Maybe there is something to Jeff Mathis?

[TheOGGabyC]

Spoiler

 

Came across this video talking about the career of our favorite Angels catcher, Jeff Mathis. Foolish Baseball for those of you who don’t know is an awesome analytics focused channel that goes over some cool topics like how our boy Simmons is an under the radar HOF candidate. Do you guys think Jeff Mathis was over or undervalued over the course of his career?

[Stradling]

His stats suck, but he is obviously valuable or else he wouldn’t have had such a long career.  Guys like Greinke, Haren and others have called him the best catcher they have pitched to.  So us as fans can either accept that there are things we don’t understand, or we can simply be arrogant fans that pretend to know more than the organizations/managers that sign and play him.  

[ScottT]

There is something.

He's one of the worst hitters in MLB history. 2019 was astonishingly awful.

He's fortunate to have played in the era that he did. When pitch framing was measured and valued.  An electronic strike zone may have killed his career years ago.

[Pancake Bear]

Difficulty with Mathis is his main “skill” is working with pitchers. The question is, how valuable is that? A lot of things are measured in runs. How many runs saved is he worth compared to an average hitting catcher? 

[Stradling]

25 minutes ago, ScottT said:

There is something.

He's one of the worst hitters in MLB history. 2019 was astonishingly awful.

He's fortunate to have played in the era that he did. When pitch framing was measured and valued.  An electronic strike zone may have killed his career years ago.

Yea, I disagree with this.  Bottom line is pitchers like pitching to him.  That isn’t simply about framing pitches.  

[ScottT]

Front offices care about the numbers more than ever.... relationships?  I doubt that is a priority.

[failos]

He’s a great catcher and leader. He’s a Sosh type, which makes him very valuable in the clubhouse

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

His stats suck, but he is obviously valuable or else he wouldn’t have had such a long career.  Guys like Greinke, Haren and others have called him the best catcher they have pitched to.  So us as fans can either accept that there are things we don’t understand, or we can simply be arrogant fans that pretend to know more than the organizations/managers that sign and play him.  

Ive mentioned it before. Every guy Ive ever talked to whos worked with him rave about him. He'll be employed as long as he wants to keep playing.

We dont see it, but the people who matter do... whatever it is.

[mtangelsfan]

42 minutes ago, ScottT said:

Front offices care about the numbers more than ever.... relationships?  I doubt that is a priority.

And yet he keeps playing in the majors 

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, ScottT said:

Front offices care about the numbers more than ever.... relationships?  I doubt that is a priority.

Well there’s a comfort level he brings out in pitchers.  If you want to call that a relationship go for it.  Whatever it is denying teams don’t value it is denying facts.  

[ScottT]

50 minutes ago, mtangelsfan said:

And yet he keeps playing in the majors 

Correct. Thanks for the update.

[stormngt]

3 hours ago, TheOGGabyC said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Came across this video talking about the career of our favorite Angels catcher, Jeff Mathis. Foolish Baseball for those of you who don’t know is an awesome analytics focused channel that goes over some cool topics like how our boy Simmons is an under the radar HOF candidate. Do you guys think Jeff Mathis was over or undervalued over the course of his career?

How long has he played in mbl?

Underrated by mbl experts? No

Underrated by angelswin?  Absolutely 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 2/16/2020 at 2:02 PM, Stradling said:

His stats suck, but he is obviously valuable or else he wouldn’t have had such a long career.  Guys like Greinke, Haren and others have called him the best catcher they have pitched to.  So us as fans can either accept that there are things we don’t understand, or we can simply be arrogant fans that pretend to know more than the organizations/managers that sign and play him.  

That said, this is the only team to give him substantial starting time. I didn't mind him catching in relief. The issue came when the manager gave him the majority of the starts over a much stronger offensive player. His hitting is so poor that giving him a substantial part of the starts cost the Angels a lot of run production.

[Pancake Bear]

3 hours ago, Stradling said:

Well there’s a comfort level he brings out in pitchers.  If you want to call that a relationship go for it.  Whatever it is denying teams don’t value it is denying facts.  

How can it be a fact if it’s unquantifiable?

[tdawg87]

2 hours ago, stormngt said:

How long has he played in mbl?

Underrated by mbl experts? No

Underrated by angelswin?  Absolutely 

Major Beague Laseball

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

How can it be a fact if it’s unquantifiable?

Ask Greinke or Haren or any number of pitchers.

[Pancake Bear]

31 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Ask Greinke or Haren or any number of pitchers.

Those are opinions, not facts. I’m not saying there’s no effect; there probably is. To some degree it can be compared, but imperfectly. What is comfort level worth?
 

Again, I’m not saying they’re wrong, I’m saying I get why fans and even front offices may have difficulty buying it. 

[tdawg87]

Mathis is the greatest squatter since Crazy Willy over on Riverside Drive in Glendale.

[Rico]

Cool.  This channels Simmons video was also pretty good.

 

[T.G.]

On 2/16/2020 at 9:15 PM, tdawg87 said:

Mathis is the greatest squatter since Crazy Willy over on Riverside Drive in Glendale.

Is that Tank's real name?

[happybat4]

Directly from his Wikipedia 

"In 2010, Mathis was ranked by Beyond the Box Score as one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball.^[8] He also matched his career-worst batting average of .194, while posting a sub-.500 OPS in over 200 at bats." 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

By any measurable statistic, Mathis isn't good offensively OR defensively. Somehow he keeps landing jobs for "intangibles". When you consistently catch a team's best starting pitchers, of course your CERA will be lower.

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

By any measurable statistic, Mathis isn't good offensively OR defensively. Somehow he keeps landing jobs for "intangibles". When you consistently catch a team's best starting pitchers, of course your CERA will be lower.

Ask yourself why he is catching the teams best starter.  

[Vegas Halo Fan]

21 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Ask yourself why he is catching the teams best starter.  

Obviously there is something there. I just can't identify it. People have offered the defensive argument, but that clearly isn't it. I doubt that there has been a worse hitter ever who has had a major league career this long.

[Erstad Grit]

Nobody's posted that video of him throwing to 1B yet.  Disappointed.  Scioscia giving him time over Napoli was as hot topic here for sure.