Atlanta Braves new catcher Travis d’Arnaud in depth
By Fred Owens
Ouch, that smarts!
If baseball dictionaries had pictures, you’d find the smiling face of d’Arnaud’s next to the entry for injury-prone. None of his injuries were his fault, but if an incident could result in a disabled list stint, it almost always did for d’Arnaud.
In a 2016 post comparing d’Arnaud to Jonathan Lucroy, Matt Collins said he’d probably be injured again.
". . . in 2015, d’Arnaud has been affected by them for his entire major-league career. In 2013, he missed significant time with a foot injury. In 2014, it was a concussion, and last season it was injuries to his elbow and his finger. It’s hard to bet on him to stay healthy at this point."
d’Arnaud did suffer another injury that season and every season after that.
- May 4, 2015 – broken right finger, returned June 19, after missing 51 days
- June 21, 2015, Hyperextended left elbow, activated July 30, after missing 38 days (thanks to A.J. Pierzynski)
- April 17 – 19 2016, missed two games due to an elbow injury
- April 26, 2016, disabled list due to a right rotator cuff strain, returned June 21 after missing 55 days
- May 3, 2017, bone bruise on right wrist, returned May 24, after missing 19 days
- April 11, 2018, torn UCL ends his season, returned April 7, 2019
The list doesn’t include days missed for various day-to-day maladies that every player suffers at some time.
Atlanta Braves new catcher on defense
Historically, Baseball prospectus ranked d’Arnaud’s defense highly, and these days that means he frames pitches well, at least until 2019.
| Year | G | # On IL | cda* | csaa%* | csaa runs* |
epaa* runs | traa* |
| 2014 | 104 | 56 | 4.0 (#28) | 1.3% | 11.5 (#13) | -4.8 (#56) | -2.4 (#54) |
| 2015 | 64 | 59 | 12.8 (#14) | 2.7% | 13.7 (#10) | -0.1 (#34) | 0.1(#35) |
| 2016 | 70 | 64 | 6.2 (#25) | 0.3% | 8.1 (#14) | 1.0 (#22) | 0.5 (58) |
| 2017 | 90 | 62 | 9.0 (#14) | 1.2% | 11.2 (#27) | 0.9 (#19) | -3.1 (#59) |
| 2019 | 77 | 64 | -0.6 (#34) | 0.3% | 1.9 (#28) | -2.4(#55) | 0.1 (#27) |
Statistics compiled from baseball prospectus
*CDA- catcher defense adjustment, CSAA – Called strikes (and extrapolated runs) above average, EPAA – errant pitches (and extrapolated runs) above average, TRAA – throwing runs above average.
The Atlanta Braves are hoping d’Arnaud will regain his pitch-framing chops after his drop off in 2019.
I saw or heard some pundit say d’Arnaud would keep base runners from going wild. If he does, it would be something new:
"Terry Collins said arm strength has not been a problem, . . . his throwing mechanics are generally clean. But. . .he’s still not consistently getting into a throwing position quickly enough. . . . executing a cleaner transfer . . .has been a consistent issue all spring . . . “We noticed that I was actually trying to flip it into my hand instead of just getting it out of the glove,” d’Arnaud said of the video review sessions he’s had with Sherlock. . . . It’s one part of an ongoing challenge “We’re trying to create good habits, and that’s something we’re trying to create a good habit with,” Sherlock said. “I have confidence that we can better that.”"
His statistics for the 2017 season suggest the coaching didn’t help; he threw out 11 of 55 stolen base attempts, good for 17%, 10% below league average that season. With the Rays in 2019, he landed at 28%, one percent above league average.