Massey, you can’t make that conclusion from a comparison of CERA. Such a comparison might suggest any or all of those things you mentioned, but there are other reasons why there could be differences.

For example, it could have been simply that Schneider caught more of the rookies and less experienced and accomplished starters that year.

But here’s what I think may have been a bigger factor — Flores appeared in more games (13) in which he didn’t start than Schneider did (2). I assume that was for double switches late in games. Flores therefore had a higher percentage of his CERA from catching the bullpen staff. And the Nationals had a better bullpen ERA last year than the Mets. Their bullpen has always been strong the last few years. Also, the differential in ERA between their bullpen and starters is pretty big — much bigger than it was for the Mets in 2007. So perhaps because a higher percentage of Flores CERA is from the relievers is why his CERA is lower. This is just a guess, but it makes sense.

Perhaps you missed the line underneath “Metsblog” at the top of the page?

I expected that Schneider would call a better game, keep the pitchers confidence high when they hit trouble, and that the pitchers would pitch slightly worse when pitching to another catcher.

The stats show the opposite. Maybe the numbers look better in previous years, I don’t know.