Melhuse spares me to death

by spyoung on Aug 2, 2007 3:20 PM CDT Comment 36 comments

Why is Melhuse still on this team? There has been a lot of talk about Laird's lack of offensive contribution but he has been money behind the plate, throwing out runners. Melhuse has been awful defensively and worse than Laird offensively. I am tired of watching him butcher normal plays behind the plate and then do nothing in the batters box. With 2 other guys who can play catcher on the roster why is he on the team? I fear that he is becoming Ron Washington's version of Rod Barajas from last year.

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And if Wakamatsu is a former catcher

why can't he be the one to teach Gerry how to call a game? Seems to me Melhuse is more of a coach than a player.

by OKC Ranger Fan on Aug 2, 2007 3:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yah

I'm wondering whom his roster spot would be better used for?

I'm not dying to bring Feldman back, and Diaz is probably better off getting the regular playing time (he is tearing it up in OKC).

Who do you want to have up instead?

by hightowersmith on Aug 2, 2007 3:18 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Good question.

There is no clear cut answer for me.

by OKC Ranger Fan on Aug 2, 2007 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Metcalf

possibly. He could play third and maybe start working on a second position. I guess OKC is the best place for him to work on a second position.

Ephesians 1:3-10

by kwellborn on Aug 2, 2007 7:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Barajas

The difference was that Barajas hit a little bit and wasn't awful defensively. Melhuse can't hit or play defense.

by uthornfan on Aug 2, 2007 3:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Melhuse

is not a great catcher, or hitter for that matter. But his experience will be good since you have an everyday catcher who is apparently having issues calling games and a rook in Salty. There are worse ways to spend a bench spot. Like Sammy Sosa, or JHJ. Those two should go before Melhuse, imho.

by Melmart1 on Aug 2, 2007 3:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Melhuse is on the team

precisely for games like today, where you have a day game after a night game and both the other Catchers were playing in last night's game.

by DJCahill on Aug 2, 2007 3:29 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Salty could have caught today

Day after night games only affect the person that caught the night before. Not the player playing first base.

by OKC Ranger Fan on Aug 2, 2007 3:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

you can make a good case

that three of the runs were because of melhuse. he let everybody take a base on him and all four passed balls/wild pitches were his fault.

it's one thing to not care about W-L but its hard to evaluate a pitcher when the stupid catcher is letting him take bases all day.

Forget Johnny Bench, we got Gerry "the Jet" Laird

by ab03 on Aug 2, 2007 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even if all those runs were charged

to him, and apparently the scorer disagrees, it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game.

Considering our "main" C is amongst the AL lead leaguers in PBs, its not immediately evident he would have done better.

by DJCahill on Aug 2, 2007 3:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i dont know if you saw it

but in my opinion laird blocks those.

they wernt passed balls because a scorer will never give a passed ball on a ball that bounces. but most catchers will block that ball, or at least 2 of the 3. laird certainly wouldnt have let them all get by.

of course i have no idea how salty would have done since he hasnt caught yet though.

by DSheppard on Aug 2, 2007 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

nice

way to miss the point.

Forget Johnny Bench, we got Gerry "the Jet" Laird

by ab03 on Aug 2, 2007 5:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really?

Offensively Melhuse is sparing you to death? What is Laird doing to you then?

Offensively:
Melhuse since joining Texas 235/291/353 OPS 644
Laird this year 234/291/348 POS 638

by Brandon Wilson on Aug 2, 2007 3:34 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I didnt say

Laird was tearing it up, but would you rather see a 35 y/o putting up those numbers or a 27 y/o who can play plus defense?

by spyoung on Aug 2, 2007 3:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You know what.....

I don't watch Laird and think "plus defense". I watch him and think..."solid arm, horrible at blocking balls."

He's not as good a defender as people on here seem to think....IMO.

by bdavison94 on Aug 2, 2007 4:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah

he definitely has a plus arm (although he has sailed a couple into CF)... I haven't noticed him being really poor at blocking, but I also haven't noticed him being really good and you're right he has let a few get passed him.
I think he moves out from behind the plate pretty well (on bunts, pops etc)

I'd say he's average in blocking ability which combined with his plus arm and good footwork definitely makes him above average defensively.

by Brandon Wilson on Aug 2, 2007 4:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe.....

I'll give you his ability to get out from behind the plate. I just feel like he does a really poor job of blocking WP's. I have seen far too many that I thought should have at least been partially blocked that weren't at all.

I might be being too hard on him.

by bdavison94 on Aug 2, 2007 4:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

As I recall

the reason Melhuse was brought in was to tutor Laird in game management, right?

What's the team ERA since his arrival versus before his arrival?

Not to say that improvement is all due to the great Melhuse or anything, in fact it may be nothing more than coincidental.

I don't know why Wak or someone else can't provide that for Laird, but if Melhuse has had anything to do with better game calling, I can withstand his poor efforts at the plate twice a month (which is about all I expect it to be going forward).

by Brandon Wilson on Aug 2, 2007 4:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

If you have your other 2 catchers starting everyday(Salty at 1B and Laird at C) you need a 3rd catcher. Or at least its a good idea to have one.

by Topgun22 on Aug 2, 2007 3:36 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

My comparison to Barajas

is that he was being run out there for no good reason. Laird was hitting at least as well as he was last year and is fine defensively but Buck kept running Barajas out there instead of giving the younger guy a chance to establish himself.

As far as his experience is good, like one of you mentioned, Wakamatsu is a former catcher and you have Art Howe who is about as experienced as anyone in this league who I would assume you could have work with Laird along with a pitching coach to break down pitchers.

