottom half rotation and b) there's this guy in the way called a pitcher :P
Not only that, but there is a little hill (the pitchers mound) that he has to clear. But obviously, the pitcher really has as much to blame. Pitchers have to throw to 1st to keep the runner closer to 1st base; keep him worried that the pitcher ccx will pick him off; get the ball to the catcher as fast as posdibke; and get the ball to the catcher in such a way that the ball can be caught and thrown more easily....of course that is what they addressed late in the video. Also...you can see how much of a jump some runners are allowed (when both are in the same photo)..slow deliveries frustrate the hell out of catchers .....ugh.
Why didn't more teams attempt stealing off Barajas? Well firstly the base runner needs to have the speed to do it. As you could see from this video, from the time the pitcher starts his delivery until the ball reaches second base, it is under 3.5 seconds. Even though runners on first base take a lead, they are not glued to the bag, they may be 10 feet off, they still have to run those 80 remaining feet in under 3.5 seconds. Secondly, the situation may not call for a steal. A team with power hitters is looking for a bloop and a blast to score, that is a base hit anywhere in the field (bloop) and a home run (blast). The last great base stealer was Ricky Henderson. He was quite a character too. He is someone you definitely want to do a reaction to.
I’d recommend watching some more of Foolish Baseball’s videos. His Video’s on Tim Locastro, Felix Hernandez and his video on Degrom and the “anti Degrom” are some of my personal favorites, but in reality they’re all worth a watch even if you don’t react to them
This doesn’t have to do with the video that much but let me just tell you about my Pittsburgh Pirates. Over the past 40 years us pirates fans have experienced heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak. Our last World Series win was in 1979 and we have been mostly inept since. We completely sucked in the eighties, made the NLCS (the semifinals) 3 years in a row from 1990-1992 and lost each of those years. In 1990 we lost in 6 games to the Reds. In 1991 we were up 3 game to 2 against the Atlanta Braves before they came back and won the series in 7. In 1992 we were down 3 games to 1 in the series against the braves again but came back to tie the series and force a game 7. In game 7 we were up by 2 runs in the final inning of the game. We had given up a run and the braves had a runner on second and a runner on third in a 2-1 ball game with two outs. One more out and we were on our way to the World Series. Instead the braves player up to bay got a single and scored the first run easily and the second guy barely made it home after our outfielder who the single was hit to was too far deep in the outfield. Braves win and the pirates start a 21 year playoff drought. Finally in 2013 the pirates make the playoffs for the first time since 1992. In 2013 we won the wild card game against the reds to reach the NLDS (quarterfinals) where we went up 2 games to 1 against the Cardinals who won our division that year. The Cardinals came back and knocked us out. The next year we made the playoffs again but had to play in the wild card game because the Cardinals won the division. In the wild card game we got absolutely demolished by the Giants and knocked out of the playoffs. The next year in 2015 we had the second best record in all of baseball. Who had the best record you may ask? That’s right, THE CARDINALS. We had to play in the wild card game for the 3rd year in a row and we got crushed by the Cubs. Since then we have been on a downward spiral and had the worst record in the league in 2020. This year we have the 4th worst record in the league but are on the rise as we have many young players in our system. Thought I would share the story of my inept team.
The moment around 7:50 was called a caught stealing because the runner ran for 2nd base while they tried to tag him out. If he had tried to return to 1st base and was called out then it would have been considered a “pickoff”. Pickoffs occur when a pitcher tosses the ball to a baseman (usually 1st or 2nd base) before they throw their pitch to the plate. Baserunners usually take a couple steps away from the base so they can either steal, get ready to run when the ball is hit, or to get in the head of a pitcher. So when the pitcher tosses the ball to the baseman, the runner must get back to the base bag before they get tagged out. So basically, it was considered a “caught stealing” because technically the runner was trying to steal 2nd base. If he had been tagged out trying to get back to 1st without a rundown like what happened in the clip, then it would have been a pickoff. I hope that made sense. Greetings from Canada!
7:50 the idea is that caught stealing is meant to measure what percentage runners who attempt to steal a base get caught by the catcher, and is used often (like in this video) ad a measure of the catchers effectiveness. As you can see in most examples, the catcher receives the pitch and throws to second in time, so he gets credit for a caught stealing. However, as the video points out, in 2 of the 6 caught stealings he gets credit for, he never even touches the ball, the pitcher throws to first and then the runner ends up getting tagged out at 2nd. The fact that the catcher gets credit for that is a fault in the definition of caught stealing, which just counts runners thrown out at second regardless of circumstance.
I just love this game. It's so weird. There are a million little statistical anomalies that are just plain odd. When you play a game like baseball for over a hundred years, nutty things are bound to happen and they do.
