92 wild pitches!

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:30 pm

Bucs lead MLB with 92 WPs. The MLB team average is 59. Rodriguez is 7th in MLB with 11 despite only 66.2 IP. Brault, Crick Nova all have 9. Kuhl had 7. Glasnow had 7 as a Pirate. Incredible. I think the catchers have to take some responsibility too. That 3-run WP by Feliz yesterday was in the dirt but bounced off Diaz' glove.

DemDog · Post by **DemDog** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:26 pm

Its bad enough to put some blame on the catcher but only when the pitcher does not put the ball in the vicinity of where the catcher was expecting it.

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:27 pm

72535B725951360 wrote: Its bad enough to put some blame on the catcher but only when the pitcher does not put the ball in the vicinity of where the catcher was expecting it.

That is a lot of wild pitches. Were the Pirates over average in passed balls too?

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:40 pm

406667706676050 wrote: Its bad enough to put some blame on the catcher but only when the pitcher does not put the ball in the vicinity of where the catcher was expecting it.

That is a lot of wild pitches. Were the Pirates over average in passed balls too?
No, only 4 MLB teams have fewer PBs. Bucs have 8. Red Sox lead MLB with 24. Average is 12. I guess the pitches are just too wild for the Pirate catchers to get to.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:22 pm

I've suspected the catchers aren't as strong at blocking as some of those on other teams. A lot of those pitches seem to hit the catchers shin guards and bounce away. Those could be blocked by a catcher getting down and smothering it with his chest. I think the pitchers are getting a bum rap.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:07 pm

3A38222432570 wrote: I've suspected the catchers aren't as strong at blocking as some of those on other teams. A lot of those pitches seem to hit the catchers shin guards and bounce away. Those could be blocked by a catcher getting down and smothering it with his chest. I think the pitchers are getting a bum rap.
Well, let's say the catchers had been charged with 16 additional PBs, reducing the # of WPs by that amount. The additional 16 PBs is so many it would tie the Pirates with Boston for the most PBs (24) in MLB. But those 16 less PBs would only reduce the # of WPs to 76, which would tie them for the 5th most in MLB, 17 more than the MLB average of 59. I've seen some WPs that looked like the catcher should have blocked it. But 92 is so many that even if we charged the catchers with so many more that they led MLB in PBs, the # of WPs would still be terrible.

SammyKhalifa · Post by **SammyKhalifa** » Tue Sep 25, 2018 12:32 pm

Have faith, I bet we can get to 100.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Tue Sep 25, 2018 12:40 pm

It took me all night before this occurred to me, but if the ball gets blocked at the plate, and then tossed back to the pitcher, it's just another pitch. They don't all go to the backstop. Instead of 92 pitches to allocate between wild pitches and passed balls, you might only have 67 or 53, and the pitchers don't look quite so bad. But on the whole, I agree. It is a big number no matter what.

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Tue Sep 25, 2018 1:19 pm

6D6F757365000 wrote: It took me all night before this occurred to me, but if the ball gets blocked at the plate, and then tossed back to the pitcher, it's just another pitch. They don't all go to the backstop. Instead of 92 pitches to allocate between wild pitches and passed balls, you might only have 67 or 53, and the pitchers don't look quite so bad. But on the whole, I agree. It is a big number no matter what.

Mouse, can you explain this a little more? I don't understand what difference it makes if the pitch goes all the way to back stop or not. Is this in regard to comment that pitches are too wild for catchers to get to?

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Tue Sep 25, 2018 1:23 pm

33312B2D3B5E0 wrote: It took me all night before this occurred to me, but if the ball gets blocked at the plate, and then tossed back to the pitcher, it's just another pitch. They don't all go to the backstop. Instead of 92 pitches to allocate between wild pitches and passed balls, you might only have 67 or 53, and the pitchers don't look quite so bad. But on the whole, I agree. It is a big number no matter what.
On the other hand, I've seen countless pitches that are nowhere near the catcher and go to the backstop that are not counted as WPs because there was no one on base to advance. It's just a ball in the count. But the same pitch with a runner on base is a WP. The catchers could do a better job blocking but too many pitches aren't even in their zip code.