Anyone who just watched the Stros game knows why you cannot have Gattis as your primary catcher with this staff. Between Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh, Giles, Gregerson, Devo, Feliz, you name 'em: they are built on burying pitches in the dirt and Gattis might be the worst catcher in North America at blocking balls in the dirt. Something to think about.
I'd say Giles is the only one of consequence, given the high leverage situation he's in and the lethality of his breaking ball. Even Castro struggles with it. Agreed that if they do go with Gattis, they need sound backup for late inning situations. That still would implie that Castro is expendable. If you had to choose one black hole in the lineup... Would it be Castro or Marisnick? Don't think they can afford two.
Gattis has to be gambled on to play catcher simply because his offense is unparalleled at this position (30+ HR/season is ridiculous), and that allows us to upgrade tremendously at DH. Castro is an incredibly good pitch framer and very solid defensively, but isn't worthy of paying what I think he will fetch in the market. Gattis has defensive issues certainly, but he seems to be elite at throwing out baserunners. Let's hope he can improve defensively in the off season because whether by coincidence or not, his hitting #s when playing catcher have been off the charts this season.
I wouldn't go that far. Very few, if any, winning teams were able to support two black holes (not without either super-elite pitching or HOF like production from multiple spots elsewhere).
And whether it's sheer coincidence or luck, the Astros are winning a lot of the games he's catching in, with pitchers showing equal if not better numbers across the board. His emergence as a viable option is also one of the bigger pluses to come out of this season.
So you replace him in the late innings. Like you do a lot of other positions with plus hitting/subpar fielding. They should not pay Castro his expected free agent money. Not for pitch framing.
But if Castro was in the lineup in numerous other games this season that Gattis started as catcher, they potentially lose a whole bunch of those too.
I get what you're saying, but teams don't do that, potential xtra innings and emergency catchers and whatnot. The backup catcher is usually/always the last guy on the bench. If he starts he finishes kinda thing. I know, major, we've all seen it. Gattis has won games and he has lost games. I'd prefer to fix DH/1B/LF. They don't need anything other than average-ish offense from C/CF if they do that. Gattis plays into that too, just not as a full-time catcher (part time DH vs LHP?). Again, like I asked in another thread, how much regular work behind the plate can his knees handle?
How very non-progressive and non-forward thinking of a statement. Doing something because "that's how it's always been done" is sorta what I thought most progressive front offices are trying to avoid if it can help make this team better. (And yes, I get what you're saying...I just see them going away from it, given they were starting games with both Gattis and Castro in the lineup, and I would consider a late game defensive replacement at catcher just like I would any other position). At this point, unless they trade Gattis, he's going to catch next year. The question remains whether or not you devote increased money to Castro (which would hamper the needs to fix DH/1b/LF as you described), or they don't.
Which games did he lose with his defense? There's only one specific game I can recall where a passed ball/wild pitch weighed heavily into the outcome...and Gattis wasn't the catcher on record for that instance.
Why is it does Gattis make Castro expendable? Castro is certainly a good defensive catcher. That's it! He's horrible offensively, and since he's a FA after this season there's no way in hell they should offer him what he made this yr (5 mil) or more. Thus he's expendable. If they could bring him back for 2 mil or less as a back up then I would consider it. Is Gattis the answer at catcher? I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as they were able to have a good defensive back up. If they're looking to bring someone else in as the starter (trade or FA) they better bring more to the table offensively then Castro.
I just want you to remember what we got out of catcher before Castro. Our backup catcher is going to probably start 1/3 of the games or more if Gattis is our starter. Stassi has a career .669 OPS in AAA.
Obviously you are remembering the recent Rangers game (that one was pretty tough luck, IMO). I can remember watching Gattis give up a couple of bases in a late game situation, but I think we might have ended up winning that one. No question though that Gattis is a defensive liability.
Yes, that's what I'm remembering. And you're citing the Cleveland game/series right before that which Giles ended up getting out of. By all means he should be removed in late inning situations.. which is easier done now since they have a 3rd catcher, but could also be done on a regular basis during the season (like most defensive liability players... who you deem worth the risk to get their bat in the lineup).
Agreed. I highly doubt Castro comes back unless he is the starter unfortunately. I hope Stassi isn't the backup, but it isn't easy to find a quality backup catcher.
I hear Conger is available! I'm sure Buck's head would explode if they went into the season with a Gattis/Conger duo.
If Gattis is better with the pitchers and calling a game, which thus far consistently seems to be true, by almost 1 run per game, then additionally in the late innings Gattis can throw out the base stealer, forcing three hits to score a run on the closer. If a runner gets to third, then you could conceivably substitute in Castro to prevent the wild pitch and score. But the better defensive option with a runner on 1st is Gattis as nobody wants to run. And the wild pitch with a runner on first is almost irrelevant as the runner is going to steal second on Castro anyway. Hey, we've been wrong before as it pertains to Ausmus and Meluskey, who got us to the world series no less, but you cannot fear change or you will be mired in mediocrity. Gattis has been getting the job done at a higher level thus far.
