I have had the argument of Doumit vs. Michael McKenry a few times. Lots of fans say they would rather have McKenry on the team because of his defensive ability (and the lack of Doumit's). These fans claim that McKenry saves more runs with his glove than Doumit does, which is absolutely true. These fans also claim that the starting pitchers are better with The Fort behind the plate, which is absolutely false. Let's deal with that belief first.
Everything I am about to say comes from a chapter in the book "Baseball Between the Numbers", written by the guys at Baseball Prospectus. It's probably the best book I have ever read and everyone who likes baseball needs to check it out.
Anyways, the writers of the book wanted to find out if catchers really do have an impact on the success of the pitchers they work with. The answer they found was a resounding no. Here are some quotes from the chapter in the book.
| ... a study looked at every qualifying pitcher-catcher battery over a seventeen-year span and compared how the pitcher did with the given catcher, versus all other catchers on the team. Diving even deeper than just analyzing runs given up, the study looked at every plate appearance, examining these pacific number of hits, walks, and extra-base hits given up. This is akin to looking at pitcher's batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging average allowed and seeing if they varied according to who was catching at the time. They did vary, but randomly. There was no trend of catchers who performed well in one year performing well again the next year. |
| ... several follow up studies were done, both at Baseball Prospectus and elsewhere, in an effort to find proof that some catchers have a portable pitcher-handling skill--that some, by their mere presence, improve a pitching staff. No statistical evidence for a significant pitcher-handling or game-calling ability--such as would reduce the number of runs the opposition puts on the scoreboard--has been found. |
So now, you have absolutely no reason to say that McKenry made the Pirates pitchers any better. Sure, the pitching staff was better with him being the plate this year, but that was just a coincidence.
There is certainly something to be said for the defensive difference between McKenry and Doumit. The saber metrics show this. In the short time he played in 2011, McKenry had a fielding value rating of 0.0 (in runs above average), which means he was right at the replacement level, which is probably much worse than you would have thought, but again the sample size was too small to really get a feel for it. Doumit on the other hand had one of his best defensive seasons and posted a -1.0, however that might have been fluky when you see the -15.5 he posted in 2010. Neither of these guys are great defensive catchers, but McKenry can hold his own and is and easy choice over Doumit, who is atrocious.
However, the defensive advantage that McKenry has over Doumit is completely wiped out when you look what these two do with the bats.
McKenry hit .222/.276/.322 this year (in just 201 plate appearances), while Doumit hit .303/.353/.477 (in 236 plate appearances). You cannot tell me that McKenry saved more runs with his glove than Doumit added with his bat, that would be one-hundred percent false. Doumit might not flirt with a .300 average or a .475 slugging every year, but he will never hit anywhere near what McKenry did in his time in 2011.
The only argument you can make for having McKenry over Doumit would be the injury thing. Doumit cannot stay healthy, that is a fact. He has only played over 90 games twice in his 7-year career, which really does nothing to help the team. We don't know much about McKenry, but he seems like a pretty tough kid who wouldn't miss many games. However, McKenry is no better than the player than a triple-A replacement, which would be exactly who you would call up when Doumit inevitably gets injured again.
The argument of taking McKenry over Doumit is ridiculous to me, and now you know why. Unfortunately, the Pirates are not going to have Doumit's bat in the lineup again next year, and they are going to have to put up with a full season of replacement-level catchers. We'll see how that works out, and I will not be surprised when I hear people complaining about how they miss Doumit next year.