Jeff Mathis Can't Hit, but He's Good for Baseball | Baseball Bits
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
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Jeff Mathis Rangers 2019 season was a disaster. But it was only a disaster in the batter’s box. Rangers GM Jon Daniels brought in Ranger catcher Robinson Chirinos to fix that, but Jeff Mathis brings a lot value to a team otherwise through his Jeff Mathis framing and Jeff Mathis defense. In this episode of Baseball Bits, a Foolish Baseball production, I’ll be discussing topics like catcher framing, catcher defense, analytics, and sabermetrics.
Some players who had their careers impacted by Jeff Mathis include: Jose Fernandez, Zack Greinke, Mike Napoli, Mike Minor, Robinson Chirinos, and Lance Lynn. This is very much a story about them as well. There has been plenty of critique levied towards Jeff Mathis hitting, but Jeff Mathis has proven his value otherwise. His best defense likely came with the Jeff Mathis Diamondbacks. Mathis has already had quite the MLB career, but hopefully 2020 represents a continuation of his time in baseball.
I hope you all enjoy the episode!
_________
Sawchick on the Jeff Mathis factor: blogs.fangraph...
Anderson on game-calling: www.cbssports....
Soundtrack from William Kage: williamkage.com/
The content we didn't know we needed
Thank you, baseball.
MLB, please, rebroadcast the existing episodes and pony up the budget for more videos. Please. Don't force me to issue hollow internet comment threats. I'm asking nicely. Thank you.
Hello there
Austin hedges
why is baseball intern in the comments
"Jeff Mathis has skills you just can't measure"
*proceeds to measure his defensive skills through stats*
Haha! Well the framing stats are new, and the game-calling and chemistry with pitchers can't be measured.
Foolish Baseball hi
@@FoolishBaseball Hello, Sir! Love your videos!
@@NTRCl4pZZ best UA-cam channel, and I'm watching UA-cam a lot for the past 13 years xD
@@FoolishBaseball I'm now inspired to find a way to measure this chemistry, it may take me years but at least this fall I'll be pursuing a degree in mathematics
Me at the beginning of this video “wow this guy’s a scrub how did he even make it to the majors?” Me at the end of this video “Jeff Mathis is a hall of famer”
I’m the most casual baseball watcher of the last decade or so, I always look forward to every baseball bits episode just because the content is top notch.
Thank you! Watch more baseball!
Foolish Baseball Sure thing!
I love ⚾️ and thus I really love some Baseball Bits.
I don't even watch baseball. Most has been videos where animals get in between. It was interesting but probably a sign I should go to sleep
@@0Clewi0 did you?
My favourite Jeff Mathis fact: A book was published about the disastrous 2013 Blue Jays season and in it, they recap the events that lead to the massive Toronto-Miami trade. The trade nearly fell through because Miami wanted Jeff Mathis to be included in the trade and Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos didn't want to give him up.
I remember seeing Mathis back in MLB The Show 09. His stats were terrible and I was thinking, "well, he won't be in the big leagues much longer with those stats." It's 2020 and I'm still wondering how he's in the MLB 😂... Great video!
Jonathan Riddarskjold as an angels fan, you can imagine how surprised I was when he hit that gapper vs the Yankees in the alcs. Given his shotty batting skills, that was one of the best hits I’ve seen by a player.
How? Because being an offensive producer isn't required to play in the MLB. Never has been.
Man those “rise against” tracks in the show 09 were legendary
His batting stance was soo easy to hit bombs though haha
@@almightysosa3007pp😊😊
Jeff Mathis is better at hitting then the Astros are at apologising
100% accurate
Got them at about a 3 OPS+ with Hinch and Correa the only ones above zero
And then Correa blasts Bellinger and drops the team apology OPS+ back to zero.
Gottem coach
Lol
Mendoza Line: *Exists*
The Mathis: "Allow me to introduce myself"
Luke Rochevot Mendoza is BA, Mathis is OPS+ with a specific number of PAs.
@@blues.baseball.badanxiety joke went straight over your head
@@blues.baseball.badanxiety r/woooosh
@@noah_that_bills_fan1613 jeez, took ya long enough
😂
2:56 that’s why they keep Mathis around. Look at the skill, the hand eye, the sexy dexterity to disappointedly catch that bat in midair after the strikeout. You can’t teach that.