I've seen you comment on so many different reaction channels. Lol nice to see you appreciate the game of baseball too. Which is basically the only other type of videos I watch. Lol
@@johnwray393 Ha! Yeah. I had to retire at an early age for health reasons, so I have time on my hands. I like channels with good communities. I hope you have a great night man.
Stats have been apart of baseball pretty much since its early days. One of the great things about baseball is how you can look at stats from 100 years ago and compare players then and now. Even if you didn't watch a player play the game, the stats can tell you a lot about the type of player they were and what they were good at. The main thing is that over time, more stats have entered the discussion, different ways of analyzing players and more advanced metrics have come up particularly in recent years. So while stats have always been a big part of baseball, the way they're viewed and applied has changed and continues to change.
Stats have been keep in baseball since around 1870. Different type stats have been added alot recently, sabermetrics, but the basics go back a long time.
Statistics have always been kept track of and is a strong part of all American sports ever since there inception. We Americans love stat driven sports and we keep track of everything you can keep track of, and I mean everything. Plus we keep finding ways to add even more stats and analytics to the game. Edit: also great video, I really enjoy your reactions. I think It’s interesting to watch British reactions to American culture.
Basic stats like batting average and ERA have been around for over a hundred years. It wasn't until the early 1980s when Bill James and a few other analysts started trying to question the accepted wisdom and looked deeper. They found that the basic stats really weren't all that predictive of wins. From there we had an explosion of advanced stats and analysis, which led to major changes in how the game is played. Most notably, hitters are more focused on home runs, less concerned with striking out. Stolen bases need to have a high success rate or they hurt your chances to score runs. Sacrifice bunts are seen as nearly always detrimental. Baseball is drastically different to how it was played in the 1970s and 80s. More athletic for sure, but games take longer and are less exciting in some ways.
"Why didn't they replace him?" The answer to that question is fairly simple, actually. There was a severe drought in Catcher talent in the early 2010s. There weren't a lot of great prospects, and teams that had a star/quality catcher were never going to move them at that time.
Stats have been kept (with a few exceptions) since the 30's. Even before that most stats we know today were kept with little change. Want to know which left hand batter hits best on Tuesday? Although not officially kept it could probably be brought up off of some database. 9:39 If the guy on first catches the pitch just right (helps to have a pitcher with a slow delivery) then the runner will be halfway there by the time the catcher puts a mitt on it. Even the really good catchers will 'eat the ball' if the guys stealing gets a good enough jump. Sometime catchers have panicked & thrown a rushed throw to the outfield. Sometimes it just pays to let them have second with no throw. OH! I see they came up with the same thing. The reason the other teams didn't exploit this was it was such a little difference, probably not too many noticed what was going on.
Until about 25 years ago baseball was full of managers who managed "by the book",where batting average was king ,strikeouts and errors were the ultimate evils,taking a walk had no value nor did range . The stolen base and sacrifice bunt were revered pieces of strategy ,though both cost your team outs ,which are the ONE THING that is in strictly limited in supply in this game without time .Then Bill James invented Sabremetrics ,which mathematically analyzes the probable outcome of all baseball actions in either reducing runs scored by the opposition or increases run scored by your team
The next one to check out by the same guy is "Jeff Mathis couldn't hit, but he's good for baseball" He was a catcher that was only good a defense and sucked at hitting
@@kabirconsiders When it comes to catchers, defense is usually the number 1 priority, if they can hit, its just a bonus, baseball has 5 tools, hitting, power, speed, defense, and arm strength, most players have 2 or 3 tools, the elite guys that are good at everything, are called 5-tool players
@@NolmDirtyDan exactly. Jeff was a Blue Jay for a while and yes he was absolutely a great defensive catcher. Anything you got out of his bat was bonus. I also think it should be said that he is an ultimate “team” guy. Look at how many pitching appearances he has made his whole career in blowouts to help save his teams bullpen. For a position player to make 5 career pitching appearances, 5 innings with a couple strikeouts is admirable to me and I mean every word of it.
Kabir, Rod Barajas was the everyday catcher for my Blue Jays at one point and I can explain why he was for Pittsburgh as well………he could hit for power. THATS why he wasn’t immediately replaced. He could hit. Good bat in the lineup. Good enough to sacrifice something defensively
Base stealers learn their trade from pitchers, not catchers. LA's Maury Wills stole 104 bases in one season back in the early 60s (since surpassed by Henderson). But he would take longer and longer leads forcing the pitcher to throw at 1st to keep him there. This helped him gauge how long of lead he could take and still get back to 1st if the pitcher threw there and it also gave him more opportunities to see the "specific" difference between the pitchers move to 1st and to home. Besides, runners like that really unnerved pitchers.
I'm a baseball outsider, but it seems the bigger fan you are, the more nerdy and into stats you are. It's been this way for a hundred years or more, with the superfans watching the game with a pencil in hand, writing their own stat book.
