I have a great catcher with relatively high durability on one of my teams -- he can probably play 130-135 games.  I am contemplating carrying only the one catcher and patch together the other 30 or so games at the position with various good offensive players that have no Pitch Calling capability and bad to mediocre throwing arms.  I will try to mostly play these non-catchers against teams that don't steal lots of bases and I feel like the offense will off-set the loss in defense and basically give me an extra roster spot that I won't be spending on a backup catcher.  Has anybody tried this?  Is it a total disaster in terms of ERA in those games?  Am I increasing injury risk to non-catchers playing catcher (I've never read anything like that but I could see them programming it in)?  

Any experience or input is appreciated.

What is his durability? 

You could just play him and when player call ups happen, add a 2nd catcher. Or when he first gets tired. I also haven't seen any difference between playing at 100% or 95% when hitting the ball. So play him all year?

I would advise against using a COF or SS at C, fair play guidelines and all. 

I was thinking about the fairplay guidelines, but I'm talking abotu a team that won 104 games this year and is looking to do the same this year.  I'm not tanking - at all - I actually think this might be the strategy that best helps me win.  

So I just took another look at Fair Play and I think there's nothing in there that has a problem with my strategy UNLESS it turns out to be a total disaster and is making my team terrible.  In which case I would want to sign a backup catcher anyway.  So I think I'm clear on that.  The only question is whether my team is better off with 30 games of a stud hitter playing out of position at catcher or 30 games of some crappy league minimum catcher playing OK defense and hitting .240.

Also mitch I didn't answer your question.  His DUR is 77.  Not off the charts or anything but very strong for a catcher.  My thinking has less to do with him, though, and more to do with the actual effect on my team of playing a hitter who couldn't catch over a catcher who couldn't hit.

77 is probably 110-120 games at 100%? Just a guess of course. Btw, I don't have an idea but if you're playing a team at season's end with a SS at C and that team is in a playoff race, someone might mention it. I would just be careful about using a non catcher. 

A SS at Catcher would only hurt on the pitch-calling side.  He'd be superior to the regular C in range, glove, arm acc, and arm strength.  If he's a decent enough hitter, you might make up whatever you're losing on ERA and OAV for your pitchers.

Or at least enough to pacify the ChickenLittles who are trying to accuse you of violating "fair play"

If he's played the guy at C a bit during the season, I don't think any complainers have a leg to stand on.

As far as ERA goes, MikeT23 did some analysis a while back and found something like a .125 increase in ERA for every 10 points of Pitch Calling ability, Of course I would think that, as with all rating effects, the closer you move to either end of the spectrum, the more of a difference there will be. I don't think Mike would have tried any 10 PC guys at C during his study, so i'd expect a bit more than a .125 difference when going from 25 to 15 and from 15 to 5, but that's just a guess.

mchalesarmy-

that is exactly the kind of info i'm looking for.  do you know where i could find that?

Also FWIW to mitchrapp, I got ~530 PAs spread over 150 from the catcher in question last year and he was almost always at 100% and never below 98%.  Some of that was pinch-hitting though (I'm in NL).  I have a high training budget and sub liberally when up or down big which has allowed me to stretch guys out some.

Most of the C I used were 50-80 PC.   It was done over the first 20-25 seasons so the data is about 4-5 years old.   It still holds pretty true.   Check your previous teams as you know how you ran those(i.e. one C caught one specific pitcher or only played when the other was fatigued or if you were playing crap in the field).    I never used a 23 PC.

Posted by kmcelroy85 on 7/10/2012 4:59:00 PM (view original):
Also FWIW to mitchrapp, I got ~530 PAs spread over 150 from the catcher in question last year and he was almost always at 100% and never below 98%.  Some of that was pinch-hitting though (I'm in NL).  I have a high training budget and sub liberally when up or down big which has allowed me to stretch guys out some.

Okay, thanks. High training does help. I have a habit of playing someone until they bleed out ;-), under 90%. 

Will the extra roster spot really be that valuable to you? The 25th guy on most rosters (not all, by any stretch) doesn't usually play a large role unless you are trying something funky with a pitching staff.

Between rest and ejections and whatnot, I think I'd lean towards carrying the second catcher. Try and look for someone undervalued by other owners - a defensive stud who can only hit lefties or righties (and is a zero vs the other); a low contact/splits guy with very high power who can club the occasional home run; or (ideally) the good catcher who has a very low durability (20s, 30s) so the other owner doesn't value him as an everyday player.

If you get the defensive stud, be very aggressive with player rest early on (I often use it as a more aggressive defensive replacement) and have your stud C for 5 of 9 innings during most games you win (tweaking the sub settings as you see fit). If he can hit one side and not the other, give him a spot start. 

If you get the power guy (hopefully with adequate D), give him a spot start against the low FB/GB ratio guy and hope he makes contact with something.

If you can get the low Dur guy, you can hope to do any/all of the above, plus add a top PH to the mix.

I think if I had a C that could play 162 games I might go to 13 pitchers. 

If you're talking about Beckett, then you need another catcher.  You'll get 130-135 games out of him.  You don't want to use an infielder at catcher for 30 games.

You have 3 SS's and 3 2B's....and Colbrunn at 3B.  Either let Colbrunn go or trade Bagwell for a catcher.

You know you only have one AAA catcher one AA catcher, too?

That ain't working.

moe