Still, even if he remains middling in terms of traditional catcher defense his offensive potential and framing would provide plenty of surplus value. He also has 8.9 career wins above replacement. When using the sum of these values as the sorting criteria, d’Arnaud comes out as the 14th-best defensive catcher in baseball with a total of 7.5 runs added. Using a stat called RE24, we look at how the 2014 Mets are hitting in clutch situations. In 2019 the New York Mets gave him a very short leash, before releasing him in early May. Mike Fast’s 2011 article from Baseball Prospectus is a great read on the subject. Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud had a rough go of it in 2014 on both sides of the ball. His averaged passed balls over that same span was just over seven per season. The young right-handed pitcher has been good lately, but he could be even better if his changeup becomes more effective. Travis d'Arnaud ATL C/1B R $6 Keston Hiura MIL 2B R $8 Aaron Civale CLE SP R $5 : Cosby Sweaters: Kyle Tucker HOU OF L $20: December 28, 2020 1:37 PM : FV>PV: Travis d'Arnaud ATL C/1B R $4 Keston Hiura MIL 2B R $11 : JV Baseball: J.T. In the mean time, I believe his defense is a genuine problem already in need of serious attention. Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud had a rough go of it in 2014 on both sides of the ball. (null) Avg Exit Velocity: 89.5, Hard Hit %: 39.8, wOBA: .319, xwOBA: .321, Barrel %: 7.1. Is d’Arnaud’s defense a problem? Next season will go a long way in determining just what kind of player he ultimately becomes, but it’s not time to worry about his defense. His passed ball rate is something that will probably fluctuate a bit. Last night, State eked out a win over Boston… Read more…, Travis d’Arnaud’s defense is not an issue…yet. He played 48 games in the NYPL, hitting .309 with an OPS of .833 and was selected for the mid-season All-Star game. When Travis d’arnaud first came up in 2013, he struggled badly with a 60 wRC+ in 112 plate appearances, but he was a good defensive catcher and his 3.7 FRAA was good enough to earn him a .6 WARP. He is from United States. If the catcher pulls his glove back into the strike zone too quickly it can lead to a passed ball. He had the most passed balls (12) in the fewest number of games for qualified MLB catchers and finished the season with an awful caught-stealing rate (CS%) of just 19%. One reason I’m glad Recker is till on the team is that TDA can probably learn some good blocking techniques. Not only is he not throwing out runners, his throws are many feet off the mark. But his defense on the year still looks poor. Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud has struggled with his defense, leading the league in passed balls, and his ability to frame pitches may be the reason. Since his return to the majors on June 24, he’s hit .271/.315/.489 with six home runs, good for a 126 wRC+. Because DRS and UZR are both essentially useless for judging the defensive performance of a catcher, younger and more complex metrics must be used to characterize defensive performance behind the plate. Regardless, d’Arnaud’s 7.5 defensive runs added should help put the defensive questions about him to rest. Posted on :January 17, 2015January 17, 2015 By : Rob Rogan Posted in : Perspectives|Research. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. D'Arnaud went from being designated for assignment by the Mets in April of 2019 to batting cleanup in the 2020 playoffs for the No. For instance, with a runner on third the safe bet may be to take a called ball rather than risk a passed ball by being too aggressive with framing. Then again, maybe his defensive woes should have been expected. Travis d’Arnaud seemed to solve his hitting problems last year, finishing strong after his clearing his head at Triple-A Las Vegas. Watching Travis d’Arnaud lately has been quite enjoyable for Mets fans. However, Covid disruptions, injuries and a longer break-in… Read more…, State loses Devon Daniels in win over Wake, My thought coming into this college basketball season was that this NC State Wolfpack team was going to surprise a… Read more…, Yep, another post about N.C. State basketball on a Mets site. Right now both he and Flores to me are one and the same. Team: Atlanta Braves (majors) Born: February 10, 1989 in Long Beach, CA us Draft: Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1st round (37th) of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft from Lakewood HS (Lakewood, CA).. High School: Lakewood HS (Lakewood, CA) Travis d’Arnaudhas BABIPs all over the map, but has a career .270 BABIP and career Interesting statistical trivia aside, Baseball Prospectus views d’Arnaud as a good catcher, but not quite as good as the near elite interpretation from StatCorner. I’m more worried about concussions than any defensive issue he may have right now. That would be just fine. From that, it looks like the high number of PB’s may be a fluke. Hopefully both stay healthy this year and give us a clear picture over a full season to see what we can expect for 2016 from them. Positions: Catcher and First Baseman Bats: Right • Throws: Right 6-2, 210lb (188cm, 95kg) . Watching Travis d’Arnaud lately has been quite enjoyable for Mets fans. That gave the Braves a 2-0 lead when if they lowered Porcello’s ERA. Why all the passed balls? 