Another thing that should be pointed out is that this was his 14th season in the Majors. For most of his career, he was rated way above average on catcher fielding, and in his 12th and 13th seasons, he was slightly below but not statistically significantly different than average at it. The Pirates weren't contending, so there really wasn't a good reason to get a better catcher for the remainder of the season, when as the guy in the video said, they got one of the best all-around catchers at the time for the following season.
The single most important factor in determining a catchers defensive ability now has become "pitch framing " ,which means the catcher's ability to make pitches on the edge of the strike zone look more like strikes to the umpire .
BTW, one video you might love (and could be a good reaction) is the video that Jon Bois did for his Pretty Good series on MLB outfielder Lonnie Smith. (Heck, all of the Pretty Good videos are fantastic.)
The catcher position is only second in importance to the pitcher on the field. And throwing out base stealers is but one job that the catch has to do well. He might be weak at throwing out runners but if he is very strong in other areas like hitting and especially if he is good at calling a game (working with the pitcher to get guys out) then his deficiencies at throwing out base runners might be overlooked. There have been many catchers over the years that have been weak in this area. Barajas might be among the worse but it not an uncommon thing. And lets also remember, that players sometimes have bad seasons where for some reason their performance doesn't quite reach that of pervious seasons. In this case baseball usually doesn't cut players but send them to the minor leagues to work on their skills. I suspect that Barajas was the best catcher on their roster and clearly better then his backup. ⚾⚾⚾ The main claim of this video is a bit misleading, and if I were Barajas, I'd be a little miffed at its creator.😝😝😝
@@kabirconsiders Another thing is blocking. Catchers have to be able to take on the job of a goalie. A pitcher might try and spike a curveball in the dirt (or just be wild), and the catcher has to be able to stop that ball from going past him. I'd recommend a video on catchers making nice blocks to show their athleticism. It's even crazier when the catcher and pitcher aren't in sync with what pitches are being thrown (getting crossed up) and a catcher that is expecting a high fastball has to scramble to stop a spiked curveball in far less than a second.
Another good reaction. A reaction to Shohei Ohtani 2021 highlights is a must. Dude is having a MVP season so far and the MLB is only half way through the season.
I’m pretty sure stats have always been a part of baseball, even as far back as the late 1800s. Now, the way that teams used that data is what has completely changed. Nowadays, we know that most of the simple stats (batting average, RBIs, etc) that have always been in use are not really useful in determining true value that a player brings. We now have much more advanced numbers that do that.
You should look up Mackey Sasser. Catcher for the NY Mets in the late 80's & early 90's. Developed "the yips".. If a runner tried to steal on him he had no problem throwing to second base... but he could not throw the ball back to the pitcher without "faking" the throw several times.. and when that happened, runners on base would take off because the guy couldn't let go of the ball. pretty much killed a promising career
For context on what a good catcher looks like: Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez >> ruclips.net/video/7FAjM0rMN8o/видео.html Man had a fucking cannon of an arm. Plus, he was one of the characters in the 'Backyard Baseball' computer game. Some serious fucking nostalgia with that game. If you want to pretend you're like ~10 years old and it's the late 90's, you can actually play it online haha >> arcadespot.com/game/backyard-baseball/
You should definitely check out more of Foolish Baseball's videos. They're great at exploring more about certain players, good or bad, like Jeff Mathis, one of the worst offensive catchers that has been in the league for 17 years. You should check out his video on Justin Verlander's impossible inning or his video about Barry Bonds.
Hi Kabir, I am not expert enough to explain why the catcher gets the credit for a caught stealing, but I can answer your question about "no throw". The catcher (which I was in Little League and High School) can see the entire field. The catcher can see when the runner breaks from first to run to second on a steal, and the catcher also knows how good his own arm is. Sometimes the base runner gets such a good jump that the better option is to just hold the ball instead of throwing down to second base when you know the runner is going to beat the throw. This eliminates the possibility for an error on the throw, or the second basemen/shortstop missing the throw allowing the runner to advance beyond 2nd base. You are absolutely right that it is not exceptionally common, but it does happen from time to time and is usually the right thing to do from the catcher's standpoint.
A base is stolen on a pitcher more often than a catcher. The pitcher has to keep the runner close especially on off speed and breaking balls. If the ball gets by the catcher or he throws the ball in the outfield then it's on the catcher.
When they say he can't throw, they generally mean can't throw runners out who try to steal second base. But there might be other reasons to keep a catcher in the lineup who can't throw. He might be good at handling pitchers. Or he might have a bat that they want in the lineup. Maybe he is a homerun hitter or hits well with runners in scoring position.
Its not so much a failing of the team as it is a trade off in strategy, if you are actively trying to induce ground balls, you are not as likely to throw out baserunners, just like playing small ball(using bunting to advance the baserunner at the expense of an out) often causes squandered oportunities, and Big Ball( Offensive play meant to maximize Multi-run Home Runs) often results in an usually high number of strikeouts and Fly and pop outs.
