How Much Will The Yankees Miss Jose Molina?

We know that Jose Molina is a terrible batter. He’s so bad that you can’t even call him a hitter – he’s just a batter. And, if you look at all players from 2007 through 2009 in the big leagues, with at least 500 PA and no more than 800 PA during that time, he’s the second worst batter in the bunch – and just a tick away from being the worst. The stats – via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia:

2007-2009, PA >= 500 and <= 800, ranked by worst RCAA

RCAA                           RCAA      PA
1    Jeff Mathis                 -46      795
2    Jose Molina                 -45      654
3    Adam Everett                -43      775
4    Jose Castillo               -42      685
5    Paul Bako                   -41      642
T6   Craig Monroe                -40      693
T6   Ronny Cedeno                -40      692
T8   John McDonald               -39      716
T8   Emilio Bonifacio            -39      722
10   Eric Bruntlett              -34      521

But, Jose Molina is a pretty good handler of pitchers. Let’s look at the Yankees team pitching, over the last three seasons, broken down by catcher, with the stats via Baseball-Reference.com:

2009:

Split                  G   PA SB CS SO/BB   BA  OBP  SLG GDP BAbip
Kevin Cash            10  288  9  2  1.87 .243 .331 .450   5  .264
Francisco Cervelli    40  998 13 10  2.58 .237 .301 .394  16  .268
Jose Molina           49 1479 23  9  3.35 .231 .296 .367  32  .287
Jorge Posada         100 3480 80 31  1.79 .264 .347 .426  57  .303

2008:

Split                 G   PA SB CS SO/BB   BA  OBP  SLG GDP BAbip
Francisco Cervelli    3   71  1  0  1.00 .300 .408 .483   1  .340
Chad Moeller         33  961 15  9  2.38 .270 .323 .413  11  .307
Jose Molina          97 3078 42 33  2.73 .255 .314 .376  62  .305
Jorge Posada         30 1025 34  7  2.03 .276 .348 .425  20  .318
Ivan Rodriguez       31 1002 20  7  1.79 .285 .353 .454  16  .313
Chris Stewart         1   37  1  0  2.00 .303 .378 .576   1  .348

2007:

Split            G   PA  SB CS SO/BB   BA  OBP  SLG GDP BAbip
Jose Molina     29  728  13  6  2.37 .252 .326 .430  13  .292
Wil Nieves      25  733  21  6  1.59 .275 .345 .419  15  .298
Josh Phelps      1    5   0  0  0.00 .250 .400 .250   0  .250
Jorge Posada   138 4840 102 32  1.68 .270 .342 .415 123  .303

What really jumps out to me, here, is that in all three seasons, Molina has the lowest OBP allowed and the highest SO/BB ratio posted – compared to the other Yankees pitchers. Basically, when “The Panda” is catching in Yankeeland, batters facing Yankees pitchers fare about as well as…Jose Molina.

Here’s another way to think of it: Suppose that “other Yankees catchers” work their pitchers to allow an opponent’s OBP around .340 – and the numbers the last three years say this is not a reach. And, suppose that Molina catches about 50 games in a season and his pitchers allow an OBP of .310 in those games. What would that be…around 50 “extra outs” a season that Jose Molina brings to the Yankees…even as a back-up catcher? (I’m guessing 50 here based on the difference between OBP allowed, the average number of batters faced in a game, and 50 games…and it’s a very, very, rough guesstimate, at best.)

Think the Yankees will miss those extra outs? It’s very possible. Then again, maybe Francisco Cervelli can match Molina’s magic behind the plate?

To be candid, I have no idea if Molina will be missed, or if Cervelli will fill in the gap, etc. But, for sure, I know that we’ll find out this season…won’t we?

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