Colorado Rockies: 3 ways that Tony Wolters can improve to provide value for club

The Colorado Rockies are in the midst of a truly unique season that’s seen them find success, followed by a drought.

A big reason for the drought of late for the Colorado Rockies has been their dwindling production from their backstop, who needs several improvements to provide the team with value.

Take a trip down to the store for groceries. Pick up bananas, laundry detergent, and milk – the essentials, at least to you. For someone who relies on a laundromat and is lactose intolerant, those items hold a different value.

FanGraphs (fWAR), Baseball-Reference (rWAR or bWAR), and even Baseball Prospectus (WARP) all have their own ways to calculate the value of baseball players. A player with a zero WAR, no matter the site, is worth no more than a replacement-level player from the minors.

Look up Tony Wolters this year, and you’ll see his fWAR is -0.5. His bWAR is identical and WARP isn’t out yet for 2020. Purely based on numbers, the Rockies’ starting backstop is worth less than a guy the team may have sitting on their taxi squad.

The problem is the game isn’t played on a stat sheet, nor does it take place in a vacuum. Wolters’ production hasn’t reached the level of his 2019 season, but there are ways for him to make an impact.

Framing

A Rockies game wouldn’t be complete without a play-by-play man breaking down the illusions Wolters pulls off each game. His ability to start his glove in the dirt and drag the padded leather up to steal a low strike is tangible – they’ll tell you as much.

According to Statcast, Wolters ranks behind 34 other catchers in pitch framing, at least by percentage of non-swing, called strikes. He’s below league average in every zone along the upper end of the strike zone. The only areas he’s been above league average have been on the east and west (outside) portions of the plate.

Eyes say one thing, but stats say another. A myriad of reasons could be the cause of the discrepancy. For one, Wolters has no way to get a strike call on a ball drastically outside the zone. A good pitch-framing catcher can do a lot, but much of their work depends on pitchers.

Even last year, though, Wolters was behind 52 other catchers in framing, including former Rockies Chris Iannetta and Tom Murphy.

Last year, the Rockies’ walk rate was 3.7 every nine innings. This year, it’s 2.5, albeit in a much smaller sample. Wolters has climbed 11 spots in the same span.

The Rockies pitchers praise Wolters’ ability. The stats don’t. For him to reach a point of value for the club, both need to.

Catching Runners

The one area where there is only marginal room for improvement in the repertoire of Wolters is his ability to nab baserunners.

Last year, Wolters was fifth in baseball in runners caught stealing. J.T. Realmuto rose above the pack with 43 of his own, nearly double the amount Wolters had in second.

Realmuto isn’t the blueprint. Finding a way for Wolters to become the league’s best catcher simply isn’t feasible since Realmuto throughout more runners and Realmuto is also better than Wolters (as are many other catchers) in the last topic we’ll discuss. If it was, the proof would’ve already shown itself in the proverbial pudding.

This year, Wolters has only caught one runner stealing and has allowed eight stolen bases. His pop time has stayed consistent, so the numbers figure to level out, though the shortened season will shrink stats across the league.

Among the many improvements, Wolters could make to bring value to the Rockies, catching runners is the least concerning but, nonetheless, it is something that the Rockies’ primary backstop can improve upon, as least in the results.