I foresaw some trouble with Bob's decision to only go with two catchers, but to Bob's credit, the tandem of IRod and Javy Lopez did remarkably well in 2001.
G PA AB H 2B3B HR TB R RBI SO BBIBBHPSHSF DP AVE OBP SLG PRO ISO SECA TA RC RC/G SB CS SB% IR 91 403 380 114 20 1 28 220 46 79 60 17 1 2 0 4 11 .300 .330 .579 .909 .279 .324 .863 68.6 6.6 0 0 0 JL 73 301 283 78 16 0 13 133 27 44 51 11 1 2 3 2 9 .276 .305 .470 .775 .194 .233 .682 37.8 4.7 0 0 0 164 704 663 192 36 1 41 353 73 123 111 28 2 4 3 6 20 .290 .320 .532 .852 .242 .285 .786 106.4 5.8 0 0 0
Obviously, the 20 GIDP's and only 28 walks were troublesome, but 123 RBI, 41 HR, and 78 extra-base hits from the catching position? Those are spectacular totals, on par with some of the best catching numbers in SL history.
Additionally, one of the weaknesses was supposed to be Lopez's -2 arm, but in terms of playing time, Bob's average catcher was an 8.5 with slightly better than a +1 arm. In looking at that average against the other catching tandems built around their offense, the tandem's defense was better than the Posada-Fabregas tandem I played, and similar to the Kendall-Marrero tandem, to the cumulative Johnson-Diaz-Thomas* team, better than the Fletcher-Santiago tandem and probably better than the combined Hundley-Cross*-Zaun/Castillo team.
But I still will contend that only having two catchers hurt Bob's team. The main problem was the lack of flexibility ... a systematic problem well-documented in regards to Bob's 2001 team. One of the stats that jumps out at me is the 164 games. They only appeared in the same game twice ... meaning for 160 games, if Bob wanted to make a move, either he couldn't or didn't. Considering how he had invested highly in pinch-runner Eric Young (didn't approach the allowed stolen base attempts for this 13th round pick) and in pinch-hitter Jim Thome (could only manage 120 plate appearances for this 15th round pick), he needed a position to pinch run for and pinch hit for, and in the games where Javy caught, he often needed a defensive replacement at catcher.
Again, I think these guys combined to perform remarkably. But with a Rollie Thomas* or Tyler Houston -type on the roster (perhaps taken instead of 6th reliever Rod Beck) to provide better defense than Lopez and to provide better overall flexibility, Bob could have stolen wins in a few more close games. The other set of stats that jump out at me are the combined 78 extra-base hits, 41 of which were homers, but with these high totals, they only scored 73 runs. A Thomas* or Houston on the roster could have provided better speed and/or allowed Young to score some more runs for this group. And in the 19 or so games where Bob had to sit Phil Nevin and did not have a replacement for Ventura, a multi-positional third catcher could have provided flexibility at third base for Bob. Or with just the 4 outfielders on Bob's team, a catcher-outfielder could have provided some much needed flexibility in the outfield. Even a scrub catcher like Scott Sheldon would have helped.
Plus, while Lopez and Rodriguez combined to be similar or better than most catching tandems defensively, when IRod sat, Lopez equated to one of the worst individual catchers in the league ... a definite liability. I admired Bob's plan to use Lopez as Pedro's caddie, and try to use IRod in 3 of the remaining 4 games in a series, but there are some fundamental flaws in the logic when you consider the two catchers' defense. Offensively, yes, Pedro did not need IRod as much as the other starting pitchers did. But defensively, Lopez's weak arm was often the oppositions's only hope in scoring in the Pedro games. And in the games started by Finley and Parque, where there were both more baserunners clogging the basepaths -- thus not allowing teams to run as frequently as in other situations -- and the squelched temptation to run with lesser base stealers that would have given these weak pitchers more opportunities to get cheap outs, IRod's great defense was occasionally wasted.
To look at the two catcher situation in a different context, let's compare them to Ken's ChuckJ-Thomas*-Diaz trio, a trio that had about the same amount of plate appearances as the combined totals of IRod and Lopez.
G PA AB H 2B3B HR TB R RBI SO BBIBBHPSHSFDP AVE OBP SLG PRO ISO SECA TA RC RC/GSBCS SB% CJ 128 543 498 126 25 0 36 259 77 92 144 42 0 0 1 2 10 .253 .310 .520 .830 .267 .359 .798 79.6 5.6 4 0 100.0 RT 40 104 86 23 4 0 1 30 11 10 14 8 0 6 3 1 0 .267 .366 .349 .715 .082 .233 .778 13.6 5.5 5 0 100.0 ED 38 56 49 10 4 0 1 17 13 8 7 3 0 1 2 1 2 .204 .259 .347 .606 .143 .184 .523 3.3 1.9 2 3 40.0 KEN 206 703 633 159 33 0 38 306 100 110 165 53 0 7 6 4 12 .251 .314 .483 .797 .231 .326 .773 96.5 5.4 11 3 78.6 BOB 164 704 663 192 36 1 41 353 73 123 111 28 2 4 3 6 20 .290 .320 .532 .852 .242 .285 .786 106.4 5.8 0 0 0
Ken's group had some similar numbers to Bob's, and still there were several numbers, like RBI and the bulk of the percentage numbers, where IRod and Javy had slightly better totals. But what I again see is that Ken had some flexibility -- represented in the 206 games played. Also, this group accounted for 100 runs scored, plus gave him the flexibility which allowed pinch-runners like Jose Valentin to get in the game, steal bases, score runs, and win games for Ken. When you realize the context of these numbers and factor in the draft positions used to gather these numbers (CJ - round 9, RT - round 27, ED - round 24) vs. what Bob invested in his tandem (IR - round 5, JL - round 18), it becomes obvious that Bob's two catcher decision wasn't as efficient as Ken's group.
I guess my main concern in any two catcher situation is that if a team can play some measure of little ball late, when in a close game one run may mean the difference between a win and a loss, a team without flexibility to remove their catcher on defense, or a team with no flexibility to pinch run or pinch hit for a weak offensive catcher, is at risk. Despite the great performance from this tandem, I contend that for 160 games, Bob put himself at risk. Or maybe he was at risk only in the 71 games that Javy caught. In either case, I firmly believe Bob hurt his chances to win games with his two catcher situation.
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