Kabir, I am sorry for that catcher because that would have got under his skins and also into his brain. But if what to learn about one of the best catcher in baseball history. You should check out Johnny Bench, who did play all his baseball games with the Cincinnati Reds of 1967 to 1983. He did have a canon for an arm and won the World Series two times back to back with the Cincinnati Reds.
if theres a pickoff and you get thrown out going to second then its a caught stealing cause technically youve attempted to steal second and got caught (same with third and home)
I recommend Money Ball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. It's the story of the manager that took stats from what they were for the previous 40 years to something entirely game changing.
@@kabirconsiders it's already split up into chapters, but some of the chapters can get lengthy. Its absolutely amazing though. Everyone that I've seen watch it loved it
Stats have been a thing for over 100 years, but it was only average, home runs, doubles, and triples for hitting. ERA (earned run average), wins-loses, runs given up for over 40 years. Those are the "basics" of baseball statistics. Over time, stats got so, in my honest opinion, overly complex to where you'll get whiplash by the amount of stats that's in baseball.
When are we going to blame the pitching coach but mainly the *coach* . He's got the ROSTER. He *knows* the players who have the best chances at stealing bases. But for love of God what the hell are these pitchers doing when they don't even keep an EYE on the opponent who is getting too far off the bag? I've seen lots of runners thrown out on first base because the *pitcher can throw fast and accurately at a shorter distance* . Oh and look up what a squeeze play is. I don't know very much but this is all I can think of.
his accuracy was terrible, a catcher needs to be tossing balls AT the 2nd bass, not 4ft away from it. His average sucked more than it should have because he was making the shortstops try and make crazy catches and sweeping tags. A good catcher puts the ball on the plate, POP -Tag, no movement of the glove.
Stats have always been a part of baseball, stats like batting average have been around for 100 years, that is why we still have data from the 1800s, the thing that has changed is what stats we actually look at, older stats like batting average are good but it doesn't paint the whole picture of how good a player actually is. Advanced stats have really taken off in the last 20 years but stats were always there
i can add to this, batting averages dont really matter nowadays with certain hitters, there are contact hitters and power hitters. power hitters swing and miss alot hence the bat batting avg but damn do we get good clips out of them
WAR (wins above replacement) is one of the best stats to measure how good a player is in my opinion
the ONLY stats for hitters that really matter are runs scored and runs batted in. If you score alot of runs it means you get on base and are a good baserunner.. if you drive alot of runs in, you hit well in run scoring situations and/or are a power hitter.. Runs win ballgames. Getting the most hits does not win games, teams have been no-hit and won the game (and can, with the runner on second in extra innings rule, now possibly not even get a batter to first base and still win the game! But I digress...) OBP does not win games. Throw any other stat out there for hitters and that stat doesn't count at the end of the game. What wins games is getting more runs than the other team.
9:30 It is normal. The reason there wouldn't be a throw during a steal attempt is that by a certain point, you'd have no chance of catching the runner, and rushing to make a throw would if anything would likely result in overthrowing the ball, and letting the runner go to third. Better to cut your losses than take a chance and make it even worse.
Also extending on another point you made, a catcher's throw is arched rather than straight because a) he's starting the throw from a crouched position meaning he can't get any bottom half rotation and b) there's this guy in the way called a pitcher :P
The very last sentence of this comment made me feel a bit silly 😂
@@kabirconsiders Same reason why 3B or SS sometimes won't bother throwing to first vs. a speedy runner on a bunt.
@@kabirconsiders we enjoy the fact that you try to learn, keeps the videos entertaining and fresh! Don’t worry about messing up.
Not only that, but there is a little hill (the pitchers mound) that he has to clear.
But obviously, the pitcher really has as much to blame. Pitchers have to throw to 1st to keep the runner closer to 1st base; keep him worried that the pitcher ccx will pick him off; get the ball to the catcher as fast as posdibke; and get the ball to the catcher in such a way that the ball can be caught and thrown more easily....of course that is what they addressed late in the video. Also...you can see how much of a jump some runners are allowed (when both are in the same photo)..slow deliveries frustrate the hell out of catchers .....ugh.
Baseball started keeping a close eye on stats a little before the 90's... the 1890's, that is.
Why didn't more teams attempt stealing off Barajas? Well firstly the base runner needs to have the speed to do it. As you could see from this video, from the time the pitcher starts his delivery until the ball reaches second base, it is under 3.5 seconds. Even though runners on first base take a lead, they are not glued to the bag, they may be 10 feet off, they still have to run those 80 remaining feet in under 3.5 seconds. Secondly, the situation may not call for a steal. A team with power hitters is looking for a bloop and a blast to score, that is a base hit anywhere in the field (bloop) and a home run (blast). The last great base stealer was Ricky Henderson. He was quite a character too. He is someone you definitely want to do a reaction to.
