Some final CERA numbers

[Frobby]

Tillman: Castillo 13 games 9.53 ERA, Joseph 6 games 6.85 ERA

Jimenez: Castillo 14 games 8.36 ERA, Joseph 14 games 5.88 ERA

Miley: Castillo 19 games 6.80 ERA, Joseph 13 games 4.06 ERA

Gausman: Castillo 14 games 7.53 ERA, Joseph 19 games 2.62 ERA

Bundy: Castillo 19 games 4.06 ERA,  Joseph 9 games 4.64 ERA

Hellickson: Castillo 6 games 7.45 ERA, Joseph 4 games 6.35 ERA

Team: Castillo 5.60 ERA, Joseph 4.23 ERA.

Coincidence?    Maybe, but I don't want to find out.    I'm hoping Castillo opts out of his contract.

 

 

 

 

[Ohfan67]

If he doesn’t, then I think the Os trade him. DD has mentioned Sisco a couple of times regarding the future.  

[24fps]

Caleb rocks.  Pay the man.

[fansince71]

Is there such thing as a catching coach? That is alarming but the dude can rake.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, fansince71 said:

Is there such thing as a catching coach? That is alarming but the dude can rake.

Sure there is.   John Russell works with our major league catchers, and Don Werner is our roving catching instructor.    

[Luke-OH]

26 minutes ago, fansince71 said:

Is there such thing as a catching coach? That is alarming but the dude can rake.

Caleb was never a top prospect, but in 2010 when he made some Orioles top 10 lists, he was considered a bat-first prospect who was suspect defensively.

Castillo is probably past the point of changing his game to much at his age though.  

[ChrisP]

I blame the WBC more than anything...

[thezeroes]

3 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

I blame the WBC more than anything...

You are not to far off-base on this.  Not being in camp when a lot of the teaching is done along with getting familiar with the staff was lost.  The game to game grind along with the several stints on the D/L also did not help.

[24fps]

Caleb was far more than a backup catcher in 2017 playing 630.2 innings to Castillo's 753.1.  The difference between their bats was significant  - Joseph 86 OPS+ vs. Castillo 115 OPS+.  But given the difference in pitcher ERA's between the two, in retrospect I think Caleb might have been the better overall choice.

[Aristotelian]

The weird thing is Castillo was #1 in MLB in CS% the last time I checked. So whatever he is doing wrong back there has to do with pitch calling and framing. I could never pick up anything terribly wrong that Castillo was doing but the numbers are pretty hard to deny. Never seen anything like it. 

[Luke-OH]

1 minute ago, Aristotelian said:

The weird thing is Castillo was #1 in MLB in CS% the last time I checked. So whatever he is doing wrong back there has to do with pitch calling and framing. I could never pick up anything terribly wrong that Castillo was doing but the numbers are pretty hard to deny. Never seen anything like it. 

Watch how he sets up and how he catches the ball with his glove moving.  It's pretty easy to see that Caleb is a better receiver (now it's about impossible to quantify that difference with the human eye).

I think at least in a small sample, Sisco looks like a better receiver than Castillo as well.

[clapdiddy]

I didn't think CERA meant anything.   That was until I watched games that Castillo caught.

[Frobby]

My opinion is it's mostly pitch-calling.    But I can't back that up with any facts, other than that I don't think framing can account for a differential of multiple runs per game for several of these pitchers.   

[baltfan]

Arizona sure doesn’t miss him.  Their pitchers sucked with him in 2016

[Frobby]

28 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Arizona sure doesn’t miss him.  Their pitchers sucked with him in 2016

Well, that's an interesting point.   The DBacks had a 5.09 ERA last year, 3.66 this year.   When Castillo caught it was 5.04; they had two backups, one of whom did better and one of whom did worse, in about equal playing time for those two.    So, it's tough to say whether the DBacks were bad because of Castillo.    They had a pretty good staff in 2015 and Castillo had a 4.10 CERA that year.