Chris Iannetta

[Blarg]

Henry, let's really put .297 in perspective.

 

Ianetta's career OPS before the season started was .771.

 

So what you are really comparing is 67 plate appearances with 2,758 and saying the 67 are of greater significance and are indicative of future results.

[Blarg]

Completely agree. I often wonder why Sosh doesn't start Posey or Yadier behind the plate. Instead we get stuck with only guys on the roster.

 

Well he did play Mathis over Joe Mauer all those years.

[fan_since79]

Henry, let's really put .297 in perspective.

 

Ianetta's career OPS before the season started was .771.

 

So what you are really comparing is 67 plate appearances with 2,758 and saying the 67 are of greater significance and are indicative of future results.

 

So what do we do if he struggles for the next couple of months and Perez continues to rake at Salt Lake?

 

He's struggling on defense too.

[Glen]

Henry, let's really put .297 in perspective.

 

Ianetta's career OPS before the season started was .771.

 

So what you are really comparing is 67 plate appearances with 2,758 and saying the 67 are of greater significance and are indicative of future results.

 

 

I understand using past statistics to predict future results.  However, how many times have we seen Scioscia do that while completely ignoring the present?  Yes, Iannetta is a career .771 OPS hitter.  Does he really look like that same hitter now?  Do you really think he's gonna turn it around to any significant extent?

[Blarg]

If you apply the hair trigger to all players equally then you would be rotating in Salt Lake players daily. If you believe a streak in Salt Lake will play in the majors then you are equally blinded by small sample sizes. Sometimes you have to wait out the storm but I agree that Ianetta has been epically bad to start the season.

 

His past history says this is not the player he is, so do you bench him because of 67 at bats? You can't send him down, he also has the most experience in the Angels organization working with the major league staff. That is not of little significance as some may assume, as if pitchers really don't care who wears the glove.

 

So if you guys want to slip Carlos Perez into the mix then say goodbye to Butera because the Angels are not carrying 3 catchers. Maybe you guys thing Butera is not worth the 25 man seat on the bench and are willing to play a rookie. Not many teams go very far with unproven rookies behind the dish.

 

I feel like we are handcuffed to Ianetta for the reasons mentioned above. It will probably iron itself out with Chris returning to his career levels but they won't show in the cumulative because the first month is so bad. But I do see Scioscia taking steps to improve the catchers position before season's end simply because they have to prep someone to be the full time receiver next season after Ianetta leaves for free agency. 

[Angel Oracle]

I'd give Iannetta until mid-June. In the meantime, even Butera is hitting better and brings better defense behind the plate.

But yeah, it's not all on Iannetta, right Matty IceCold Joyce?

Edited May 3, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[stormngt]

He has a history of success. So it is silly to think he can't turn it around. I just think he needs a rehab stint to get his confidence back.

What is there to figure out?

[Blarg]

He has a history of success. So it is silly to think he can't turn it around. I just think he needs a rehab stint to get his confidence back.

 

 

You can't rehab a healthy player.

[eligrba]

Completely agree. I often wonder why Sosh doesn't start Posey or Yadier behind the plate. Instead we get stuck with only guys on the roster.

 

Dumb.

[hen3ry]

Henry, let's really put .297 in perspective.

 

Ianetta's career OPS before the season started was .771.

 

So what you are really comparing is 67 plate appearances with 2,758 and saying the 67 are of greater significance and are indicative of future results.

 

 

Yes, because the 67 PAs are this season - what's on his mind currently.  The past only tells me what his physical talents are.

 

There's different kinds of slumps.  I'd not be worried if he was in a slump where he was hitting balls right at defenders hard.  That'd be a bad luck slump, everyone occasionally lines out to the third baseman or hits a warning track fly ball - running a bunch of em in a row is a slump, but it's not a drop off of skill, and usually isn't a mental block (although it can become one).   There's also the skill dropoff, where a guy getting older has lost a step, lost a little something in the wrist, and his home runs are turning into long fly outs, striking out on pitches he used to foul off, etc.  That's Joyce perhaps - and it's concerning, but a veteran can adjust to it, at least to a certain extent, and still be productive, if not as awesome as he once was (that's Pujols).  And there's the "the pitchers have figured him out" slump, when a hitter's weak point becomes exposed and regularly exploited.

