Catch But Don't Walk

After posting about the Seattle Mariners' woes at the catching position the last few years, it occurred to the Fan that there have been a lot of recent catchers that don't like stand at the plate for very long. Perhaps they have restless leg syndrome after doing all that squatting. Ivan Rodriguez had a famous season where he only walked nine times the entire year. All that being said and thought about, this Fan thought it would be fun to compile the ten lowest walk rates for catchers in the last 30 years. The minimum number of plate appearances is 300 so it had to be a regular catcher who played at least 50% of his games at that position. These are the top ten...or should the Fan say: Bottom ten?

• Bo Diaz - 1988 Cincinnati Reds. Diaz walked only seven times in .327 plate appearances. His On Base Percentage that year was .236. Yeesh.
• Miguel Olivo - 2008 Kansas City Royals. Olivo, who the Fan just wrote about, walked seven times in 317 plate appearances. His .278 OBP was just north of his .255 batting average that year.
• Einer Diaz - 2003 Texas Rangers. Nine walks in 361 plate appearances. .294 OBP.
• Eliazor Alfonso - 2006 San Francisco Giants. Nine walks in 309 plate appearances. .302 OBP. At least he was over .300
• Miguel Olivo - 2006 Florida Marlins. There he is again! Nine walks in 452 plate appearances. .287 OBP.
• Ivan Rodriguez - 2007 Detroit Tigers. This is the one people remember. Nine walks in 515 plate appearances. It doesn't seem possible. One of those walks was intentional. .294 OBP.
• Rich Gedman - 1982 Boston Red Sox. Gedman was a good hitter until he met a certain unnamed batting coach.. Ten walks in 305 plate appearances. .276 OBP.
• Dan Wilson - 1980 Seattle Mariners. Ten walks in 303 plate appearances.
• Bob Kearney - 1985 Seattle Mariners. Disturbing trend here. Eleven walks in 326 plate appearances. .277 OBP.
• Bob Melvin - 1990 Baltimore Orioles. Eleven walks in 318 plate appearances. .267 OBP.
• Pat Borders - 1991 Toronto Blue Jays. Eleven walks in 312 plate appearances. .271 OBP.
• Mike Methany - 1998 Milwaukee Brewers. Eleven walks in 314 plate appearances. .278 OBP.
• Ivan Rodriguez - 2005 Detroit tigers. Eleven walks in 525 plate appearances. .290 OBP.

Ivan Rodriguez is king of the non walk catchers.

Catchers with the ten lowest On Base Percentages in the last thirty years.

1. .236. Bo Diaz (327 plate appearances),
1. .236. Eli Marrero (1999 Cardinals, 343 plate appearances).
3. .242. Bob Boone (1984 Angels, 486 plate appearances! Yowza!)
4. .243 Mike Methany (1996 Brewers, 341 plate appearances)
5. .244 Dan Wilson (1994 Mariners, 303 plate appearances)
6. .245 Matt Walbeck (1994 Twins, 359 plate appearances)
7. .246 Tony Pena (1993 Red Sox, 347 plate appearances)
8. .252 Tim Laudner (1987 Twins, 317 plate appearances)
9. .256 Todd Hundley (1992 Mets, 390 plate appearances)
9. .256 Steve Yeager (1983 Dodgers, 366 plate appearances)