Since Joe Mauer hung up his mask three years ago, no major league team's catching corps has thrown out fewer baserunners than the Twins'. They have finished last in the American League in all three seasons, and last in the majors for the past two.
So it's no wonder Jason Castro was such a popular face at TwinsFest this past weekend.
"It's been great. The fans have been really supportive," Castro said of his first interaction with Minnesotans. "A lot of curious looks — 'Who's that guy?' There's a little bit of curiosity [about] the new side of catching and what that entails."
The Twins are curious, too, especially given Castro's reputation (and statistical résumé) for pitch framing, the art and science of subtly influencing an umpire's ball-and-strike calls in the pitcher's favor. Castro spent the first six years of his MLB career with the Astros, an organization that has prioritized pitch framing, and he's a believer — as are the Twins' new front-office leaders — in the impact that just a few additional strikes can have on a pitcher's performance.
"We've said several times that improving our pitching performance is a fundamental priority, and by adding a catcher who is a leader, who brings a solid base of defense and who can do things that help the pitcher at critical moments of a game, we feel that, in effect, we can impact the success of each of our pitchers at once," Derek Falvey, the Twins chief baseball officer, said of his first free-agent signing in his new role. "We know that [working] the count in the pitcher's favor can have a huge impact on an at-bat. The difference between a 2-1 count and a 1-2 count can be enormous. … Jason has a track record of helping some quality pitchers fulfill their [promise]."
By some metrics, he saved Astros pitchers more than three dozen runs last season, while Kurt Suzuki cost the Twins staff more than two dozen. That sort of impact was worth $8 million a year to the Twins.
Castro has been studying video of each of the Twins pitchers since signing a three-year contract in November, and he spent this weekend at Target Field getting to know them personally.
"Just getting on the same page, so we know how we're going to start out when we get to spring training," Castro said. "Catching is a little different. There's a little more of a selfless side to it. You have a big responsibility to the pitching staff — they expect you to have their best interests at heart and have [done] the preparation so they can trust you."
