Does Josh Phegley Help the Athletics Defense?

With the sudden departure of Derek Norris from the Oakland Athletics’ catching platoon, a closer look at the recent acquisition of Josh Phegley is in order. It’s no secret that the A’s struggled defensively behind the dish last year, never more apparent than in the 2014 AL Wildcard game. Does trading Norris and using Phegley help in this department?

To begin the comparison we will look at the Rtot which is a fielding metric that is considered by some statisticians as being the most accurate way to gauge a catchers true ability by factoring the number of runs a player is worth to their team. Zero is a neutral player, positive numbers are favorable and negative numbers indicate that the player is giving runs to the opposing team. A rating of +/- 5 is where we begin to call a player slightly above or below average and +/- 10 is regarded as an outstanding or abysmal player. For your reference, Johnny Bench had a 12 Rtot in both of his MVP seasons for which he also won gold gloves.

Derek Norris, in 2014, had a Rtot of -3 in 870.1 innings. If you extend that out over a full season the number dips down to -5. Remember, this is a defensive stat only and does not speak to the offensive power of Norris’ bat. For the sake of comparison, we will look at all of the catchers over a 135 game season.

Stephen Vogt, who only saw 85.1 innings as catcher due to injury, had a yearly Rtot of 16 which is, of course, inflated based on a limited sample size. If you look at the number of runs he is worth based on the number of plays he was involved in, he’s an average catcher sitting flat at 0 compared to Norris’ -3.

John Jaso, who also missed a good chunk of the season due to injury, has an Rtot adjusted to -11 on the season and a -5 based on the number of plays he was involved in.

Josh Phegley, with 89.1 games as catcher in 2014, has a 0 Rtot, which is average, but has a rating of 2 based on his chances and a 28 based on his chances over the course of a 135 game season. In his minor league stint in 2014 he posted a .991 fielding percentage while throwing out 44% of attempted base stealers.

It may be his CS% that made him attractive to Beane. While Josh Phegley sits at a career 47% in the minors and 29% in the majors, Norris sits at 22% for his major career and only 17% in 2014. Jaso and Vogt have 17% and 39% respectively over the course of their careers. Stephen Vogt is the only catcher in this platoon with an above average CS% but Josh Phegley clearly possesses the potential for outstanding defense if his minor league numbers can translate to the big league level over the course of an entire season.

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So, if we take all three players Rtot numbers, adjust it by the number of chances (which makes the numbers a bit more realistic) and then stretch that out to a 135 game season, the current platoon of Josh Phegley, John Jaso and Stephen Vogt should be good for +13. Not bad for a platoon but based on the limited playing time of these three guys at catcher in 2014, we’ll do the same thing with the career numbers and see that the platoon could be good for 1 run saved which is about average.

If we throw Norris back into the mix and throw Josh Phegley out, the magic number is now -11 which is pretty bad defensive platooning.

These numbers, however, are incredibly misleading as they are based on projections which may or may not come to fruition. The current platoon, which we all know may change by opening day, has a combined career fielding percentage of .993 versus a .994 from the old platoon but with three catchers more adept at throwing down base runners, this trio, when healthy, may actually do more damage to opposing teams than the previous three would.

After crunching all of those numbers, I’m sure I’ve done little to persuade you one way or the other that this was a good move. If you take nothing from this article, take this; from a defensive standpoint, Stephen Vogt is a stronger option at catcher than Derek Norris and if he can stay healthy will probably be the predominant catcher for 2015 and with Jaso and Josh Phegley backing him up, you have some very good defensive options behind the plate this coming season that are, at worst, equal to last year and at best, an upgrade.

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