Kovacevic: The Pirates' dumb catching decisions deserve all the catcalls

One thing about having a big-league baseball franchise rooted in Pittsburgh for 142 years: The citizens tend to know what they're watching.

And when those citizens see their team do stuff they don't like, whether performance-based or decision-based or payroll-based or whatever, they'll let everyone hear it. As vocally and viscerally as they'll cheer, they'll boo.

And more often than not, they'll be right.

But hey, just in case the message delivered by the 33,813 packing PNC Park on this Friday night couldn't be picked up over at the 115 Federal headquarters, just in case all those collared shirts couldn't quite make out the meaning of that single extended syllable, I'll spell it out.

Austin Hedges can't hit:

He can't throw anyone out:

He's not even an elite receiver, contrary to the reputation that preceded him:

And to whatever extent his pitch-framing matters -- I'm a believer in the art, but not when its value gets outweighed by the analytics community just gushing over the latest shiny spreadsheet -- that didn't make much difference, either, in the Pirates' 6-4 loss to the Giants here, in which San Francisco scored three runs in the seventh inning, totaled 10 hits, worked three walks, had a batter get hit, advanced two runners into scoring position on a passed ball charged to Hedges and, as icing on top, stole on all three attempts against him. With two of his throws winged to the wrong side of second base.

But hey, it's all about the framing, as Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton often remind.

OK, think about this:

• Total pitches by the Pirates: 139
• Total strikes: 89

Now tell me, please, how many of those 89 strikes might've been called that way by home plate umpire Jordan Baker just because of Hedges' framing. Go right ahead and take a guess. I'll wait here.

(Insert foot-tapping sounds.)

All right, what's the guess? 

Twenty? Fifteen? Ten?

Try ... uh, between two and four.

One FanGraphs study suggested that umpires get 1 of every 8 calls wrong. That feels high to me, so I'll also share that Major League Baseball's own metrics are that umpires have a 97% accurate rate. The truth, as ever, likely lies in the middle.

Still, regardless of where one goes within that range, we're still talking about anywhere between 5 and 18 blown calls against a team in a standard 150-pitch game, and but a minuscule percentage of those transformed from balls into strikes.

Now tell me, further, how in hell any two or four pitches in any game in any inning under any circumstance could conceivably be worth more than having at least a competent bat and arm at the catcher position, as opposed to Hedges' pathetic .176/.228/.229 slash line, one home run and six extra-base, that on top of throwing out only five of 38 runners on steal attempts, and all that on top of burning a $5 million salary.

How about the intangible but very real impact a catcher can have on the pitching staff when it comes to preparation, game-calling and the like?

I come armed:

• Staff ERA with Hedges: 4.44
• Staff ERA with Jason Delay: 4.44

What, are we all dumb? Was everyone in this specific ballpark setting dumb?

Who's actually being dumb here?

Not to cherrypick an isolated night, but it can't be purely coincidence that this very game swung on Hedges' above passed ball in the critical seventh inning followed by Patrick Bailey single slipping under Henry Davis' still-not-broken-in outfielder's mitt and handing the Giants the lead:

Should everyone blame the kid, planted in a position he'd never tried until a couple months ago?

Or is it plain dumb to have a No. 1 overall pick at catcher not playing catcher?

This isn't a coincidence, either, even if it occurred several states away in Omaha, Neb.:

Endy Rodriguez might or might not be ready, per the Pirates' internal development criteria, but I can't be convinced that he couldn't mature in a big-league setting. He's bright beyond words, with brashness to match. He'll figure it out. At the plate and behind it. And again trying to avoid cherrypicking one isolated night, he did wind up 3 for 5 with that grand slam, five RBIs and a walk. While catching.

Keeping him in the minors while the parent club, according to Rich Hill after this game, is still "fighting to get back in this thing," is dumb. And outright insulting to all involved, chiefly those in the clubhouse.

Shelton was asked after the game if, after Hedges' rough night amid a rough year, after Davis' error in right, after Rodriguez's grand slam elsewhere, the team might be thinking about a move at catcher.

"No," Shelton replied, "not right now we're not."

That was it. No elaboration.

Whereas, when Hedges' passed ball was brought up, Shelton replied firmly, "They called that a passed ball? Austin's lined up on one side, the ball goes 98 miles an hour to the other, that's a wild pitch. That pitch has got to be executed better. That’s not a passed ball."

Maybe he's right. Colin Holderman certainly was erratic, by his own admission, and that pitch definitely didn't go where expected. But that can be stopped by an elite receiver, and I've got zero issue with official scorekeeper Evan Pattak's ruling of a passed ball.

But maybe, also, I'm not the only one who thinks Hedges is the worst everyday player -- at any position -- I've seen wearing this uniform in a lifetime of following the Pirates. And I'm not, by the way, based on an impromptu survey of some press veterans on this night.

Regardless, this is dumb.

Maybe we are, in fact, all dumb.

But you know, at least we’ve got each other. Because in the ninth inning, after Shelton was forced yet again, embarrassingly, to pinch-hit for his everyday catcher, Delay threw out a San Francisco runner trying to steal … and heard one of the loudest ovations of the evening. 

I love my fellow dummies.

JOE SARGENT / GETTY

Henry Davis before the outfield throw reaches the Giants' Patrick Bailey in the fifth inning Friday night at PNC Park.

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THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: 2B Ji Hwan Bae (ankle), OF Andrew McCutchen (elbow), 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes (lower back)

• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Jack Suwinski, CF
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Henry Davis, RF
4. Carlos Santana,1B
5. Ji-Man Choi, DH
6. Jared Triolo, 3B
7. Tucupita Marcano, SS
8. Nick Gonzales, 2B
9. Austin Hedges, C

And for Gabe Kapler's Giants:

1. Austin Slater, LF
2. Wilmer Flores, 1B
3. Michael Conforto, RF
4. J.D. Davis, 3B
5. Patrick Bailey, C
6. Joc Pederson, DH
7. Luis Matos, CF
8. Casey Schmitt, 2B
9. Brandon Crawford, SS

THE SCHEDULE

Middle match pits Johan Oviedo (3-10, 4.75) against fellow righty Alex Cobb (6-2, 2.91), 7:05 p.m. first pitch. Corey Crisan will cover.

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