Who would I rather have up with the big leagues? Well, if Melhuse is DFA'd then you can play Wilkerson at 1st when Saltalaphabet is behind the plate. Ideally I would like to see someone who can play the infield up here but I dont think you wanna call up Arias right now and it appears they want to get Metcalf some ABs everyday in AAA. I agree that Diaz needs everday ABs in AAA also. So maybe David Murphy (although I'm not excited to see him either) but at least it would provide a left handed bat off the bench if Cat and Wilkerson are in the game (when Saltalaphabet is behind the plate).

Personally, I think you might as well give Metcalf the chance to play 3rd against lefties and use Vazquez against righties.

by spyoung on Aug 2, 2007 3:39 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Laird....

Are we still really fighting for his playing time? He's gotten plenty over the last 12 months and only proved that he's got a plus arm.

by bdavison94 on Aug 2, 2007 4:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah,

the only thing Laird has proved, is there has to be a 2nd Catcher on the Roster who can be pressed into catching over half the games if Laird doesn't improve next year. He has had plenty of time to show what he can do, but he really hasn't disproven Fraley who called him a "backup at best".

by DJCahill on Aug 2, 2007 4:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

laird

is god aweful.

he could be a backup catcher.

hes 27...and i believe that g quiroz could do at least as good as laird.

laird is a guy who SHOULD be playing in the NL w/ his arm and ability to bunt.

unless laird has a huge turnaround in the 2nd half...hes not the future rangers catcher. end of story

by knockoutking24 on Aug 2, 2007 4:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

ok on second thought

god aweful is a little strong

he has still been horrible this year though...

by knockoutking24 on Aug 2, 2007 4:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

God awful.......

is accurate when it comes to hitting. With a full season of being the "everyday" catcher (aug 06-July 07) he's got an OPS of .639. That's pretty god awful. Especially when you consider that he's hitting half of those games in a hitters park.

Anyone know what his OPS+ is over that time?

by bdavison94 on Aug 2, 2007 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

66

by DJCahill on Aug 2, 2007 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

by month

aug    92
sept/oct    40
april/mar    44
may    93
june    71
july    81

sops+ 70.1

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=lairdge01&year=2006

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=lairdge01&year=2007

fwiw, thats sOPS+ - OPS+ of this split relative to the major league OPS for this split: 100*((split OBP/ML avg. OBP of split) + (split SLG/ML avg. SLG of split) - 1)

by knockoutking24 on Aug 2, 2007 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

list of horribles

wilkerson, sosa, laird, feldman, melhuse, hairston, cat, metcalf, tejeda, rheinecker

by kumar75150 on Aug 2, 2007 4:51 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Check out

Melhuse's post ASG numbers .154 AVG, .214 OBP, .192 SLG. Lairds post ASG numbers are slightly better than his pre ASG.

I'm not saying Laird is the catcher of the future or that he is the end all to catching. I'm just saying I cant figure out any reason for Melhuse and his awful defense behind the plate and mediocre bat to be on the team. If you are right and he only plays twice a month, why not see if someone who isnt 35 can do something?

by spyoung on Aug 2, 2007 4:59 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Post ASG?

Has Melhuse even played in 10 games since the ASB? Not that I'm really defending him but that seems like an AWFULLY small sample size.....for both of them.

by bdavison94 on Aug 2, 2007 5:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

exactly

in fact, if you want to avoid sample size issues...
Career
Melhuse .240/.297/.404 OPS-.701
Laird .254/.305/.380 OPS-.686

Offensively, there's not much difference between them over their careers. I'd like to think Laird has upside, but he's got to show it at some point (and that point is here now).

by Brandon Wilson on Aug 2, 2007 5:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You get your wish.....

Well pretty much....

Melhuse starts: Adam Melhuse started at catcher on Thursday, something Washington had planned before the Rangers acquired Jarrod Saltalamacchia on Tuesday. Washington admitted that it may be Melhuse's last start of the season.

The plan is for Saltalamacchia to catch two games a week and Gerald Laird to do the rest. Melhuse might get a game at third or first, but that's about it.

"That's the way it goes," Melhuse said. "That's the direction they decided to go. It looks like AB's are going to be tough to come by in the next two months, but next year might look good. The way I see it, I don't anticipate them bringing Saltalamacchia in here to back up. They'll either have him playing behind the plate every day or playing first base every day. I just need to be patient."

Melhuse will be arbitration eligible this winter with five-plus years of service time.

by bdavison94 on Aug 2, 2007 5:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Rangers catchers

The Rangers pitchers have given up the most walks in the AL. Wouldn't it stand to reason that a team with a lot of walks would also have a lot of wild pitches? Also, PBs can't always be put on the catcher - oftentimes they're a result of the pitcher badly missing his location (Wright/Tejeda - take your pick) and the catcher still gets his glove on it resulting in it being scored a PB.

by Randy Richardson on Aug 2, 2007 6:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

eh

I tend to think it evens out. Any pitch that bounces is a wild pitch even though that's on the catcher.

Forget Johnny Bench, we got Gerry "the Jet" Laird

by ab03 on Aug 2, 2007 6:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

BB and WPs

Texas (most BBs in AL) 47 WPs
Cleveland (least BBs) 31WPs

by Randy Richardson on Aug 2, 2007 6:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wait a minute

I thought the reason they signed Melhuse was because the team was about to mutiny on Washington and Melhuse made for a cheap liaison, being from the A's.

by Inkara1 on Aug 2, 2007 7:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs