Passed Balls Unfair?

[Max Power]

If a FT catcher had somewhere between 15 to 20 (or more) passed balls in a season, most would be quick to say "bad hands."

I was thinking about this more - it's probably safe to say that a FT catcher actually catches about 15,000 pitches a year - meaning balls that land in his mitt, not counting pitches that end up as hits, outs, fouls, etc.

So, does missing .001 of the pitches possible of being caught really mean you are a bad receiver?

[Ytown Tribe fan]

If you have 15-20 PB's and you catch Pedro -- yes, you have bad hands.

If you had 15-20 PB's and you caught Charlie Hough -- you were doing the job.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Originally posted by Max Power
. . . it's probably safe to say that a FT catcher actually catches about 15,000 pitches a year - meaning balls that land in his mitt, not counting pitches that end up as hits, outs, fouls, etc.

So, does missing .001 of the pitches possible of being caught really mean you are a bad receiver?

I don't think so. I have always viewed negatively the attempts to classify all wild pitches as passed balls.

Is it not true, though, that a catcher is only charged w/a passed ball if a runner advances, or gets on base after a strikeout? Catchers probably let more pitches by them than 15-20, although they may not be counted as passed balls.

[JamesI]

Don't they only count as passed balls when runners advace because of it?

[Craig S.]

Originally posted by JamesI
Don't they only count as passed balls when runners advace because of it?

It's rule 10.15 (b)
A catcher shall be charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or to control a legally pitched ball which should have been held or controlled with ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance.

So a runner would have to advance, or in the case of a missed third strike, the batter woudl have to take first.

[KCBOOMER]

Originally posted by Max Power
So, does missing .001 of the pitches possible of being caught really mean you are a bad receiver?

Depends on when you miss them I guess.

I don't see how PB's are any more unfair than wild pitches. Afterall, the pitcher throws more pitches than the catcher has to catch.

[pwdennis]

Originally posted by Ytown Tribe fan
If you have 15-20 PB's and you catch Pedro -- yes, you have bad hands.

If you had 15-20 PB's and you caught Charlie Hough -- you were doing the job.

Exactly

[Dr. Memory]

Originally posted by KCBOOMER
I don't see how PB's are any more unfair than wild pitches. Afterall, the pitcher throws more pitches than the catcher has to catch.

Bingo, seeing as how we don't rate the pitchers based on how many wild pitches they make (nor should we). An important point to remember is that very very few PBs nullify an out, which is the only type of fielding miscue worth getting worked up over (usually; don't want that runner getting into scoring position late and close, but how often does that happen on a PB?).

Perspective: In 2002 Mike Piazza was 27 for 152 (18%) on throwing runners out, + 8 PB. Jason LaRue was 28 of 62 (45%), + a league-leading 20 PB (second was 9 PB, so that was 20 with a bullet). So for LaRue to have allowed bases at the same rate as Piazza, he would have had to have 101 PBs. Or another way, Piazza was 81 PBs worse than LaRue.

[Max Power]

Maybe this is also one of those things that you have to see - to judge the catcher?

The catcher I see the most, day in and day out, is Jorge Posada. I've seen him turn fastballs in the strikezone into passed balls.

Sometimes, behind he plate, he looks more like Spanky doing "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" fighting off peas with his shield, than a big league backstop giving pitches safe haven in his mitt.

It's not fair to judge a catcher with a knuckleballer on his staff to someone like Stonehands Jorge - - - but, if you just use PBs, you are.

[SmedIndy]

There are some catchers that are excellent at preventing wild pitches. Myself, it's a silly distinction between WP and PB. Call it something else, credit the pitcher and catcher, and get on with it.