“Kevin, this is Rickey, calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”
I’d recommend watching some more of Foolish Baseball’s videos. His Video’s on Tim Locastro, Felix Hernandez and his video on Degrom and the “anti Degrom” are some of my personal favorites, but in reality they’re all worth a watch even if you don’t react to them
This doesn’t have to do with the video that much but let me just tell you about my Pittsburgh Pirates. Over the past 40 years us pirates fans have experienced heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak. Our last World Series win was in 1979 and we have been mostly inept since. We completely sucked in the eighties, made the NLCS (the semifinals) 3 years in a row from 1990-1992 and lost each of those years. In 1990 we lost in 6 games to the Reds. In 1991 we were up 3 game to 2 against the Atlanta Braves before they came back and won the series in 7. In 1992 we were down 3 games to 1 in the series against the braves again but came back to tie the series and force a game 7. In game 7 we were up by 2 runs in the final inning of the game. We had given up a run and the braves had a runner on second and a runner on third in a 2-1 ball game with two outs. One more out and we were on our way to the World Series. Instead the braves player up to bay got a single and scored the first run easily and the second guy barely made it home after our outfielder who the single was hit to was too far deep in the outfield. Braves win and the pirates start a 21 year playoff drought. Finally in 2013 the pirates make the playoffs for the first time since 1992. In 2013 we won the wild card game against the reds to reach the NLDS (quarterfinals) where we went up 2 games to 1 against the Cardinals who won our division that year. The Cardinals came back and knocked us out. The next year we made the playoffs again but had to play in the wild card game because the Cardinals won the division. In the wild card game we got absolutely demolished by the Giants and knocked out of the playoffs. The next year in 2015 we had the second best record in all of baseball. Who had the best record you may ask? That’s right, THE CARDINALS. We had to play in the wild card game for the 3rd year in a row and we got crushed by the Cubs. Since then we have been on a downward spiral and had the worst record in the league in 2020. This year we have the 4th worst record in the league but are on the rise as we have many young players in our system. Thought I would share the story of my inept team.
The moment around 7:50 was called a caught stealing because the runner ran for 2nd base while they tried to tag him out. If he had tried to return to 1st base and was called out then it would have been considered a “pickoff”.
Pickoffs occur when a pitcher tosses the ball to a baseman (usually 1st or 2nd base) before they throw their pitch to the plate. Baserunners usually take a couple steps away from the base so they can either steal, get ready to run when the ball is hit, or to get in the head of a pitcher. So when the pitcher tosses the ball to the baseman, the runner must get back to the base bag before they get tagged out.
So basically, it was considered a “caught stealing” because technically the runner was trying to steal 2nd base. If he had been tagged out trying to get back to 1st without a rundown like what happened in the clip, then it would have been a pickoff. I hope that made sense. Greetings from Canada!
7:50 the idea is that caught stealing is meant to measure what percentage runners who attempt to steal a base get caught by the catcher, and is used often (like in this video) ad a measure of the catchers effectiveness. As you can see in most examples, the catcher receives the pitch and throws to second in time, so he gets credit for a caught stealing. However, as the video points out, in 2 of the 6 caught stealings he gets credit for, he never even touches the ball, the pitcher throws to first and then the runner ends up getting tagged out at 2nd. The fact that the catcher gets credit for that is a fault in the definition of caught stealing, which just counts runners thrown out at second regardless of circumstance.
I just love this game. It's so weird. There are a million little statistical anomalies that are just plain odd. When you play a game like baseball for over a hundred years, nutty things are bound to happen and they do.
I've seen you comment on so many different reaction channels. Lol nice to see you appreciate the game of baseball too. Which is basically the only other type of videos I watch. Lol
@@johnwray393 Ha! Yeah. I had to retire at an early age for health reasons, so I have time on my hands. I like channels with good communities. I hope you have a great night man.
@@JKM395 I'm in similar position myself and yeah, seems like we have similar taste. You have a good night as well sir.
John Wray Indeed we do. I’m sure I’ll see you around.
Stats have been apart of baseball pretty much since its early days. One of the great things about baseball is how you can look at stats from 100 years ago and compare players then and now. Even if you didn't watch a player play the game, the stats can tell you a lot about the type of player they were and what they were good at. The main thing is that over time, more stats have entered the discussion, different ways of analyzing players and more advanced metrics have come up particularly in recent years. So while stats have always been a big part of baseball, the way they're viewed and applied has changed and continues to change.
Stats have been keep in baseball since around 1870. Different type stats have been added alot recently, sabermetrics, but the basics go back a long time.