That was art.
Imagine a team with Tim Locastro, Jeff Mathis, and Mike Trout...
Now.. that team could go undefeated... if you put Simmons in there too
And Soto. As much as I don’t like him, he can hit!
@Game Review can you legally do a spin move in baseball?
@Game Review welcome back ya dingos.
Add Soto because his career hasn’t make any sense
You and Jomboy have single handedly reignited me and like 4 of my friends passion for baseball. Thanks so much for the hard work!
Yeah foolish and jomboy are great. I never watch mlb network, or any other news, just foolish and jomboy
Foolish yeah. Tomboy no
Same
not Sauer why no Jomboy?
I remember showing my friend who absolutely hated baseball Jomboy, Foolish, GiraffeNeckMarc, and Fuzzy and now I swear to God he might be a bigger baseball fan than me.
“Chironos went on to have a career year on the Astros”
Gee, I sure wonder why...
Lmao he had a 105 OPS+ chillll 😂
lol, I just said the same thing
Chirinos did not cheat. The man is a devout Christian. Like, devout.
@@MikeOzmun thats irelevant
@@rickyrick2330 of course it's not irrelevant.
What you said about Mathis and Napoli being friends is so true. This last year as a tribute to the Rangers closing their ballpark they were interviewing retired players during the middle of games and when Napoli was being interviewed by the broadcast crew Mathis had I think a bases clearing double causing Napoli to just go crazy for him.
Mathis also gives Napoli more credit defensively than the stats do.
“Flick of the wrist (THAT WRIST)” 😂😂😂😂😂😂
5:10
"Jeff Mathis organized more strikes than the Labor Movement."
Well, this joke is high quality. Expect nothing less from such a high quality catcher.
Angel fan here. We had Jeff for his early years along with Mike Napoli. It was always a competition for playing time as Jeff was the known as having all the defensive catching skills and calling a good game, getting the most out of the pitcher while Napoli had the bat. Guess who lasted longer in the MLB? 17 years to 12? Yup! Shows how valuable a very good catcher is BEHIND the plate!
We need to sign him again
Ive always loved jeff mathis and i was looking at his stats the other day, i was like how do teams still want him haha, hes been around since 2005 which is really surprising for a catcher
Longevity king
Not even close to most games caught since then.
Chris Davis :
FINALLY A WORTHY OPPONENT
Other way around 😂 Mathis came first
Chris Davis has some monster offensive years. I get the joke but one guy hit 50 bombs in a season and one guy hasn’t hit 50 in 16 years.
Joe Metts Not to mention, Mathis has only had 50 *hits* twice in his career and he maxed out at 21 extra base hits
@@armadillolover99 I watch davis go 0-5 with 5 l’s at fenway then he came in to pitch in the 17th, threw low 90’s and shut us out
Well add Gary Sanchez in your list. Hitting below the Mendoza line since 2018 at the same time a subpar defensive catcher as well which hurts my favorite team's chances of winning more each day.
it's a good day when you log in to youtube and see a new foolish baseball video
Always a good day for me as well.
I pitched all my life and in college. Having a catcher who was smart, knew the game and situation and understood what I wanted to do could make a difference between a 4 inning start or a 9 inning start. They are very valuable.
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as hard as I did when it showed his ops+
11 btw
I'm 11 OPS+ and what is this
For real! I was listening to/watching this while washing dishes. I had to stop and dry off my hands (on mobile) just to rewind and make sure I saw that correctly!
Imagine he was even a replacement level hitter this guy would probably have a 9 figure contract
Dude I’m actually like mind blown by you. The way you edit, work, do everything is insane.
Thank you!
There's a financial aspect to this of course. Mathis has made $18M in his entire career and Napoli made almost as much yearly in his prime. If Napoli costs the same as Mathis no one is picking Mathis.
True...but nobody paid Nap that much money to play catcher.
