GDT #19 4/21/14: Marlins (Koehler) @ Braves (Teheran), 7:10

[Millwood1Hitter]

I think that will come with experience. He seems to be adapting well to catching full-time, considering he had a 5 year stint of not playing baseball.

The problem is Laird is mentoring him. Laird is awful as a receiver and everything else behind the plate. If Gattis had a Ross or Eddie Perez mentor him he'd be in better shape.

I think Eddie was extremely underrated in the way he could frame Maddux's pitches.

Eddie is still on the staff, though, and I have to believe that he at least works or gives advice on occassion to Gattis, no? I mean what else does a bullpen coach do but answer the phone during games? He's one of the best defensive catchers we've had as an organization so I hope we are taking advantage of him in giving tips and tricks. Back in the day, McCann credited Eddie for a lot advice that he gave him when he was first called up to the majors and Eddie was working as a roving instructor.

[NinersSBChamps]

Even the best catchers throw low to mid 30% successfully. Gattis is around that mark.

Fairly certain he is under 30. Granted it's a small sample size.

[The Chosen One]

Fairly certain he is under 30. Granted it's a small sample size.

If he keeps hitting homeruns and isn't throwing at the Mike Piazza rate, consider me satisfied.

At 400k this year, he's not exactly hurting the team financially.

[thethe]

Gattis's arm isn't my concern, it's his ability to block.

Why do defensive metrics on fangraphs rate him so favorably? They don't even account for pitch framing IIRC.

[zitothebrave]

I think that will come with experience. He seems to be adapting well to catching full-time, considering he had a 5 year stint of not playing baseball.

The problem is Laird is mentoring him. Laird is awful as a receiver and everything else behind the plate. If Gattis had a Ross or Eddie Perez mentor him he'd be in better shape.

I think Eddie was extremely underrated in the way he could frame Maddux's pitches.

Gattis has barely been under laird's mentorship. He developed most of his skills in high school and in the minors.

Odds of him improving are slim. He can hone slightly but not go insane.

[thethe]

Gattis has barely been under laird's mentorship. He developed most of his skills in high school and in the minors.

Odds of him improving are slim. He can hone slightly but not go insane.

I'd say to get to where he is now considering his limited professional experience is impressive. Why shouldn't we expect an improvement as he gets more experience?

[zitothebrave]

Why do defensive metrics on fangraphs rate him so favorably? They don't even account for pitch framing IIRC.

Because he's a solid catcher.

[thethe]

Because he's a solid catcher.

HOw is it evaluated? What are they looking at to come up with their DRS and DEF rankings?

[stpeteirish]

classic that even someone else's play can be blamed on Laird.

[The Chosen One]

classic that even someone else's play can be blamed on Laird.

Laird is just awful. He's the modern day Brian Jordan. Terrible at what he does, and yet he's still on the team because of the "veteran leadership".

I remember when Brian Jordan came back, the biggest compliment the announcers could give him was that he was the first guy on the top step of the dugout to greet the players that just hit a homer/scored. Nothing of his actual play or hitting.

No doubt Bethancourt could do a better job as backup catcher than Laird.

[JCarbo76]

You are the one that seems to think his base stealers are never on him, but the pitcher is always at fault.

Throwing out runners ranks pretty high in my opinion. Keeping a runner at first or even throwing someone out goes a long ways. Base hit a guy isn't scoring from first, but when he steals second it's an entirely different story.

Gattis is at 32% (12/38) for his career. The league average is 27%.

[Heyward]

Gattis has been decent at blocking pitches so far, not great, not awful, serviceable.

Also, he has a pretty good arm, didnt know he was supposed to throw out every base runner

[NinersSBChamps]

Gattis is at 32% (12/38) for his career. The league average is 27%.

And what is he currently at?

[zitothebrave]

HOw is it evaluated? What are they looking at to come up with their DRS and DEF rankings?

DEF is arm and passed balls. Gattis is very positive in arm stats, so that's what he's high this year because there's no passed ball stats yet. I don't recall how DRS calculates it. And you can google that as well as I can.

Last year on the Braves, Gattis and Laird were both negative at blocking while Mac was very positive.

Gattis isn't a butcher at blocking but it's his biggest area of weakness. I mean my opinion is largely skewed because Mac was so technically sound behind the plate and Gattis isn't.

[NinersSBChamps]

And what is he currently at?

He is 28.6 percent right now. That puts him in the middle of the pack. He also has the third most errors by all catchers right now.

[gilesfan]

Why do defensive metrics on fangraphs rate him so favorably? They don't even account for pitch framing IIRC.

Bc Gattis isn't terrible at throwing out runners, which essentially is what they measure.

[thethe]

He is 28.6 percent right now. That puts him in the middle of the pack. He also has the third most errors by all catchers right now.

With such a small sample wouldn't you look more to his career numbers?

He has approximately a 950 OPS currently this year. Is that what hitter he is?

[Braves1976]

Fairly certain he is under 30. Granted it's a small sample size.

Gattis is at 32% in the Majors so far (including last year). He was above 30% going into last night, but the one stolen base by a speedy runner dropped him to 29% so far this year. The league average last year was 28% and so far this year is only 24%.

[Julio3000]

classic that even someone else's play can be blamed on Laird.

Considering that Laird = Fredi, it shouldn't be surprising.

[Hawk]

We're a few weeks into the first season of this guy catching full-time in the Major Leagues. Our pitching staff has the best ERA in baseball. People will find anything to bitch about.