Rob Johnson leads all Major League catchers in passed balls, with seven. Second place is a tie between Russell Martin and Ryan Doumit, who have four.
Among 42 Major League catchers who have caught at least 150 innings, Rob Johnson's Innings/PB+WP of 13.5 is the lowest. In second is Jose Molina, at 15. The league average is 22.6.
Baseball Reference seems to be missing wild pitch data, but among 83 Major League catchers who caught at least 150 innings in 2009, Rob Johnson's Innings/PB of 76 ranked ninth-worst. The league average was 155.2.
Between 2005-2008, before Rob Johnson became a regular, Felix Hernandez averaged 23 innings per wild pitch. Since the beginning of 2009, he has averaged 13.5 innings per wild pitch.
Rob Johnson's CERA of 4.07 is 76 points worse than Adam Moore and 21 points worse than Josh Bard, despite catching 18 of Felix and Cliff Lee's combined 21 starts.
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I don't say these things to make people hate Rob Johnson. Pitchers obviously still like working with him, and I believe there's promise in his bat that you might not see by simply looking at his batting line. But Rob Johnson turns 28 in July, and he's pretty clearly not starter material.
0 recs | 67 comments
If he could hit, these numbers would still be awful,
but they wouldn’t be kill-yourself awful.
Jesus Jones - June 9, 2010
Rob is no Mike Piazza
although he fields a little bit like him.
Paul AB - June 9, 2010
Note that the run value of a WP/PB is close to, but below, the run value of a walk
Jeff Sullivan - June 9, 2010
Per
http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/run_values_of_events/
Jeff Sullivan - June 9, 2010
I would think it would be closer to SB. Very interesting.
the other side - June 9, 2010
I thought so too at first
but then, people don’t steal home. PB and WP allow runs.
Jeff Sullivan - June 9, 2010
Ah that makes sense. In that respect it basically is a walk. A free base and depending on the base could be a run.
Rob really sucks…
the other side - June 9, 2010
A walk only scores a run with the bases loaded though.
Seems like the value of a WP/PB would be identical to that of a balk, no?
Is it possible also that run expectancy could be biased by the fact that WP/PB might indicate that the pitcher is struggling with command, or that Rob Johnson is behind the plate, both of which in and of themselves increase run expectancy?
dlukas - June 9, 2010
I miss Kenji
Mr.Phelps - June 9, 2010
Agreed. I'm a little upset Wak didn't just flat out say "Kenji's catching and everyone can now shut up"
coasty141 - June 9, 2010
Even if Rob somehow learned how to hit .250 with a decent OBP.
I don’t think I could ever like the guy.
Mariner Melee - June 9, 2010
I will never like the guy. He just sucks and he's never not going to suck.
TrustBaseball - June 9, 2010
Thank you for this concise evaluation
One of the reasons I love your work, Jeff, is that you take opinion or “feelings-based” subjects and you transmogrify them into coherent, concise topics with clear and solid support for your points. Kudos and thanks!
NWade - June 9, 2010
Rob Johnson is a big turd
Dewey N - June 9, 2010
Adam's gonna be back soon right?
I would be happy with a Bard, Moore, Alfonzo mixture of some kind. Take Felix’s toy away Wak. He loses the right to have a personal catcher when he is performing like this. Still love you Felix.
the other side - June 9, 2010
Rob Johnson Facts
- The slipperiest substance known to man is on Rob Johnson’s hands.
- Rob Johnson has never lost a game of Hot Potato.
Janic - June 9, 2010
But...
That would make him seem coordinated.
Mariner Melee - June 9, 2010
"Rob Johnson" has replaced rubber in the popular children's phrase, "I'm rubber you're glue, your words bounce off me and stick to you."
Janic - June 9, 2010
You have to catch things in Hot Potato.
Last time I played it anyway.
the other side - June 9, 2010
Rob Johnson's hands will be donated to science upon his death in hopes of developing a non-stick surface superior to teflon.
Greg Pirkl Lives - June 9, 2010
The area between the anus and the scrotum is nicknamed "The Rob Johnson"
Because it’s past balls.
ThomasG - June 9, 2010
Brilliant
His new nickname is “taint”
dlukas - June 9, 2010
Gross.
Mariner Melee - June 9, 2010
We are a tad more cultured here at LL.
Call him perineum if you must.
Sec 108 - June 9, 2010
Awesome.
joof - June 9, 2010
Oh God. Rob Johnson jokes are the new "your mom" jokes.
Please stop.
the other side - June 9, 2010
I think with what we've been seeing lately,
Is that it doesn’t take much to take playing time away from Rob Johnson. Anybody who knows how to catch while not being useless in the lineup has a chance to catch the non-Felix starters. Even then, I wonder how long the Felix/Johnson tandem will last before Felix has to throw to other catchers.
ThundaPC - June 9, 2010
Joe Mauer is younger than Rob Johnson.
Manzanillos Cup - June 9, 2010
Are there really any viable comps for bad defensive catchers that seemed to get better as they aged?
Posada’s the only one I can think of but he was never as bad as Johnson to begin with.
ThomasG - June 9, 2010
So let me get this straight...
You’re saying that Rob Johnson’s defense… sucks? Gotcha.
Thanks for quantifying it in a way that makes me dislike him and his doughboy face even more.
wyte_lightning - June 9, 2010
But he is from Montana! Don't you listen to the announcers, that automatically makes him likable.
Mariner Melee - June 9, 2010
Plus he makes for a good interview supposedly.
What more do you want from a catcher you greedy bastards?
the other side - June 9, 2010
How much promise do you see in his bat?