I wouldn’t say no one he has been in the league for over a decade so someone is picking him and if I had to guess it’s probably pitchers saying coach you can’t let him leave. As a college pitcher I can tell you I could care less if my catcher could hit. All I want from him is to be a freaking wall and make me look good that’s his job in my eyes
@@robertrtr1603 By no one I really mean the GMs in the league because they're making the decision. The overall production Napoli provided in his prime absolutely dwarfed Mathis. No one in their right mind would have paid the same price for Mathis. They choose him because he has value and he's cheap.
Mathis may be 11% of an average hitter, but he’s 100% of one in my heart.
FUN FACT: Jeff Mathis was a top prospect for the Anaheim Angels back in 2004 yes ahead of Mike Napoli
"Mathis vs Napoli seems like a no brainer, but not for the Angels"
Yeah, when have the Angels made baffling bad decisions before? ;)
Dude, they drafted literally the best player ever, and won a world series in 2002.
You probably weren't alive back then so I'll give you a break but seriously they're a great franchise. Heck even Ohtani could go anywhere and he chose them.
You want to shit on a team then shit on teams like the mariners or Rockies
Constable Dodo bruh the angels are bad 🤣 remember the giants never won with Bonds. Doesn’t matter if you have the GOAT on your team, rings measure franchise greatness
wyssmaster yes like opting out of the job Peterson trade too early
@@BoleDaPole Good Lord are you triggered. They won a World Series 18 years ago, but have consistently gotten worse and worse since Arte Moreno bought the team. They haven't made the playoffs in the last four seasons, haven't won a playoff series since 2009, which was also the last time they made the playoffs before being swept in 2014.
Yes, drafting Trout was a good choice, but Trout was already pretty highly touted and his stock basically only improved from there. And let's not forget they literally drafted Randall Grichuk with the pick before Trout.
Ohtani wanted to be on an American League club so he could DH on days when he wasn't pitching (mostly to limit his time in the field as well), so that's half the league gone. His final pick came down to some NL teams, the Angels, the Mariners and the Rangers, so good job being better than a perpetual shitshow and a team that hasn't been good in nearly a decade.
Yes, the Mariners are a joke and haven't made the playoffs in a million billions years. So what? The Angels literally gave Pujols a ten year contract after the worst season of his career by a WIDE margin. Since signing he's provided roughly .8fWAR per season, which is pretty terrible.
I'm sorry you're (obviously) a fan of a joke franchise, but hey, at least you aren't a Pirates fan, right?
@@wyssmaster he could be a Braves fan... *flashback to Foltynewicz first inning* *shivers* sorry... I've been having a bad dream were the Cardinals scored 10+ points in the first inning of a win or go home game 5...
5:10 omg I actually love you FB
LOOKATDAFLICKADAWRIST
Never thought a Jeff Mathis video would make my day!
Tomas Nido doesn't get enough plate appearances to qualify for Mathising but he's cut from the same cloth. Last year he got into 50 games with a 46 OPS+, but with him behind the plate Noah Syndergaard posted a 2.88 ERA as opposed to a 5.20 ERA with the team's primary starting catcher, Wilson Ramos. Even Jacob deGrom dropped over half a point between the two (1.88 vs. 2.39). (For the record, the ERA differences for the team's other starters were either basically the same or Nido barely caught them.)
... Let's also not forget, Mathis won the World Series for the 2021 Atlanta Braves! Add that to his resume
My dad actually played with Mathis, he played with him when the Provo angels were a thing. My dad was a left fielder, and Mathis actually started to not really hit after they’re coach changed his mechanics after he was injured on a HPB.
ok, somebody needs to go to the MLB and turn "the mathis" into a legitimate term. ill wait
edit: you know what im about to say, thanks for the likes, etc, whatever.
I wonder how many people will Mathis this year?
@@FoolishBaseball This may surprise you but the one player that will Mathis will be... Jeff Mathis. Hot take, amirite?
@@FoolishBaseball billy hamilton, tony wolters, chris davis, the usuals
Mobile Sports Machine I’m not sure Hamilton will get the plate appearances. Right now he’s on a minor league deal with the Giants with an invite to spring training, so there’s a good chance he doesn’t make a roster.
They did with the Mendoza Line
The "good field no hit" catcher will always be with us. Henry Blanco, Mike Matheny, Brad Ausmus, among others.
Put Mathis on the Astros and their patented trash can technology, he would bat a much better .211/.234/.323.