Statistics have always been kept track of and is a strong part of all American sports ever since there inception. We Americans love stat driven sports and we keep track of everything you can keep track of, and I mean everything. Plus we keep finding ways to add even more stats and analytics to the game.
Edit: also great video, I really enjoy your reactions. I think It’s interesting to watch British reactions to American culture.
Thanks so much for the kind words mate :)
Basic stats like batting average and ERA have been around for over a hundred years. It wasn't until the early 1980s when Bill James and a few other analysts started trying to question the accepted wisdom and looked deeper. They found that the basic stats really weren't all that predictive of wins. From there we had an explosion of advanced stats and analysis, which led to major changes in how the game is played. Most notably, hitters are more focused on home runs, less concerned with striking out. Stolen bases need to have a high success rate or they hurt your chances to score runs. Sacrifice bunts are seen as nearly always detrimental. Baseball is drastically different to how it was played in the 1970s and 80s. More athletic for sure, but games take longer and are less exciting in some ways.
"Why didn't they replace him?"
The answer to that question is fairly simple, actually. There was a severe drought in Catcher talent in the early 2010s. There weren't a lot of great prospects, and teams that had a star/quality catcher were never going to move them at that time.
Stats have been kept (with a few exceptions) since the 30's. Even before that most stats we know today were kept with little change. Want to know which left hand batter hits best on Tuesday? Although not officially kept it could probably be brought up off of some database. 9:39 If the guy on first catches the pitch just right (helps to have a pitcher with a slow delivery) then the runner will be halfway there by the time the catcher puts a mitt on it. Even the really good catchers will 'eat the ball' if the guys stealing gets a good enough jump. Sometime catchers have panicked & thrown a rushed throw to the outfield. Sometimes it just pays to let them have second with no throw. OH! I see they came up with the same thing. The reason the other teams didn't exploit this was it was such a little difference, probably not too many noticed what was going on.
Until about 25 years ago baseball was full of managers who managed "by the book",where batting average was king ,strikeouts and errors were the ultimate evils,taking a walk had no value nor did range . The stolen base and sacrifice bunt were revered pieces of strategy ,though both cost your team outs ,which are the ONE THING that is in strictly limited in supply in this game without time .Then Bill James invented Sabremetrics ,which mathematically analyzes the probable outcome of all baseball actions in either reducing runs scored by the opposition or increases run scored by your team
The next one to check out by the same guy is "Jeff Mathis couldn't hit, but he's good for baseball" He was a catcher that was only good a defense and sucked at hitting
Are modern elite baseball players meant to be well rounded these days or are they mostly specialist?
@@kabirconsiders When it comes to catchers, defense is usually the number 1 priority, if they can hit, its just a bonus, baseball has 5 tools, hitting, power, speed, defense, and arm strength, most players have 2 or 3 tools, the elite guys that are good at everything, are called 5-tool players
@@NolmDirtyDan exactly. Jeff was a Blue Jay for a while and yes he was absolutely a great defensive catcher. Anything you got out of his bat was bonus. I also think it should be said that he is an ultimate “team” guy. Look at how many pitching appearances he has made his whole career in blowouts to help save his teams bullpen. For a position player to make 5 career pitching appearances, 5 innings with a couple strikeouts is admirable to me and I mean every word of it.
Kabir, Rod Barajas was the everyday catcher for my Blue Jays at one point and I can explain why he was for Pittsburgh as well………he could hit for power. THATS why he wasn’t immediately replaced. He could hit. Good bat in the lineup. Good enough to sacrifice something defensively
Base stealers learn their trade from pitchers, not catchers. LA's Maury Wills stole 104 bases in one season back in the early 60s (since surpassed by Henderson). But he would take longer and longer leads forcing the pitcher to throw at 1st to keep him there. This helped him gauge how long of lead he could take and still get back to 1st if the pitcher threw there and it also gave him more opportunities to see the "specific" difference between the pitchers move to 1st and to home. Besides, runners like that really unnerved pitchers.
I'm a baseball outsider, but it seems the bigger fan you are, the more nerdy and into stats you are.
It's been this way for a hundred years or more, with the superfans watching the game with a pencil in hand, writing their own stat book.
You 100% have to do more reactions to Foolish Baseball, insanely high quality videos and he's done quite a lot of these
Another thing that should be pointed out is that this was his 14th season in the Majors. For most of his career, he was rated way above average on catcher fielding, and in his 12th and 13th seasons, he was slightly below but not statistically significantly different than average at it. The Pirates weren't contending, so there really wasn't a good reason to get a better catcher for the remainder of the season, when as the guy in the video said, they got one of the best all-around catchers at the time for the following season.
The single most important factor in determining a catchers defensive ability now has become "pitch framing " ,which means the catcher's ability to make pitches on the edge of the strike zone look more like strikes to the umpire .
