Detroit — Get Jake Rogers talking about the evolution of the catcher position and settle in. He’s working on his doctorate in the craft.
“There’s no position in baseball that’s evolved more than the catcher position,” he said.
And if you look back at the black-and-whites from the 1920s and 1930s, yeah, it’s hard to argue. The catchers back then wore gloves that looked like a circular pillow and they essentially stood up behind the plate.
“Then it went to Johnny Bench inventing the (fastback, hinged) glove so you could catch with one hand,” Rogers said. “And then somewhere in the 1980s they started framing low pitches, catching it palm up and raising it into the zone. Then it went to the stick and hold.
“Then the Molina brothers (Benji and Yadi) started working the ball back to the middle. Around 2015, 2016 (former Braves and White Sox catcher) Tyler Flowers started working through everything, working every pitch back into the zone.”
And now — as you see both Tigers catchers, Rogers and Eric Haase, doing on every pitch — they are setting up with the right knee down behind the plate. What was once taboo, catching on one knee, is now being taught as the premium technique.
“Yeah, well, we used to catch underhand, too,” Haase said. “Things change.”
The old way of thinking was that catching on one knee would impair both the catcher’s ability to block balls in the dirt and to throw the ball to second base quickly and accurately.
Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch caught professionally for 10 seasons, parts of seven in the big leagues. He always was positioned in a crouch behind the plate. But he’s been converted. Data is showing conclusively that catchers are better able to steal strikes by subtly framing pitches in the strike zone when they catch on one knee, particularly those at the bottom of the zone.
With no discernable impact on the catcher’s ability to block the baseball.
“It’s the bottom rail,” Hinch said. “Guys are starting to prove that bottom rail is an area you can get borderline ball-strike calls to the advantage of the pitcher. And the more the numbers have come in and you’re seeing more teams do it, the innate fear of the ball in the dirt being a disadvantage with being on one knee already has proven to be untrue. It’s actually the same.
“Catchers have been able to block pitches at the same rate as they were traditionally being on two feet. The non-disadvantage of the ball in the dirt and the advantage of the bottom rail are proving it to be a great technique.”
And it doesn’t adversely impact catcher’s pop time to second base or their arm speed and accuracy.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Rogers said. “Blocking, throwing, everything has been good, which is weird to me because it looks different having seen guys catch on two feet my whole life. But if you look at guys who have good scores (framing) in years past, he’s right knee down and he’s got his thumb down and he moving his wrist through the ball using his elbow.”
It’s early in the season, so defensive metrics are to be taken with some perspective. But the numbers for both Rogers and Haase are noticeably better. In all facets.
Haase ranks in the 88th percentile in pitch framing. Using data compiled by Statcast, his strike rate is 52.4%. He was at 44.8% percent the last two years, catching on two feet. His biggest improvement, in terms of framing, has been on pitches on his arm-side edge. He’s got a 78.7% strike rate there, up from 56.3% last year.
He has a zero score for blocking and catcher runs, which is up from minus-3 last year. Blocking runs above average is also zero, up from minus-11 last year.
“Definitely in previous years I put a lot of emphasis on blocking,” Haase said. “The bottom of the strike zone was kind of gray. I’d always err on the side of stopping the ball instead of catching it. Now I’ve moved a little closer to the plate and the room for error is a little less. I feel like there’s a lot more pitches I can just catch instead of having to make a decision on blocking.”
Rogers ranks in the top 74 percentile in baseball in pitch framing. His strike rate is 49%, up from 44% in 2021 (he didn’t play last season recovering from Tommy John surgery). His improvement has come on pitches at the top of the zone. He’s getting a 31% strike rate pulling pitches down on his glove side (up from 14%) and he’s getting a 63.6% strike rate (up from 45.6%) pulling pitches down across the top of the zone.
He also has a zero catcher rating in defensive runs saved and is a plus-1 blocks above average (up from minus-3 in 2021).
“I wasn’t scoring well the old way,” Rogers said. “I was hand up, sticking it and I was catching it well. But I just wasn’t getting it called. I figured, well, I have to chance something.”
You know who loves the new technique the most? The Tigers’ pitchers.
“Those guys work really hard,” reliever Alex Lange said. “(Catcher coach Tim) Federowicz has them doing some new stuff, some new setups and I think it’s paying off. In the last five games (before Wednesday), we ranked in the top five in baseball is strike percentage and first-pitch strikes.
“It just goes to show that when you have guys back there working around the zone, getting those corners, getting those pitches that are just off (the edge), it gives us a lot of confidence.”
Lange is a pitcher who relies on a violently moving breaking ball, a pitch that oftentimes will be in the dirt. Thus for him, the blocking part of the catcher’s duties is still vital.
“Both of those guys look big back there,” Lange said. “They make themselves a big presence, which is nice. Being a guy who bounces a lot of stuff, both of those guys can really block and that gives me a lot of freedom with a guy on base to be like, ‘I can still throw that breaking ball down because I know those guys are going to make that play.’”
The change in technique behind the plate, Haase said, is a byproduct of the culture of development that president Scott Harris is fostering in Detroit. With new staff (catching coodinator Ryan Sienko and Federowicz), new technology, new access to overhead camera views, the club noticed that Haase was setting up too far behind the plate and thus losing the ability to control some of the pitches on the edge of the strike zone.
“I knew it wasn’t great (his framing) and we made a bit of a change,” Haase said. “And it drastically changed this spring. I love that. I seek that out, too. It’s very, very clear this year where in the past it was tough to get to. It’s like, ‘Hey, if you do this well, the team gets better.’ So many things in the past got lost in translation.”
Haase always has had the talent to be a plus-receiver in the big leagues. This past offseason and through spring training, he was shown a clear path to unlocking that talent.
“I had been setting up too far back because I was emphasizing different things (blocking),” he said.“Now it’s more receive first. And my blocking has gotten better, too. It’s something I’ve always been able to do, but now it’s clear.
“Talent is not what keeps guys out of the big leagues. It’s consistently doing what they know they can be good at.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky