5/21 - Brewers (Anderson) @ World Champion Chicago Cubs (Arrieta) - 1:20 CDT WGN

[MarkR]

LOL @ Jett Bandy. He's so so so so bad behind the plate.

[KrisBryantisaBeast]

We need more of these run differential games.

[Hunter]

Except for the pitchers, everyone has a hit.

[weis21]

well this is my best birthday gift to date

[weis21]

i love this team so much

[weis21]

well this is my best birthday gift to date

*Cubs blow 12 run lead*

[Derwood]

Of course they have an RD dong-fest when I'm not watching

[KrisBryantisaBeast]

Floro can go back to Iowa after today.

[weis21]

those ducks. just walking around like they own the place. so insolent, these ducks. i bet one takes a fastball on the wing the next time he steps in the box.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Don't complain about rainouts again or it'll be a 20-spot, Brewers.

[weis21]

those ducks. just walking around like they own the place. so insolent, these ducks. i bet one takes a fastball on the wing the next time he steps in the box.

tomorrow's article in the sun times:

 

Fowl ball: How ducks are ruining baseball...and life

[cubsclapp]

Willson I would like you to start catching/blocking the ball better or hit the ball more. Either is fine, but one is mandatory

Isn't Willson supposed to be a good framer? He hasn't been doing Jake many favors, stabbing at a lot of balls. I also kinda feel his exaggerated movements on blocking balls in the dirt throws Jake off his rhythm by making it seem like those pitches are mini crises that are being averted.

 

His framing was a bit above average last year, slightly worse this year thus far. That I can understand will come around(and Jake is a difficult pitcher to frame), but the pitch blocking and stuff like hanging on to tipped pitches are hurting him a lot. That's fine when he's a young catcher hitting like Posey, but his double just bumped him over a .700 OPS to start this season so you really want to see progress on either end.

 

He's currently second among Cubs position players in fWAR (0.8) playing to what is probably his floor. The OPS is up to .719 and the K rate is declining. He went 3 for 3 today with 2 sac flies. Every AB was great, except for the slow roller he got an infield single on partly because of his speed. His baserunning was fantastic and is incredibly rare at catcher (it led to a run today).

 

The framing has been average at best as you said, and he's had a few brutal errors (and 8 total). He's likely to always have some maddening plays, but like Javy, the good is going to far outweigh the bad there (he came into today ranked as FanGraphs' 9th-most valuable defender). His issues are things he should continue to improve on. Heck, he didn't start catching until his fourth year in the Cubs' system. It's amazing he's already where he's at.

 

Anyway, he's going to be a star and is already very good. He's far down my list of concerns.

[Sammy Sofa]

He's currently second among Cubs position players in fWAR (0.8)

 

This is arguably less like an endorsement of Contreras and more of a "wow, look at how much this team is underperforming" kinda thing.

[cubsclapp]

He's currently second among Cubs position players in fWAR (0.8)

 

This is arguably less like an endorsement of Contreras and more of a "wow, look at how much this team is underperforming" kinda thing.

 

Sure, but it's still 10th for catchers and we know he hasn't hit as much as he's going to.

 

The overall point was he's been fine and should only get better. There's no doubt the errors and wild pitches are an issue, and very annoying. Hopefully those lessen with experience. If this is how it stayed, it's still a solid catcher with his arm talent and athleticism usually going a long way to make up for the gaffes and average framing.