BTW, one video you might love (and could be a good reaction) is the video that Jon Bois did for his Pretty Good series on MLB outfielder Lonnie Smith. (Heck, all of the Pretty Good videos are fantastic.)
I thought this was going to be about that Mets catcher in the 80's who got the yips and couldn't throw back to the pitcher. Lol
The catcher position is only second in importance to the pitcher on the field. And throwing out base stealers is but one job that the catch has to do well. He might be weak at throwing out runners but if he is very strong in other areas like hitting and especially if he is good at calling a game (working with the pitcher to get guys out) then his deficiencies at throwing out base runners might be overlooked. There have been many catchers over the years that have been weak in this area. Barajas might be among the worse but it not an uncommon thing. And lets also remember, that players sometimes have bad seasons where for some reason their performance doesn't quite reach that of pervious seasons. In this case baseball usually doesn't cut players but send them to the minor leagues to work on their skills. I suspect that Barajas was the best catcher on their roster and clearly better then his backup. ⚾⚾⚾ The main claim of this video is a bit misleading, and if I were Barajas, I'd be a little miffed at its creator.😝😝😝
Yeah if I were Barajas I would be pretty annoyed 😂
@@kabirconsiders Another thing is blocking. Catchers have to be able to take on the job of a goalie. A pitcher might try and spike a curveball in the dirt (or just be wild), and the catcher has to be able to stop that ball from going past him. I'd recommend a video on catchers making nice blocks to show their athleticism. It's even crazier when the catcher and pitcher aren't in sync with what pitches are being thrown (getting crossed up) and a catcher that is expecting a high fastball has to scramble to stop a spiked curveball in far less than a second.
@@bmil38 Very good point!! With all a catcher has to do its really a difficult position to play.
Another good reaction. A reaction to Shohei Ohtani 2021 highlights is a must. Dude is having a MVP season so far and the MLB is only half way through the season.
I keep forgetting to react to him, I’ll make him my baseball reaction for next week!
I’m pretty sure stats have always been a part of baseball, even as far back as the late 1800s. Now, the way that teams used that data is what has completely changed. Nowadays, we know that most of the simple stats (batting average, RBIs, etc) that have always been in use are not really useful in determining true value that a player brings. We now have much more advanced numbers that do that.
You should look up Mackey Sasser. Catcher for the NY Mets in the late 80's & early 90's. Developed "the yips".. If a runner tried to steal on him he had no problem throwing to second base... but he could not throw the ball back to the pitcher without "faking" the throw several times.. and when that happened, runners on base would take off because the guy couldn't let go of the ball.
pretty much killed a promising career
Pirates are last in their division, second from the bottom in the NL and 4th from the bottom in the entire MLB.
For context on what a good catcher looks like: Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez >> ruclips.net/video/7FAjM0rMN8o/видео.html
Man had a fucking cannon of an arm. Plus, he was one of the characters in the 'Backyard Baseball' computer game. Some serious fucking nostalgia with that game. If you want to pretend you're like ~10 years old and it's the late 90's, you can actually play it online haha >> arcadespot.com/game/backyard-baseball/
You should definitely check out more of Foolish Baseball's videos. They're great at exploring more about certain players, good or bad, like Jeff Mathis, one of the worst offensive catchers that has been in the league for 17 years. You should check out his video on Justin Verlander's impossible inning or his video about Barry Bonds.
Hi Kabir, I am not expert enough to explain why the catcher gets the credit for a caught stealing, but I can answer your question about "no throw". The catcher (which I was in Little League and High School) can see the entire field. The catcher can see when the runner breaks from first to run to second on a steal, and the catcher also knows how good his own arm is. Sometimes the base runner gets such a good jump that the better option is to just hold the ball instead of throwing down to second base when you know the runner is going to beat the throw. This eliminates the possibility for an error on the throw, or the second basemen/shortstop missing the throw allowing the runner to advance beyond 2nd base. You are absolutely right that it is not exceptionally common, but it does happen from time to time and is usually the right thing to do from the catcher's standpoint.
Awesome, thanks so much for explaining this to me mate I really appreciate it
I would say the 80's when there was an explosion of baseball cards that people really fell in love with stats as they were printed on the back of them
Hey Kabir I'm first to watch this video. Love your channel 💜💜💜💜⚾⚾⚾⚾ and baseball reactions.
Hey Rich, I think this might be the first vid you’ve been the first to comment on! Hope you’re having a great day mate :)
Foolish baseball is the goat baseball channel
Yeah he does an awesome job
stark raving sports. sportstorm and sadman baseball are up there with foolish baseball in my opinion
Gotta watch Foolish Baseball’s vid on my boy Tim Locastro… Once a Diamondback always a Diamondback 🐍
A base is stolen on a pitcher more often than a catcher. The pitcher has to keep the runner close especially on off speed and breaking balls. If the ball gets by the catcher or he throws the ball in the outfield then it's on the catcher.