Science
The Astros use to have a catcher similar to Jeff Mathis named Brad Ausmus. Terrible hitter but a smooth operator behind the plate. During his time there, the Astros obtained Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Both pitchers required Brad Ausmas be retained should the Astros sign them.
Another PHENOMENAL video. Can we start a petition to get you to be the new commissioner of the MLB? Or at the very least, the CMO? Foolish Baseball is single handedly igniting the passions of casual baseball fans around the world.
All glove no bat players are so lovable, thanks based Foolish
Agreed!
I have to say this. I love the style of your videos. The old school video game graphics, sound effects and music, the fun player icons, the in-depth knowledge, it all really works. You guys are so creative and I appreciate it. Continued success!!
I've been waiting on the "I told you so" Larry Walker vid from you! XD
Nah, my work there is done.
Hey Fool,
One of your best videos to date. Jeff is one of those guys that you'd never put on your fantasy team, but are glad to have on your real team.
“ Acareer year as the primary catcher for the astros”
He was basically psychic it was insane
You are the king of this stuff. No one can explain things like you do and also do not bore the crap out of me. Every video is math and I’m not only enjoying it I’m not bang my head on a wall to escape it.
Once again, THANK YOU for making the Larry Walker video. I legitimately think that decided if he got into the hall or not since it was only a different of a few votes
I'm not so sure about that, but hopefully it contributed to the conversation in a meaningful way! I tweeted about him a lot as well.
Videos about the legends are great but videos about the weirdos are even better, keep it up Foolish!
I love you
I know
Star Wars episode X: The Love of the epic baseball you tubers
lmao foolish baseball's response
We were fortunate enough to run into an NBA player in the city for our first game with this build 😂
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV227...
@@FoolishBaseball I didn’t know you watched episode 6 of star wars
Maaaaaaaaan, that strike at 5:45 feels so good now. Just make a video of that on repeat, Foolish. Apparently you CAN "cheat" a cheater.
You just got to love Jeff Mathis. He is a great image for baseball. You just got to love how he wasn’t a great hitter but made up for it in his wizardry behind the plate. Great Vid
This is a magnificent video that once again brings up the point of some numbers in statistics doesn't always extrapolate well on the actual gameplay of baseball.
This was a great video, love how you find unique players and stories to address and then work hard to use numbers to back it up. Keep up the great work!
You deserve so much more recognition than you get. Great job dude, you always surprise me with the weirdest topics on non well known player and how good they actually are.
This is a great video, the value of a catcher in calling a game is something I’ve always wondered about. A lot of pitchers in baseball history have had their own personal catchers, it seems like something that’s existed forever but is hard to quantify.
I'm only a year late for this comment, but off the top of my head, I remember the old Phillies keeping Tim McCarver around because Steve Carlton liked throwing to him.
I always get players like this to be my backup catchers in OOTP. My best one put up a 28 career OPS+ while starting about 40 games a year, but he had 19 catcher ability and 13 catcher arm on the 1-20 scale and was a captain for his personality type. He stayed for a while at the same time as the starting spot being a revolving door of all sorts of random veterans who could actually hit for a catcher but were old.
I remembered down in Miami Wei-Yin Chen always had better outings with Mathis than Realmuto, but this guy actually can't hit air if he falls off an airplane
So glad that you brought out the awesome Angels catcher duo. Miss those good days (and bad trades).
Thanks for the video! Ive always not really understood Mathis, and why the Rangers love him, but now I know!
I love coming back 3 years later and hearing Lance Lynn slander
This sounds very much like why Bob Uecker played as long as he did. Good defensive catchers are damn hard to come by. Oh, and his homerun against Koufax.
It just shows how new analytics are. He wasn’t getting on base batting in runs/scoring runs but he was preventing a whole bunch with his defensive ability. Over the course of a long mlb season that’ll pay dividends.
Y’know it’s weird to think Mathis has been around for so long, I remember hearing his name, but never knew anything about him. He’s like Reggie Sanders, but defensive instead of offensive
I'm a relative newcomer to baseball fandom (being an Englishman, my first love when it comes to bat and ball games will always be cricket,) but it's videos like this that are helping me decode the many glorious and seemingly unfathomable intricacies of this wonderful game. You have yourself a new subscriber and evangelist.
