Interesting, P2. I just did a one-minute skim of the article. But the main points I skimmed were:
1. Cubs pitch framing went backwards by 33 runs, from 2nd best to 22nd in baseball.
2. 33 runs calculates as ~3 Wins.
3. Contreras was terrible (98th out of 110 catchers) (Avila was worse (105th), and Rivera barely above average.)
4. Contreras went from 2016-asset (+4.3, 22nd best) to 2017-terrible (-6.3 runs, 98th).
Watching Willson catch, easy to figure he would score as way-bad; bigger surprise that he actually scored as excellent in 2016.
Looking forward, I have no idea?
1. It's a recognized issue, so Willson will focus on it and it do a lot better?
2. Approach the mean? After being really high 2016 and maybe a little on low end 2017, due to be average?
3. 2-way street? Good framing helps pitchers, but maybe strike-throwing pitchers help framing stats, too? I've gotta figure it's easier to frame well on a guy who hits the target, than with Grimm or Edwards, or often Jake Arrieta.
I think Theo wants pitchers to risk more strikes and nibble less, and I assume Hickey will probably agree. Would shifting the approach in that direction impact framing? I think conceptually framing stats are supposed to be independent of wildness and stuff; but I guess I just assume it's harder to do the framing tricks on balls that are moving more sharply away from the strike zone?