- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Picture perfect: Grandal’s elite framing boosting LA
- Updated: October 17, 2016
Nearly two years ago, Yasmani Grandal arrived in Los Angeles with a reputation as being an elite pitch framer. You might say he’s lived up to that and then some — and it’s making a big difference this postseason as the Dodgers head into Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET/5 PT on FS1) tied at one game apiece with the Cubs.
In 2015, per Baseball Prospectus, Grandal was the best pitch-framing catcher in baseball. In ’16, he was baseball’s second best, behind Buster Posey. By those calculations, Grandal has saved the Dodgers nearly 52 runs in framing alone, and while the exact numbers are more an estimation than a fact, there’s no argument that Grandal is one of baseball’s truly elite backstops at turning balls into strikes, or keeping strikes strikes. It’s a big part of why the Dodgers traded Matt Kemp to get him, and it’s possible to go so far as to say losing Grandal is a factor in why Zack Greinke wasn’t the same away from Los Angeles.
• NLCS Game 3: Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/5 PT on FS1
So while Grandal hasn’t done terribly much with the bat this October (.105/.292/.105, which is two singles and five walks) in parts of seven games, it’d be a huge mistake to look at that line and assume that he hasn’t been helping the Dodgers succeed. Grandal’s framing skill has manifested itself several times this postseason — perhaps most notably in the crucial ninth inning of Game 2.
For example, check out what he did to help Kenley Jansen on a borderline first pitch to Kris Bryant with one out in a one-run game in the ninth inning. This is a perfect example of framing — or “presenting,” as some prefer — in that you can see Grandal keeps his body still and ever so slightly moves his glove to make the pitch look like a strike:
How much does that matter? The difference between starting off a plate appearance 1-0 or 0-1 is, not to overstate it, everything. Let’s look at career numbers for both Bryant and Jansen to see what happens after those two different first pitch outcomes:
Bryant, after 1-0: .279/.415/.520 .935 OPSBryant, after 0-1: .256/.337/.447 .784 OPS ——————————————————-Jansen, after 1-0: .216/.346/.351 .697 OPSJansen, after 0-1: .134/.168/.212 .380 OPS
Game Date Time Matchup TV/Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 15 CHC 8, LAD 4 Gm 2 Oct. 16 LAD 1, CHC 0 Gm 3 Oct. 18 8 p.m. CHC @ LAD FS1 Gm 4 Oct. 19 8 p.m. CHC @ LAD FS1 Gm 5 Oct. 20 8 p.m. CHC …