2. The Atlanta Braves will be without starting catcher Travis d'Arnaud for at least the next two months after he was placed on the 60-day injured list Sunday with. On the other hand, Baseball Prospectus utilizing a "regressed probability model," is not quite as fond of d'Arnaud, ranking him 11th when using the count to contextualize strikes added. His great second half went a long way towards putting to bed doubts about his ability to hit at the highest level. Latest on Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on ESPN That excellent pitch framing, a skill that has been revealed to provide great value, may actually have been detrimental to d’Arnaud throughout portions of the season. d’Arnaud, mostly known for his strong defense, is a career .242/.303/.401 hitter with 47 home runs and a 94 wRC+ in 1,494 plate appearances. D'Arnaud was placed on the 60-day injured list Sunday with a sprained left thumb. Since his return to the majors on June 24, he’s hit .271/.315/.489 with six home runs, good for a 126 wRC+. He was fine at the beginning and the end of the season, but had a lot of trouble right after his return to his big leagues, which accounted for more than half of his PBs, which was highlighted by a really bad stretch of 4 PBs in 4 games right near the All start break. As noted in Diamond’s piece, Mets bench coach Bob Geren was working with d’Arnaud throughout the season on this issue. I’m not believing anything…yet. 349.2 innings, 2 PB. It seems to come with the pitch-framing territory. A closer look at Travis d'Arnaud's defense, framing, and blocking. It sounds like you might be in a shallower league, though, so if most of these guys are available and you're just grabbing one, I'd probably have to go with Wil Myers. I do agree with BJ that concussions are a concern, but that is almost a given with any catcher. He’s given up 11 passed balls—most in the majors—and has a mediocre 20.8 percent caught stealing rate that ranks 59th. The evaluation of his arm strength ranged from average to plus, depending on where you looked. Often seen as a bit of an enigma defensively, Travis d’Arnaud just got quite a jump in value from FanGraphs’ rollout of their pitch framing stat and its incorporation into WAR. Baseball Prospectus also provides a more accurate method of judging a catcher’s skill at blocking pitches. D’Arnaud was batting .087 (2-for-23) in sporadic playing time after missing most of 2018 following Tommy John surgery. Mets finish April at their lowest point of the season with a 2-1 loss to Phillies. Which Mets are hitting well in the clutch? Conforto comes through in the clutch as Mets beat Phillies. We expect a lot from him, but it was just his first full year in the bigs, and if he improves slightly over the next two years regarding defense, and his offense does what we think it will, he will be an All-Star in short order. I’m not of the belief that it’s some magical micro-timing story where he’s trying to drag in balls slightly off the plate and they go astray — far from it. Do it, do it over a whole season, do it in a pennant race, do it in the playoffs until you see how a player reacts to all these conditions and maintain a good level of play throughout you really only have opinions and projection. His early offensive struggles were well documented, as was his demotion and very strong comeback. Now, by combining the two run added values for framing and blocking from Baseball Prospectus, we can get a clearer picture of a catchers total defensive value. Travis d’Arnaud was the original prize piece in the R.A. Dickey trade prior to the 2013 season. I disagree with the premise: his defense is already a considerable liability. It’s too early to say definitively, but there’s a strong chance that d’Arnaud will be a much sturdier presence behind the plate in 2015 based on his profile and his work ethic. It wasn’t perfect the Mets found a way to win thanks to their right fielder. Both had two good months last year and 4 bad ones. An analysis of Travis d'Arnaud's pitch blocking, paints d’Arnaud as a borderline elite pitch framer, Wheeler could be great with improved changeup. Atlanta's injury woes continued in Saturday's 6-5 loss in extra innings to the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark. In 2012 ESPN’s Keith Law even went so far as to call him a “plus defensive catcher.”. So how does d’Arnaud actually stack up? Typical Mets; Can’t criticize the Mets for this one; The second reaction is driven by the premise d’Arnaud wasn’t good with the Mets. The Mets didn’t need to see any more of Travis d’Arnaud to deduce he wasn’t the answer as the backup to Wilson Ramos. Required fields are marked *. Research in the last few years has begun to show just how important this skill is to the game, with new metrics springing up to measure it. The Phillies selected d’Arnaud with their second pick of the 2007 draft, #37 overall. The young backstop has been getting praise for his ability to frame pitches. In 2013 he also had just 3 PB in 258 innings as well. Instead, the Braves decided to roll the dice and thrust Alex Jackson into the majors, who has been miserable this season, hitting to the tune of a .043 average. D’Arnaud’s defensive shortcomings were certainly not expected by the team or its fans. Unless d’Arnaud can show that he can actually make accurate throws to 2B and 3rd base, the Mets better make sure that they keep Pawlecki for now. You could add Travis D'Arnaud, Shelby Miller, Gary Brown, Nolan Arenado. Better judgment and less aggression may be all that’s required to keep his passed balls at a more reasonable number, even if he always remains near the top of the league. Unfortunately for the Mets, they should have been a little more patient with him after April. In this case, advanced metrics confirm the conclusions of the eye test, and show that d’Arnaud really couldn’t be much worse in this department. 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