Notable Numerals: Jarrod Saltalamacchia
By Brian Phair
The beginning of the 2011 season was anything but impressive for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Red Sox front office had a ton of faith in the 26-year old catcher, but the fan base in Boston was skeptical, to put it lightly. Many fans wanted 39-year old captain Jason Varitek to be the starting catcher, with Salty as the back-up, but the Red Sox were persistent and gave Salty most of the playing time. As the month of April wore on, it became obvious that neither ‘Tek or Salty could produce consistently at the plate or throw runners out on base, so the catching balance drifted closer to 50/50 in order to try and get the hottest bat in the lineup and matchup pitcher with catcher (despite the fact that Tito denied they would assign personal catchers). Now, the Red Sox front office faith is being rewarded with a hot bat for the man they call Salty. Let’s take a look at his recent success by the numbers.
Home runs in his last 4 games. The biggest difference for Salty over his last handful of games has been the resurgence of his power numbers. As he was developing in the minors and even when he finally broke into the bigs in 2007, Salty was regarded as a guy that could run into a home run on occasion with his swing. He hasn’t been in the majors for a long enough period of time to prove big power numbers, but in his rookie campaign, he hit 11 home runs in 93 games with the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, so a full season would likely have resulted in 15-20 bombs (Baseball-Reference.com shows a 162-game average of 15 home runs for his career). Through an entire month of the 2011 season, Salty had not gone deep once. Now he has 3 home runs in 4 games and although they were all solo jacks, he is contributing to the offense in a real and productive way. If he can continue to power-up, the bottom of that Red Sox lineup is going to be tough to handle for opposing pitchers.
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OPS in his last 5 games. The OPS stat is a great way to really get a glimpse into the impact a player has on a lineup. Salty has had one of the best OPS numbers over the past 5 games, hitting for average and power. He has added value in the bottom of the lineup, which makes the Red Sox more balanced and dangerous. The Red Sox lineup is stacked, and with the play of Jed Lowrie and Salty, more recently, at the bottom, it is hard to find a real weakness. There is no respite for opposing pitchers, creating a taxing 1-9 attack when everyone is hitting well. No one expects this torrid pace to continue for Salty for the remaining 3/4 of the season, but if he can hit at around .250 with some power, he will add tremendous value in the batter’s box. He will also likely gain some more playing time, possibly shifting the start percentage closer to 65% in his favor.
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Jump in batting average in 6 games. This stat is telling in 2 ways. The 1st relates to where Salty was sitting, average-wise through April and the beginning of May. He was hitting just .200 on May 11th, with just 15 hits and 4 runs and had not hit a home run yet in 2011. He was considered to be a liability at the plate with virtually no added value in turning over the lineup, which is a tough spot to be in for a catcher trying to gain confidence and get comfortable with the Red Sox. On the other, more positive hand, this stat shows us how good Salty has been these past 5 games. Since his start on May 13th, Salty has the afore mentioned 3 home runs and 4 RBIs on 7 hits. He had 2 multi-hit games, bringing his season total to 5 and maybe the best stat, was that he had just 2 strikeouts in those 5 games. Through the 1st 25 games of the season, Salty had 23 strikeouts, including 9 multi-strikeout games, so 2 in 5 games is an improvement.
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Team wins in his last 5 starts. For doubters in Salty’s overall game, this is redemption. To start the season, the Red Sox were just 2-10 when Salty caught, which raised a ton of eyebrows and allowed the critics to speak-up and begin yelling for a change. Since that point, the team is 11-5 when he is the starting catcher, a much more respectable total. There was certainly an adjustment period for Salty in the beginning of the season, but his stats behind the dish certainly weren’t helped by the inconsistency of the Red Sox offense and the overall poor play of the team. He certainly is partially to blame, but has taken most of the heat, even for things he can’t control. Regardless of whether you believe in Salty or not, he has been behind the dish for some great pitching performances and has helped the Red Sox emerge 4 games above .500, a mark that seemed miles away just a week or two ago.
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Batting average in the 7th-9th innings this season. I know this column is focused on Salty’s recent success, but it is impossible to overlook a truly impressive stat for the young catcher this season. The hardest and most pressure-filled at-bats happen later in games, so for Salty to have a staggeringly high average in those situations is impressive. Until recently, he wasn’t jacking up home runs late in games, but he was getting the job done at a higher rate than fans may realize. To add to his pressure numbers, Salty is hitting .615 in late game and close score situations (defined as plate appearances in the 7th or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck). Although he has hit poorly overall, when it comes to crunch time, Salty has stepped up to the plate and delivered.
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