Texas Rangers Catcher Leads All of Baseball in This Important Category
The Texas Rangers were one of the best teams in baseball in the first half of the season, going 52-39 and leading the American League West by 2.0 games.
While the Rangers offense (rightfully) gets a lot of praise, the Rangers pitching also deserves some serious credit.
Nathan Eovaldi made the All-Star team and guys like Jon Gray and Dane Dunning made big contributions. Part of the reason why the staff worked so well in the first half?
Catcher Jonah Heim, who also made the All-Star team. Heim has been the most helpful catcher in all of baseball for his pitchers, per this stat from Codify Baseball on Twitter:
Jonah Heim caught 259 called strikes on first-half pitches that were out of the strike zone and there's nobody else even close.
The ability to pitch frame and to present pitches to the umpire is a huge skill and Heim has mastered it. Pitchers are able to expand off the plate as a result of what he's doing and they are never forced to give into hitters.
The question is, how long will this skill actually matter? Former MLB executive Jim Bowden said this on Twitter:
Impressive framing. But enjoy it while you can because the automatic strike zone or challenge system is coming as soon as next year and catchers framing ability will soon be obsolete.
He very well may be right, but Rangers fans will enjoy it - and use it - this year as they seek their first ever World Series title.
The Rangers open up the second of the season against the Cleveland Guardians.
First pitch on Friday is 8:05 p.m. ET.
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