When they say he can't throw, they generally mean can't throw runners out who try to steal second base. But there might be other reasons to keep a catcher in the lineup who can't throw. He might be good at handling pitchers. Or he might have a bat that they want in the lineup. Maybe he is a homerun hitter or hits well with runners in scoring position.
Ohhh I see. I was expecting this vid to be about a guy who literally couldn’t throw a ball 😂
Ahhh I see, I thought he genuinely couldn’t throw a baseball 😂
You have got to check out Johnny Bench from the Cincinnati Reds he could throw a runner out without standing up !
If a catcher knows that he won’t throw the player out, he usually just won’t make the throw
The footage probably wasn't deleted, he probably just couldn't find it, every team plays 162 games a year
Ahh I see, that’s a ton of footage!
He was really really old for a catcher. Catcher is notoriously hard on your body,.
Its not so much a failing of the team as it is a trade off in strategy, if you are actively trying to induce ground balls, you are not as likely to throw out baserunners, just like playing small ball(using bunting to advance the baserunner at the expense of an out) often causes squandered oportunities, and Big Ball( Offensive play meant to maximize Multi-run Home Runs) often results in an usually high number of strikeouts and Fly and pop outs.
Kabir, I am sorry for that catcher because that would have got under his skins and also into his brain. But if what to learn about one of the best catcher in baseball history. You should check out Johnny Bench, who did play all his baseball games with the Cincinnati Reds of 1967 to 1983. He did have a canon for an arm and won the World Series two times back to back with the Cincinnati Reds.
if theres a pickoff and you get thrown out going to second then its a caught stealing cause technically youve attempted to steal second and got caught (same with third and home)
And now there is Jon Lester who cant throw a simple pickoff but can win the world series pitching ...
Baseball is measured in inches and fractions of a second.
I recommend Money Ball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. It's the story of the manager that took stats from what they were for the previous 40 years to something entirely game changing.
Another amazing video
Thanks so much mate :)
You need to watch Chart Party and Pretty Good. Especially the Barry Bonds, Lonnie Smith and Shaquille O Neal videos.
Hope you still plan on reacting to the Seattle Mariners documentary series by Secret Base! Itll help you learn alot about the sport and its history
I will, I’ll probably do it in parts if it’s pretty long
@@kabirconsiders it's already split up into chapters, but some of the chapters can get lengthy. Its absolutely amazing though. Everyone that I've seen watch it loved it
@@kabirconsiders heres a link to the playlist on their channel;
ruclips.net/p/PLUXSZMIiUfFQua1LlKNMg1IOqAn15RkUT
Major league baseball is all about stats my man its nothing new they have had a great history of record keeping
I can’t believe you are watching foolish baseball, he’s the best baseball RUclips out there
I love his channel!
They’ve been keeping states in Baseball since the Civil War.
I think the accidental hall of famer video is the best about stats
If you enjoyed this you'll probably enjoy the Jeff Mathis baseball bit. It's a about a catcher who, well let's just say he had his own struggles
I’ll check it out!
You gotta check out his Tim Locastro video
I’ll put it on my list!
Stats have been a thing for over 100 years, but it was only average, home runs, doubles, and triples for hitting. ERA (earned run average), wins-loses, runs given up for over 40 years. Those are the "basics" of baseball statistics.
Over time, stats got so, in my honest opinion, overly complex to where you'll get whiplash by the amount of stats that's in baseball.
Just wow.
Have you ever heard of a TOOTBLAN? 😆 It's a real stat, I promise! It stands for Thrown Out On The Basepaths Like A Nincompoop.
When are we going to blame the pitching coach but mainly the *coach* . He's got the ROSTER. He *knows* the players who have the best chances at stealing bases. But for love of God what the hell are these pitchers doing when they don't even keep an EYE on the opponent who is getting too far off the bag? I've seen lots of runners thrown out on first base because the *pitcher can throw fast and accurately at a shorter distance* . Oh and look up what a squeeze play is. I don't know very much but this is all I can think of.
You should react to "Star MLB careers ruined by the yips."
PLZ DO MORE OF THESE ESPECIALLY JEFF MATHIS AND PEDRO MARTINEZ
More on the way mate :)
If I was that guy I'd be fighting to defend myself.
Yeah me too 😂
Do the jeff mathis baseball bits video
I’ll put him on my list!
Welcome to the most interesting sport in the world!!
Slow delivery and catcher has no chance with runner .
his accuracy was terrible, a catcher needs to be tossing balls AT the 2nd bass, not 4ft away from it. His average sucked more than it should have because he was making the shortstops try and make crazy catches and sweeping tags. A good catcher puts the ball on the plate, POP -Tag, no movement of the glove.
Because he got picked off.
Gotta react to the most unbelievable story in sports by Baseball Doesn’t Exist