Jeff Mathis: Jeff Mathis (Jeff Mathis)
Jeff. Mathis.
Billy Baseball Jeff Mathis
-REVOLVER OCELOT- Jeff Mathis
Boolish Faseball is Meff Jathis
Ffej Sihtam
Mathis, Mathis'd, Mathisly, Mathising, Mathisiest, Mathiser, Mathisaurus Rex, & The Mathisizer!! That part when you said Mathis'd 5 times in 60 seconds was the hardest I've laughed in like 18 Months. This was awesome!!
For those curious, our boy Jeff is still going. He's in the minors at the moment for the Phillies but I'm sure we'll see him again in the majors before he retires.
What an absolute legend
I distinctly remember playing an Oakland A's franchise on MLB 2k8 (maybe 9?) where I wanted an upgrade at catcher and saw Mathis at 99 overall. I acquired him and was baffled that, despite his rating, he didn't standout as a hitter.
11:46 *Massive Gorgeous* LMFAO
Took me a second before I understood it lmao
Good ol' Large Attractive
El Grando Guapo
very interesting. What it means is that defensive metrics aren't adequate to asses Mathis. This could help to correct the values for catchers. The truth is that he isn't a sub replacement player, but his defense actually is adequate at compensating for his hitting shortcomings.
Being a Marlins fan I always liked him. Jose was always saying Mathis was so valuable at calling games that he felt comfortable throwing anything anywhere.
Back in the day catchers couldn't hit much like he mentions short stops. We live in a time where everyone hits.
There will always be another Mathis somewhere.
Foolish, You're the only reason I watch any baseball whatsoever. Love the insight you give on the topics you choose. Keep up the good stuff bud. Thank you
Use my link www.theathletic.com/foolishbaseball for a 7 day free trial and 40% off your annual subscription to The Athletic! My wife left me.
EDIT 2/24: comment amended to reflect new promo reward
Yeah I know. She's at my house rn. I'll let you know when she puts her clothes back on
Don't worry, bro. She's just having a little sex. She'll call you back.
@@pendulum1449 Internet high five my man!!
@@pendulum1449 She's not bad at texting.
I know its behind a paywall, but the content is so worth it!
That’s so funny because I was just thinking about him and the fact he is still in the league and Mike N. The arguments that took place as to why Soc was starting Mathis was crazy.
“Chirinos would go on to have a career year as the primary catcher for the Houston Astros.”
Sounds about right
A lot of people forget how important a good catcher is to a pitcher.
Let's not forget that Josh Thole caught the Met's first ever no-hitter and R.A. Dickey's Cy Young season in the same year.
I always had a special hatred for mathis BC as an angel he was just taking ABs away from Napoli who was clearly better.....but 2b fair he RAKED in the minors🤷🏾♂️
EDIT:😂😂 8:00 I commented b4 the video and u really talked about it...would've loved to hear you talk about just how good a hitter he was in the minors imagine how good he could've been had he hit🤔
I just got done rewatching the 2009 ALCS Yankees vs. Angels and watched Mathis work his magic for parts of the series. He threw out a young Bret Gardner twice and did such a good job behind the plate even the announcers commented on it.
Like most catchers, he's a future manager.
The content of this video is why baseball is so great & why I love it so much. I can't imagine any of the other major team sports having player so unique. Cheers from baseball geekdom.
Remember Mike Scioscia loving Mathis... Aww the good ol days haha
Mike Scioscia 🤝 Foolish Baseball
loving Jeff Mathis
Remember the freaking out of how anyone could start Mathis over Naps? Soc wasn’t crazy. Anyone who can hit like that and stay in the Majors for 16 years is doing something really really well. And that was when there was still a chance his hitting would come around.
been binging your videos since i discovered your channel last week, amazing stuff ! keep up the great work.
Jeff mathis World Series champ! 2021
Last year his wRC+ was literally 2. That's the 6th lowest all time among players with at least 200 plate appearances. That stat is so good it hurts
Here before it gets deleted and reuploaded
I figured out how to prevent that.
