Bats productive, but O's catchers work to improve the defense as well

When looking at reasons for the Orioles' improved offense, the production from their catchers has been a key reason in helping the team improve as a whole. Pedro Severino is batting .338 with an OPS of 1.018 and Chance Sisco is batting .270 with an OPS of 1.005.

The O's catching trio - including Bryan Holaday - leads the American League in catcher OPS at .945 and that mark ranks third-best in the majors. That is impressive.

But while that offense has been very welcome, when someone plays a premium position like catcher, defense and handling the pitching staff will always be job one.

Manager Brandon Hyde recently praised his catchers for their ability to work the game plan each night. They are taking their pitchers' strengths and trying to exploit hitters' weaknesses. They are taking the massive data available through analytics and putting it to use. In addition, they have to survey the situation on the ground, so to speak. Having a sound game plan is nice, but they have to recognize what is happening on a given night and their pitcher may be throwing one or two pitches better than others. Adjustments are needed.

Putting all that into use has been a strength of O's catchers in the 2020 season according to the coaching staff. During a Zoom interview today, major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins provided some insight on taking the game plan from the clubhouse to the field.

"The process has evolved quite a bit since last year," said Cossins. "We built some internal things that are really helping. There is a new process in place, they are taking to it and it's really economized everything for these players. So they're doing a great job of absorbing information and commanding the game as well as manage their pitching staff. Things are coming into focus for both those guys. They're in a great spot and it's fun to watch. Fun to be on the bench and listen to the dialogue as we go through these games and watch them grow in those areas."

Pitch framing is also part of the process. That is the ability of a catcher to deftly catch and handle pitches on the corners or just off the strike zone and, in essence, frame the ball in a manner to get some pitches that might be called balls actually called strikes. It can be a difference-maker.

Statcast data gives the Orioles mixed results to date. Sisco ranks in the 42nd percentile in framing - meaning 58 percent of catchers are ahead of him. He ranked higher in this metric about a week ago. Per Statcast, Severino has some work to do ranking in the 12th percentile.

"That is a big hot topic right now and there is a lot that goes into that," said Cossins. "And I feel kind of two ways about it. Coming from a player development background, there is a time to put in solid foundational things that you can jump off of when you get to a higher level, in this case the major leagues. And it does become about the value of a strike and what we can do as receivers to manipulate the esthetic of the strike zone. It's vastly important right now and you see it all the time. You see kind of the difference in maybe a fundamental thing happening as much as the ball is moving and all those things.

"It's very important. We all are, you know, working on those things daily. I think we're in a good spot with that organizationally. We're doing all we can to find and exploit things that we can do better. It's the foundation of our catching program at this point because it's standing up in game every single day for sure."

Helping Orioles catchers with the process of using the game plan and improving skills like pitch framing extends to the alternate camp at Bowie. Not only are catchers Austin Wynns and Taylor Davis there, but so is 2019 No. 1 overall pick Adley Rutschman. Do the catchers work on the same things there even though they don't have a major league game to play in every day?

"It is definitely translating," Cossins said. "There is a clear line of communication with the staff in Bowie and they're doing an outstanding job. We're communicating quite a bit. Adley, in particular, there is an unbelievable structure for Adley to improve with the veterans we have there. Winny (Wynns) and Taylor Davis, in particular, as well as the coaching staff that is working with those guys. It's a perfect storm of having the right people at the right place at the right time. It's a very productive environment and Adley is improving rapidly."

Clearly, Cossins is happy with the improvement of the O's catching process. And while he's not their hitting coach, he appreciates the improved production in the batter's box also as the Baltimore catchers rank third in the American League and fourth in the majors in batting average at .293. They rate second in the league and third in the majors in OBP at .396. They are first in the AL and third in the majors in slugging at .549.

"Huge improvement on all levels for both of those guys," Cossins said. "You can see the confidence growing and you can see them manage the at-bats. You can see the aggressive approach and they're working counts. You can see them feeding off each other and you're just seeing growth as major league players now at different stages of their career."