Because really, he’s pretty awful defensively, and his career minor league numbers have him with an OPS that’s about the same as Princess WIllie’s.
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
He seems to at least improved his plate discipline this year.
the other side - June 9, 2010
So did Willie, at one point.
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
And the thing is...
Willie’s defensive numbers aren’t even close to being terrible the same way Rob Johnson’s are.
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
Low average, decent OBP, decent power for a backstop
I could see him being better than a black hole.
Jeff Sullivan - June 9, 2010
Well...
Why pick him over Josh Bard or Eliezer Alfonso, though, given they’ve also flashed some ability in AAA and DON’T suck as bad at defense?
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
Bard and Alonzo are over preforming and old. They have nowhere to go but down.
Johnson, can go up though, even if it might be marginally.
Mariner Melee - June 9, 2010
Let me put my argument this way.
Given his defense now, and combined minor/major league career so far, I would argue he needs to IMPROVE to be a replacement level player ala WFB- backup C and backup middle infielder are fairly comparable, and Willie’s never sucked as hard at various measures of defense the same way Rob Johnson has.
Given that replacement level = free talent,
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
er, clipped myself.
Given that replacement level = free talent, it’s hard for me to think that we need to care very much about Rob Johnson, or spend much time developing him- IF he improves, he becomes a 0-0.5 WAR player that’s basically fungible, as organizations go through these kinds of players all the time.
I’m not saying I hate him, but the odds that if the M’s let him walk him at season’s end they’d regret it very much are pretty minimal, similar to how the team isn’t exactly sobbing now that WFB is gone.
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
I hate him.
Mariner Melee - June 9, 2010
I'm sticking with that too, plus I might just blame him for this whole season.
TrustBaseball - June 9, 2010
They are pretty bad at defense too
Jeff Sullivan - June 9, 2010
As bas as Rob Johnson is right now?
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
Rob Johnson could get better
Neither Bard nor Alfonzo are on the way up.
I prefer Bard to Johnson right now, and maybe Alfonzo too, but Johnson could at least be here for the long-term.
Jeff Sullivan - June 9, 2010
So the Mariners found one, maybe two guys who > Johnson is now by inviting warm bodies to spring training.
That’s sort of my point. Even if he improves some, that makes him the equivalent of (fill in name of random AAAA catcher you give a spring training NRI to).
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
When the Mariners find an actual long-term solution to their catching problem, let me know
Jeff Sullivan - June 9, 2010
I'll be on that.
My problem is I think he has to improve to be “well, at least he isn’t killing you as a bench player”. I think he’s at “he’s killing you every time he takes the field, no matter how much Felix loves throwing to him”.
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
And we're talking about (ideally) the back up catcher.
There’s something to be said of having catchers around for more than one season so they can build rapport with pitchers.
Matthew - June 9, 2010
Yeah, but how much rapport do you build if you only play the day game after a night game?
If you’re talking about making Rob Johnson Felix’s caddy… well, I guess if it make Felix happy, OK, but that means you’re playing Rob Johnson (33+a bunch of day games) a year, which makes him less of a backup.
eponymous_coward - June 9, 2010
To answer your subject line question, tons.
There’s a hell of a lot more practice that goes on behind the scenes than most people realize.
Matthew - June 9, 2010
OMG!! Whats really scary is that Rob has the longest current hitting streak on the team!
Guess that really sums up how bad the whole team is.
jbpalm - June 9, 2010
Please do not use chatspeak
Thanks!
pdb - June 9, 2010
That doesn't really sum up anything.
Hitting streaks don’t mean much of anything.
Matthew - June 9, 2010
Very true
But when the longest hitting streak on the team is by a below average bat and is currently only 2 games long? That to me sums up how bad the offense is.
jbpalm - June 9, 2010
I think it's absolutely beautiful that Rob Johnson's CERA is so bad despite catching our best pitchers.
I’d like to hear the next specious sports-radio argument for Rob Johnson playing regularly, so that he can begin sucking at that too.
Chris Hafner - June 9, 2010
CERA question
Has anyone ever looked at CFIP or CtRA instead of CERA?
marcello - June 9, 2010
I would imagine that C-pitch type values would be a better indicator of what a catcher brings to the pitching
Since a major part of a catcher’s supposed “game-calling” value is to know which pitch to throw and when.
ThomasG - June 9, 2010
^Brings to the pitching game.
ThomasG - June 9, 2010
Interesting.
You’d need to equalize BABIP or something, but…. interesting.
marc w - June 9, 2010
Yes, a bit.
But it’s still beset by the same problems that plague CERA: namely, selection bias. Johnson catches Felix.
While eliminating BABIP weirdness, you just end up overvaluing HR/FB for cFIP, and CtRA seems like it would be every bit as vulnerable to selection bias as CERA. WOWY’s the way to go on this, and we just don’t have any data for any of these guys. Jeff (and me too to a tiny extent!) looked at Felix with Johjima v. everyone else, and the big difference came down to HR/FB. That’s obviously the least stable stat, so even though you had years of data, it’s not enough that you could really come to a conclusion.
marc w - June 9, 2010
Thanks
I sort of figured, if there were any differences, they would be apparent in batted ball type, swinging strike rate, strike %, etc. (which would also have larger sample sizes than CERA). But, it sounds like those were basically the same across catchers, except for HR/FB?
marcello - June 9, 2010
I will be lighting 1,000 fires ablaze tonight
Rob Johnson, please RSVP
d0nkey - June 9, 2010
I really enjoyed reading Cliff Lee facts much more.
josh_h - June 9, 2010
He walked only three times in one month.
All three came in one game.
LeftArrow2 - June 9, 2010
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