As noted earlier today on MetsBlog, C Brian Schneider, who has not played since April 23, remains in the hospital with an infection in his left thumb.
In the 15 games Schneider has started this season, the Mets are 9-6. More importantly, the Mets team ERA in those games is 3.36.
The Mets are 4-5 with a 4.28 team ERA in games started by catchers other than Schneider.
…wow, i knew there would be a difference in the era, but not almost a full run difference…
…just as many say Jose Reyes is the key to the Mets offense, schneider, in my opinion, is the key to the Mets pitching staff…
…many, myself included, were puzzled when Omar Minaya and company decided to acquire the older, light-hitting schneider rather than a younger catcher with more upside…however, the importance of a good defensive catcher with the ability to call an aggressive game can not be overlooked…and schneider’s effect on the team has made him a welcome and important addition this season…
…as cerrone stated earlier, schneider’s stability behind the plate is comforting…each pitcher seems to have high confidence in schneider to call for the the right pitch for every situation during an at-bat, which is something that i think the Mets lacked with Paul Lo Duca behind the plate…there were too many instances over the past two seasons where it seemed as if the pitchers and lo duca could not agree on pitch selection…that issue has been non-existent with schneider behind the plate…
…his aggressive game calling has had a significant impact on the pitching staff, especially Mike Pelfrey, who is 2-0 with a 1.50 era with schneider behind the plate, as opposed to 0-1 with a 7.86 era without schneider…
…and again, as cerrone said, this is not a knock on Raul Casanova, it’s the stability, confidence and game plan schneider provides each pitcher with that has allowed for a higher rate of success…
{ 25 comments }
Schneider calls a great game defensively. And as statistics show, Pelfrey seems comfortable with Schneider as his backstop. Plus baserunners should fear his arm. Just a thought!
well put, Schneider has been a blessing!
I dont disagree that in 3 months this posting might be right on the money in terms of Schneid’s relationship with the pitching staff, and despite my undying opposition to the LM trade, I am happy to see the parts acquired making the kind of grinder everyday contributions Omar hoped they would. However, and this is not meant to be a direct criticism of the poster, the thing that always gets me is that a lot of stat head baseball fans literally don’t know the first thing about statistics and how you can use them to make strong claims.
Without even considering controlling for the myriad of variables in this ridiculously small sample, you cannot say that Schnieds was responsible for the drop in ERA through the mystical, impossible to operationalize variable “game calling.” Period. Of course, we’re all free to speculate.
As for his solid defense, during the period you are looking at, those 15 games, I don’t think Schneid’s best defensive foot was even put forward so to speak–I ‘d bet there were more passed balls than catcher throw outs at second.
You’d lose that bet: he’s thrown out 3 of 6 runners, and has 3 passed balls (admittedly too many.)
He admitted the passed balls were a result of breaking in a new glove and he went back to the old one.
Still a small sample size re: Pelf and Schneider…though the discrepency is a bit nuts….Of course his two good starts were at Shea, while the clunker was the Sunday night game in Philly
small sample size, anyone?
Certainly. This post should have been made in mid-July. However, I do agree that Schneider makes a difference. May be not an entire run – it will certainly even out, but he makes a difference for sure. Can’t wait to get him back healthy. I knew this thumb injury would be at least a week-long thing…
Yes, it’s a small sample size, but it bears watching this year for trends and our catchers.
Schneider has done great work thus far in 2008, and I hope that “big, ugly green thumb” of his gets better quickly.
Plus…do we really want to see more of Cassanova and Molina? Reminds when Alomar Jr. and Defilice filled in while Castro and Lo Duca filled in. Scary!
I agree it is a small sample size, but you could the difference in body language in Pelfrey and how comfortable he looked. I don’t think it matters much for the older guys, but I think Pelfrey benefited from how Schneider called the games…as far as Santana, Maine, Perez, I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but I think we’d all be lying if we didn’t see the difference just in his presence on the mound. But yes, this post is a bit premature, but its a good thing to keep an eye on as the season goes along.
Let’s take a moment, then, to praise Omar both for resisting Barry Zito and trading for Schneider and Church. No GM is going to get every single move right. Omar’s done some great things for the team.
I can surely say that I’m happy with Omar overall. But let’s just wait and see a bit longer before judging the Milledge trade. And Omar would have signed Zito if he would have taken 4 years – the credit that he deserves here is for offering a much lower contract than the Giants. Regardless, if Zito would have taken the 4/80 that Omar was rumored to be offering, he still would have been a huge bust…
Yes, I meant to give him credit for resisting the way-overvalued deal. And we can’t be 100% sure Zito would have been a huge bust with Peterson there. Maybe 75% sure.
i may be crazy but if we can trade for zito for like forty cents on the dollar, and he passes a physical, we should do it.
you are crazy
stay away from my kids you crazy sunufagun!
The un-Zito may be Omar’s grandest move ever!
Exactly…Minaya wanted Zito to be the Mets ace. But, he was willing to give the years; however, he didn’t want to overpay on a pitcher not named Santana. Thankfully, the Giants did and are on the hook for another five years. Maybe the Mets can get him in a trade for some lowly prospect, while the Giants eat the majority, if not all of the contract. Pair Zito with Peterson and he may regain some form again.
If we are going to wait a bit longer to judge the Milledge trade, then why can’t we wait longer to judge the Bannister trade?
Burgos is a live arm…and a young one at that. About 4 years younger than Bannister I believe. Just off of Tommy John surgery. Let’s see what he can do next year before we call that trade a bust. I could see him getting every opportunity to supplant Wags as the closer when the time comes.
eh. the jury is still out on the milledge trade, and will be for a few years at least. and the zito signing was so outlandishly insane that omar had no hope or desire to match it. if brian sabean wasn’t a complete idiot, there’s a very good chance we’d have signed zito.
No way the jury is still out on the Milledge trade. Even with the small sample size, it’s safe to say that the Mets won out short term for sure by obtaining two starters for one. It’s very plausible that the Nationals win out in the long term, and that’s the only thing that the jury is still out on.
I agree, I have felt both teams win in that trade. The Mets needed players to put them over the top(hopefully) now, while the Nats are moving into a new stadium and need some young talent to create the excitement.
I don’t agree. Schneider has missed a ton of games so far, which we hope is not an indication of things to come, but it’s too early to tell. Church has been lighting it up, but there’s a good chance that Milledge’s overall production is better over the course of the entire season. It might be a win in the short term, it might not. Either way, what’s done is done and it was a smart move at the time, and that’s what counts…
Also; Schneider has been behind the plate for all of Santana’s starts this year.
I don’t miss Paulie, but here in April, the Mets are less watchable in light of the trade. I’m sure I’ll trade watchability for wins in September and October though!
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