Iannetta kinda sucks

[Mark68]

To be fair this thread was made when they were winning, and only had a 4 game winning streak.

Was it made before or after Iannetta's homer?

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Honestly, I would have liked to see the club make a run at Russell Martin, who could have been had for a song when the Dodgers cut ties, but at the time Scioscia was singing the praises of Jeff Mathis, and Tony Reagins was still on Scoiscia's leash.

[Mark68]

We were all begging for a better catcher, and we got one. Now we are complaining that we don't have an AS caliber catcher. This team has NEVER had an AS catcher.

 

Iannetta is not great by any means. But he is not bad either. He has been nothing but solid at a normally weak position.

Brian Downing says hi from 1979.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

We were all begging for a better catcher, and we got one. Now we are complaining that we don't have an AS caliber catcher. This team has NEVER had an AS.

Bob Boone (1983), Lance Parrish (1990).

[Ohtaniland]

Honestly, I would have liked to see the club make a run at Russell Martin, who could have been had for a song when the Dodgers cut ties, but at the time Scioscia was singing the praises of Jeff Mathis, and Tony Reagins was still on Scoiscia's leash.

 

Russell Martin was there for the taking (free agent) before Iannetta was extended.

[mancini79]

Russell Martin was there for the taking (free agent) before Iannetta was extended.

Martin was coming off a year batting .211.  There was a reason the Yanks let him go FA. Easy decision to pass on him.

[Docwaukee]

Ianetta's offense is about what I expected.  Lot's of walks.  Occasional power.  Bad hitter.  Don't love it, but it works.  I am actually pretty disappointed with his defense though.  Today for example, there were a few borderline strikes and a few others that were actually in the strike zone and he didn't make any attempt to frame them.  All were called balls.  His ability to throw runners out is non existent and I think he's pretty below average from a pitch calling standpoint. 

 

I thought he be a more solid all around player but that hasn't really panned out on the defensive side. 

 

To top it off, the guy that was universally disregarded for his defense has actually looked pretty good behind the plate and has steadily improved over the course of the year.  I'd would actually be fine with Hank becoming the primary receiver at this point.  Don't really see the need to go out and spend big money on the position this offseason though. 

 

As far as mathis is concerned, he is statistically one of the three worst hitters in the history of major league baseball.  His ineptitude cannot be compared to anyone.  There was no amount of defensive ability that could have justified his presence in an everyday major league lineup and even him being on a roster as a backup is highly suspect unless purely for mentoring purposes as a half assed excuse. 

[nate]

3 pages?  Damn, I am on a roll this week.

[fan_since79]

 

As far as mathis is concerned, he is statistically one of the three worst hitters in the history of major league baseball.  His ineptitude cannot be compared to anyone.  There was no amount of defensive ability that could have justified his presence in an everyday major league lineup and even him being on a roster as a backup is highly suspect unless purely for mentoring purposes as a half assed excuse. 

He had a game back in 2008 where he went 4-5 with a grand slam and 6 RBI. That was the high point of his career, along with the walk off double against the Yankees in the 2009 playoffs, which we still appreciate.

 

Interestingly, in that regular season game in '08, Howie Kendrick also had four hits and Casey Kotchman had five. That was the first (and only?) time in Angels history when three players had at least four hits apiece in a nine-inning game.

[Ohtaniland]

Martin was coming off a year batting .211. There was a reason the Yanks let him go FA. Easy decision to pass on him.

Just compare their careers since they both started in 2006. Russell Martin is a proven workhorse frontline catcher who has started 125+ games several times in his career. Iannetta was able to start 105 games once (career high) in Colorado. Martin > Iannetta and its not even close.

[mancini79]

Just compare their careers since they both started in 2006. Russell Martin is a proven workhorse frontline catcher who has started 125+ games several times in his career. Iannetta was able to start 105 games once (career high) in Colorado. Martin > Iannetta and its not even close.

 

Martin may play a lot of games, but he sucks. Might as well put a pitcher in the lineup. Chris had better offensive numbers and was cheaper that Martin. I would rather take my chances that Chris could stay healthy enough to play in 100+ games.

[Ohtaniland]

Martin may play a lot of games, but he sucks. Might as well put a pitcher in the lineup. Chris had better offensive numbers and was cheaper that Martin. I would rather take my chances that Chris could stay healthy enough to play in 100+ games.

Lol @ discounting 3 All Star appearances, GG, Silver Slugger Award. What has Iannetta ever done and since when is Iannetta the picture of health. Martin does not suck, he's a great game-caller and the Pirates credit his work for much of their pitching staffs success.

