- He's the worst player good enough to get significant playing time. There are lots of other players who don't get much playing time, or don't stick in the majors, or don't make the majors at all, and Mathis is probably better than the vast majority of them.
- The fact that Mathis has stuck around in the big leagues so long and had no trouble finding a new team this off-season means that he must be providing some value to his club beyond what can be derived from the numbers.
- This post is meant to have nothing to do with Mathis' effort or attitude.
All that being said, here are the active players with the worst OPS+, minimum 1000 plate appearances:
Rk | Player | PA | Age | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | Pos | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Livan Hernandez | 38 | 1108 | 21-36 | 493 | 969 | 215 | 38 | 2 | 10 | 85 | 9 | 129 | .222 | .231 | .296 | .528 | *1 |
2 | Jeff Mathis | 50 | 1360 | 22-28 | 426 | 1201 | 233 | 48 | 1 | 26 | 139 | 95 | 361 | .194 | .257 | .301 | .557 | *2/D |
3 | Juan Castro | 55 | 2849 | 23-39 | 1103 | 2627 | 601 | 123 | 13 | 36 | 234 | 149 | 472 | .229 | .268 | .327 | .595 | *654/37D |
4 | Humberto Quintero | 58 | 1137 | 23-31 | 379 | 1075 | 252 | 44 | 2 | 15 | 94 | 37 | 235 | .234 | .268 | .321 | .589 | *2/3 |
5 | John McDonald | 59 | 2270 | 24-36 | 884 | 2092 | 498 | 93 | 14 | 21 | 179 | 93 | 312 | .238 | .275 | .326 | .601 | *645/D7 |
6 | Josh Wilson | 63 | 1012 | 24-30 | 356 | 930 | 211 | 46 | 6 | 9 | 67 | 47 | 201 | .227 | .279 | .318 | .597 | *6/45317D |
7 | Cesar Izturis | 64 | 4364 | 21-31 | 1185 | 4055 | 1036 | 162 | 32 | 15 | 290 | 214 | 405 | .255 | .295 | .322 | .618 | *6/54D |
8 | Augie Ojeda | 65 | 1236 | 25-35 | 502 | 1062 | 249 | 44 | 9 | 7 | 81 | 119 | 115 | .234 | .320 | .313 | .633 | 465/1 |
9 | Benji Gil | 65 | 1767 | 20-30 | 604 | 1610 | 381 | 75 | 12 | 32 | 171 | 102 | 448 | .237 | .283 | .358 | .641 | *6/43D58 |
The only guy worse than Mathis is Livan Hernandez, and he's actually a very good-hitting pitcher. Mathis' hitting has been so bad that among non-pitchers since 1901, he's actually got one of the 25 worst careers with the stick.
In fairness to Mathis, though, he does seem to have done a good job behind the plate.
Here are the Angels' 2011 pitching splits by catcher:
Split | G | IP | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | tOPS+ | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hank Conger | 56 | 450.0 | 3.84 | 1914 | 86 | 8 | 42 | 53 | 12 | 1.83 | .263 | .332 | .397 | .730 | .297 | 108 |
Jeff Mathis | 91 | 698.0 | 3.25 | 2866 | 138 | 10 | 63 | 48 | 18 | 2.62 | .242 | .295 | .374 | .670 | .276 | 91 |
Bobby Wilson | 47 | 317.0 | 3.89 | 1344 | 63 | 2 | 37 | 25 | 10 | 2.14 | .254 | .322 | .402 | .724 | .288 | 106 |
The stats are better across-the-board when Mathis was catching. Check out, too, the same numbers for 2010:
Split | G | IP | PA | 2B | 3B | HR | SB | CS | tOPS+ | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryan Budde | 6 | 30.0 | 1.50 | 121 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2.50 | .176 | .277 | .255 | .532 | .261 | 48 |
Hank Conger | 10 | 80.0 | 1.91 | 314 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2.95 | .216 | .269 | .314 | .582 | .258 | 60 |
Jeff Mathis | 67 | 553.2 | 3.67 | 2370 | 116 | 8 | 48 | 43 | 11 | 2.08 | .252 | .320 | .382 | .703 | .291 | 93 |
Mike Napoli | 66 | 525.0 | 5.11 | 2328 | 140 | 18 | 65 | 52 | 19 | 1.89 | .280 | .349 | .460 | .809 | .318 | 121 |
Bobby Wilson | 38 | 260.2 | 3.63 | 1117 | 42 | 2 | 30 | 26 | 8 | 1.83 | .233 | .318 | .371 | .690 | .266 | 89 |
Mathis was a lot better than Mike Napoli (although I still suspect the Angels regret trading Napoli.)
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