 

What we're seeing on the field with Iannetta, however, isn't that.  He's flailing out there, like a guy in the ocean who's forgotten he knows how to swim.  Something is seriously wrong - he's either in serious physical pain that we're not being told about (in which case, go on the DL, get it taken care of, he's not doing any good trying to tough it out here), or he has a serious mental block.  We're talking Brandon Wood territory here (and Iannetta never had BWood's physical talent in the first place!)

 

He isn't, skillwise, an OPS .297 guy.   The comparison to history was to slow just how bad that number really is.  If he can't figure it out, his career is over. Sosh is going to give him more chances to work it out than most other managers will (to our collective frustration), but eventually you have to release a guy if doesn't show any signs of ever getting it going.

[Stradling]

Dumb.

Yes I was responding to an equally asinine post.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Let's put that .297 in perspective.

 

 

Arguably the worst MLB non-pitcher at the plate was Bill Bergen.  http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bergebi01.shtml   (Appropriately, he was also a catcher)

 

11 seasons, 3228 at bats in his career, and a lifetime batting average of .170, and an OBP of .194.   He's the only Major Leaguer to get more than 500 career at bats and have a sub-200 career on base percentage.   And in all that time, he managed a mere 2 home runs (admittedly, in the dead ball era).

 

He was the Jeff Mathis of his era.

 

To put that in further perspective, as bad as Mathis is at the plate, his career OBP is .256. Incredibly his batting average has been lower since he went to the National League, by nine points.

 

Chris Iannetta is definitely approaching some historic lows. Something has to be physically wrong with him for him to be this bad for this long, IMO.

[Corona]

Great to see him back in the line up.

[eligrba]

Yes I was responding to an equally asinine post.

 

Dumb.

[NrM]

He was the Jeff Mathis of his era.

To put that in further perspective, as bad as Mathis is at the plate, his career OBP is .256. Incredibly his batting average has been lower since he went to the National League, by nine points.

Chris Iannetta is definitely approaching some historic lows. Something has to be physically wrong with him for him to be this bad for this long, IMO.

it's just a bad streak, unless you guys really think his .135 babip will stay that way.The only players with a lower babip is chase utley and mark teixiera. Utley currently has a .422 ops.

You guys obsessing over iannetta whenever he struggles or makes a mistake is perplexing to me. No one ever says anything when he is hot.

The guy is coming off his best season and has a long history of sucess. I think he's earned himself more than 20 games to turn things around.

why focus on a catcher struggling offensively when there are so many other areas of concern that actually require a productive bat.

Look at CJ Cron, with no history of success and has had literally one good game all season, yet he doean't recieve a quarter of the critisim that iannetta gets.

Like I said... simply perplexing

Edited May 4, 2015 by Poozy

[stormngt]

You must not have much of an imagination. I feel my hammy tightening up right now.

You can't rehab a healthy player.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

You guys obsessing over iannetta whenever he struggles or makes a mistake is perplexing to me. No one ever says anything when he is hot.

The guy is coming off his best season and has a long history of sucess. I think he's earned himself more than 20 games to turn things around.

 

There is a difference between obsessing and discussing, Apparently not everyone knows that.

[NrM]

There is a difference between obsessing and discussing, Apparently not everyone knows that.

 

 

maybe. Doesn't mean you guys aren't overreacting. 

[Glen]

it's just a bad streak, unless you guys really think his .135 babip will stay that way.The only players with a lower babip is chase utley and mark teixiera. Utley currently has a .422 ops.

You guys obsessing over iannetta whenever he struggles or makes a mistake is perplexing to me. No one ever says anything when he is hot.

The guy is coming off his best season and has a long history of sucess. I think he's earned himself more than 20 games to turn things around.

why focus on a catcher struggling offensively when there are so many other areas of concern that actually require a productive bat.

Look at CJ Cron, with no history of success and has had literally one good game all season, yet he doean't recieve a quarter of the critisim that iannetta gets.

Like I said... simply perplexing

 

 

Cron is also horrible and deserves his share of criticism.  However, what makes Iannetta more of a focus is that he currently sucks in multiple aspects of the game.  Cron just sucks at the plate.  Iannetta sucks at the plate and behind it.  As if seeing him hit wasn't bad enough, we also get to see him make weak and/or inaccurate throws to 2B when other teams steal against us, often.  That magnifies his problems.