Two Bad Pitch Framers Are Among The
Best Pitch Challengers
It's a slow football week, so don't mind us if we lead with our baseball content for a change.
This week for our Stat of the Week we looked at MLB's new rule allowing the challenging of ball/strike calls, specifically at which catchers were leading in success. What we noticed was that two of the three worst catchers in pitch framing (as measured by our Strike Zone Runs Saved) are thus far among the best catchers at challenging pitches.
Tyler Stephenson of the Reds was one of them. He just had a streak of nine straight successful challenges end and has been successful on 32-of-42 challenges as a catcher. Salvador Perez of the Royals was another. He's 27-of-36 according to the great resource, Tap To Challenge.
Overall, catchers have been successful on 59% of challenges. In the cases of Stephenson and Perez, the challenges have allowed them to address and at least partially correct shortcomings in their defensive games.
Read Mark Simon's article to learn more.
The NFL Draft Website has scouting reports for more than 400 of the top players. With that, we’ve got ratings and rankings. It’s basically everything a GM would want to know about the NFL’s top rookies heading into the 2026 season.
Our statistical information package includes Total Points, our proprietary metric that values everything that happens on the field, as well as position-specific performance data in the form of raw totals, averages, and percentile rankings. And we explain our stats in our glossary.
Also From SIS
The Braves have been the best team at chasing down fly balls and they have a great right side of the infield too. It has been a vital part of their great start to 2026.
What We’re Reading/Watching
Bryan Manning of Commanders Wire cites our data alongside info from other studies.
Mauricio Rodriguez of A To Z Sports attempts to convince his readers that the team won’t give up as many explosive plays as it did last year.
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More from the SIS Community
On Off the Charts, members of the R&D team, and special guests dig into statistical insights, tactical analysis, and personal opinions, aimed at providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the week's key matchups and the intricacies of the sport. On The SIS Baseball Podcast, we interview current players and coaches about defensive excellence and review the latest baseball news.
The Fielding Bible Website
The FieldingBible.com website is a great resource for your defensive stat needs. It features player and team stats, Defensive Runs Saved leaderboards, and more.