[2002_halos_II]

Martin was coming off a year batting .211.  There was a reason the Yanks let him go FA. Easy decision to pass on him.

Yeah his AL 2 year avg is .224. I guess he likes the NL (.270).

[dimitrig]

He's actually been exactly what I expected. Low average, high OBP with decent pop and below average D.

 

Compared to Mathis he is Buster Posey.

 

Johnny Bench

[mancini79]

Lol @ discounting 3 All Star appearances, GG, Silver Slugger Award. What has Iannetta ever done and since when is Iannetta the picture of health. Martin does not suck, he's a great game-caller and the Pirates credit his work for much of their pitching staffs success.

 

Oh, you must be talking about his 2006-2007 years with the Dodgers. He has been a broken shell of that former self for the past 5 years. Martin did make the ASG in 2011, a year in which Iannetta had better numbers...go figure.

[tdawg87]

Atlanta

Minnesota

Cleveland

Houston

Colorado

Chicago Cubs

 

These are all debatable. Most of the backups are rookies or younger players who are having a decent half season. I would agree that the starters on each team are better, but not the backups.

 

How about teams that have 0 catchers who are as good as Iannetta?

 

New York Yankees

Chicago White Sox

Seattle Mariners

Miami Marlins

New York Mets

 

You could also make a serious argument for the Dodgers and Rays as well.

 

Iannetta is not an elite catcher by any means. Not even close. But he doesn't "suck" either. I'd put him in the average to slightly above average range.

[nate]

Below average = sucks IMO

[Ohtaniland]

Oh, you must be talking about his 2006-2007 years with the Dodgers. He has been a broken shell of that former self for the past 5 years. Martin did make the ASG in 2011, a year in which Iannetta had better numbers...go figure.

 

The thread title is accurate. He's a below average catcher on both sides of the ball.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1631567-the-top-five-catchers-no-one-in-mlb-should-run-on

 

I don't see Iannetta mentioned in this article.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/22522159/pirates-russell-martin-among-the-best-free-agent-signings-of-13-so-far

 

Russell Martin is a solid starting catcher. Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs detailed how the Pirates have seen more improvement from 2012 to 2013 than any other team when it comes to getting called strikes, which is directly tied to adding Martin as the everyday catcher.

 

 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Russell Martin is a solid starting catcher. Jeff Sullivan at FanGraphs detailed how the Pirates have seen more improvement from 2012 to 2013 than any other team when it comes to getting called strikes, which is directly tied to adding Martin as the everyday catcher.

Seems very similar to the argument made for Mathis that was so widely ridiculed here. Crediting a catcher with the coming of age of a pitching staff seems like a monumental stretch to me. Perhaps they are getting more called strikes because they are throwing more strikes. Wild theory, I grant you, but I have seen it happen before.

[AZMike]

Seems very similar to the argument made for Mathis that was so widely ridiculed here. Crediting a catcher with the coming of age of a pitching staff seems like a monumental stretch to me. Perhaps they are getting more called strikes because they are throwing more strikes. Wild theory, I grant you, but I have seen it happen before.

 

Let me guess you'd also claim the reason the Angels' pitching staff ERA went up nearly a full point between 2011 and 2012 was because Weaver, Haren, Santana and others were actually all simultaneously got significantly worse in 2012, and according to your theory the deterioration of Angels ERA that year wasn't a direct result of Mathis leaving?   

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Santana has been notoriously erratic throughout his career. Pairing up with a supposedly better catcher doesn't seem to have helped Haren much. Weaver has had injury issues - none of which would have been stopped by Mathis being here.

This is not to say that a catcher has no impact on a pitching staff. To credit him solely for the improvement or decline of an entire pitching staff is oversimplifying the issue, IMO.

[Erstad Grit]

Do you guys remember who used to be our catcher? Do you remember what his OBP was?

 

Napoli? 

[AZMike]

Santana has been notoriously erratic throughout his career. Pairing up with a supposedly better catcher doesn't seem to have helped Haren much. Weaver has had injury issues - none of which would have been stopped by Mathis being here.

This is not to say that a catcher has no impact on a pitching staff. To credit him solely for the improvement or decline of an entire pitching staff is oversimplifying the issue, IMO.

 

I actually agree here completely. I was being a bit sarcastic with the post. I think that Mathis was better defensively than many give him credit for though.

 

I felt we should have kept Bobby Wilson or Chris Snyder around for their defense as I've been a bit underwhelmed by Iannetta. I have been pelasantly surprised that Conger seems to be improving defensively of late.  

[Vegas Halo Fan]

One plus in all of this is that Hank Conger is beginning to turn into the catcher we all hoped that he would be. Let's hope that it continues.