Foolish Baseball I’m glad to hear it. I always get bummed out when I see the notification, but can’t watch the video lol
And we’re back, got interrupted watching this when the channel got taken down.
He's made about 20 million dollars while batting below the Mendoza line for his career as a position player...just think about that!
It's the American dream.
I grew up watching baseball in the 80's and 90's and players like this were pretty common place. Some of the names in this video are good examples of this, IE Tim Foli, Griffin, Deshields.... ALL leather, pretty much ZERO bat, liability in the batters box. Just like the opposite as well, you could fill a video with examples of players who could HIT a TON and were a super liability in the field due to being WAY below average with the leather, hence how some excelled in the AL making a career as DH where their defensive liability was either not an issue, or totally forgotten about completely, or how as stronger HITTERS that aged, and could continue to produce substantially from the box, would switch over to the AL and end their career as a DH. That being said, the thing i have noticed most, especially in 3 of the 4 major sports, (Baseball, Hockey, Basketball) when Hockey started advancing the international player pool into the NHL, baseball then started to expand its player pool reach internationally more as well, because simply there had been quite a few examples of baseball players at the major league level from international countries that would be top players in MLB. When MLB (and again NBA and NHL) expanded their league talent reach in this way, i noticed towards the end of the century in MLB, alot of international talent was being brought in, in turn making the Rick Burlesons or Tim Foli's or Jose Offermans, Alex Rodriguez' (Not A-ROD) no longer a viable player to carry on the roster, as, with expanded talent pool, you could find a 990+ fielder who could hit 25-30 points higher. I dont watch sports anymore as i have grown older, but, from time to time peeking in at MLB and NBA especially, seeing the talent of NOW vs THEN, its quite a leap forward. The fact a Mathis can still exist in 2020 is mind boggling to me, regardless of how great he is with the leather, undoubtedly with the talent pool available, there has to be a kid out there who can hit 265-295 that flashes the same level of leather now. It's quite nice to see a sport i loved and played and excelled at as a kid the talent level of which being so high and competitive, it makes someone like a Mike Trout that much more impressive. I have no doubt if Trout played in the late 70s through the 80's and into the 90's, IMHO, and if you can believe it, i his production would be HIGHER than it is now. Anyways, just thought i'd share.
Fun fact: Both Delino DeShields Sr. and Jr. have Mathis'd in a season.
To think Foolish Baseball went from Out Of The Park Baseball tutorials to creating one of the most in depth baseball statistical analysis series.
Stories like these make me secretly not want an automated strike zone
Loved Mathis when he was with the dbacks, he could hardly hit but it always seemed like when he did it was clutch hits late game. I used to joke when watching games that every AB he had before the 7th inning was automatically out and every AB after would either be an RBI double down the line or a key hit in one way or another.
Yes. He seemed the same with the Angels, would only get a hit in the late innings. Sometimes he came up with the big hit. He didn't hit a lot of home runs but when he did it seemed to change the game and spark a rally.
YOU DID MY FAVORITE PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!
As an Angels fan this makes a lot of sense about why we lost Napoli. Dude could slug. I would always give Mathis shit for his hitting until one day he hit a walk off double in extra innings. I kinda stopped after that
6:10 Insert GMM intro here
A Jeff Mathis video. This a a dream come true
And now he’s a World Series champ. Well done man.
All your episodes make me love baseball more. Many thanks, and.. Go Mathis!!!
Foolish BB: Time to talk about Jeff Mathis.
Everyone else: Who?
FolishBB: The only current 16 year vet that no one's ever heard of.
incredible content. well produced and edited and still easily understandable for newcomers to baseball while being in-depth enough for statheads. brilliant
Now I know why the Rays resigned Mike Zunino
Me too I never thought about this before
Haven't played or watched baseball in about 2 years yet still come back to these videos
Well the Lance Lynn thing didn't age the greatest.
That, or maybe pitching to Jeff Mathis unlocked something and Lynn went from a pitcher with an ERA+ of 110 during his first 7 seasons to a pitcher with an ERA+ of 146 over his last 3.
I hate to be that guy but at 10:50 that should be -0.6 rWAR, the -1.6 number is just for the 2019 season.
Absolutely love your videos tho, you're still the most underrated baseball channel on UA-cam