Using ESPN’s TruMedia Pitch F/X scouting service, it appears that the Toronto Blue Jays own J.P. Arencibia is MLB’s statistical leader in:

Note: Stats end of day June 09 2013 – All numbers based upon 2013 season

Using ESPN’s TruMedia Pitch F/X scouting service, it appears that the Toronto Blue Jays own J.P. Arencibia is MLB’s statistical leader in: turning balls into strikes.

From a whole number standpoint, J.P. Arencibia leads the MLB in out of the zone strike calls, as he’s caught 299 balls out of the zone that have been called strikes:

Arencibia steals the majority of his calls away from batters:

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On the opposite side of the ledger, Arencibia has caught 255 balls (9th worst rate) in the zone that were called balls:

Upon first glance low location jumps out; however this is about average when compared to the rest of the MLB:

In terms of pure count plus (stolen strikes at 299) vs minus (lost strike calls at 255) Arencibia’s +44 score ranks him 4th overall in the MLB, behind noted framers Lucroy and Yadier & Jose Molina.

Late Addition: MLB team average is -1:



Player Stolen Strikes Lost Strikes Plus/Minus Jonathan Lucroy 286 190 96 Yadier Molina 273 181 92 Jose Molina 203 157 46 J. P. Arencibia 299 255 44 Chris Stewart 164 127 37 Buster Posey 240 205 35 Alex Avila 246 217 29 Erik Kratz 182 164 18 Joe Mauer 207 193 14 Miguel Montero 204 194 10 Jose Lobaton 142 137 5 Russell Martin 259 255 4 Derek Norris 184 194 -10 Carlos Santana 197 209 -12 Salvador Perez 211 224 -13 Jarrod Saltalamacchia 219 235 -16 A. J. Pierzynski 194 214 -20 Jason Castro 211 239 -28 Tyler Flowers 223 256 -33 Chris Iannetta 246 285 -39 Nick Hundley 216 261 -45 Welington Castillo 190 242 -52 A. J. Ellis 199 258 -59 Kelly Shoppach 123 183 -60 Rob Brantly 183 245 -62 Wilin Rosario 184 248 -64 Matt Wieters 242 315 -73 Kurt Suzuki 179 260 -81 John Buck 179 325 -146

In 2012, using the same number system, Arencibia was -57.

It’s no secert that Arencibia is generally thought of as a well below average receiver.

My question to you: Does this change your opinion of J.P. Arencibia’s framing skills? Is this a sample size issue? Fluke? Improvement? What do you think? Tweet

Sources: ESPN True Media, Front Image via Toronto Sun