Quote:Rice junior catcher John Clay Reeves is in his first season with the Owls and was a member of the 2014 C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. The sport management major has a 3.40 GPA. Reeves has started 49 of the team's 54 games, owns a team-best .477 slugging percentage and a .394 on-base average. He has a .337 batting average with seven doubles, six home runs and 36 RBI. An outstanding defensive catcher, head coach Wayne Graham entrusts Reeves to call the pitches in games. In 40 starts behind the plate, and Reeves calling the game, the Rice pitchers have a better team ERA (1.87) than in the 14 games where he was not the starting catcher (4.39 ERA). The Owls' record with Reeves catching is 31-9, and without him as the backstop is 6-8.

That's quite the disparity. Hope Reeves is ready to be an every-game guy for the post-season run.

I'm not much of a believer in C-ERA (catcher ERA), though some catchers are obviously more effective at some skills (framing pitches, blocking pitches, calling pitches, throwing out runners, etc.). But the difference in records is pretty eye-opening.

(05-19-2014 12:08 PM)talon owl Wrote:  That's quite the disparity. Hope Reeves is ready to be an every-game guy for the post-season run.

Don't think he has taken a day off since finals. He was pretty banged up and the break really helped.

Congrats John Clay!

It's been a pleasure watching you play this year.

(05-19-2014 02:45 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  Congrats John Clay!

It's been a pleasure watching you play this year.

+1

(05-19-2014 01:15 PM)mrbig Wrote:  I'm not much of a believer in C-ERA (catcher ERA), though some catchers are obviously more effective at some skills (framing pitches, blocking pitches, calling pitches, throwing out runners, etc.). But the difference in records is pretty eye-opening.

Especially when your starting catcher catches the top 3 starters and the other catchers are relegated to mid-week games (which, at least this season, have been against the top competition, accounting for several of those 8 losses (I'm not sure which games Reeves has caught mid-week).

(05-19-2014 11:57 AM)grol Wrote:  

Quote:In 40 starts behind the plate, and Reeves calling the game, the Rice pitchers have a better team ERA (1.87) than in the 14 games where he was not the starting catcher (4.39 ERA). The Owls' record with Reeves catching is 31-9, and without him as the backstop is 6-8.

(05-19-2014 03:14 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(05-19-2014 01:15 PM)mrbig Wrote:  I'm not much of a believer in C-ERA (catcher ERA), though some catchers are obviously more effective at some skills (framing pitches, blocking pitches, calling pitches, throwing out runners, etc.). But the difference in records is pretty eye-opening.

Especially when your starting catcher catches the top 3 starters and the other catchers are relegated to mid-week games (which, at least this season, have been against the top competition, accounting for several of those 8 losses (I'm not sure which games Reeves has caught mid-week).

Mid-week catching may not be a factor here. I went over the box scores and found:

Rice played 15 midweek games; record is 8-7.

Reeves was starting catcher in 8; record is 4-4. (W: TexSt, @SHSU, TCU, HBU; L: UH, SHSU, @UH, UH(Constellation))
Ewing was starting catcher in 5; record is 3-2. (W: @TexSt, Lamar, @UT; L: UT, @Lamar)
Kopycinski was starting catcher in 2; record is 1-1. (W: A&M-CC; L: A&M)

Reeves was DH in 4; record is 4-0. (A&M-CC, @TexSt, Lamar, @UT)
Reeves was pinch hitter in 1; record is 0-1. (A&M)
Reeves did not play in 2; record is 0-2. (UT, @Lamar)

(05-19-2014 11:57 AM)grol Wrote:  

Quote:Rice junior catcher John Clay Reeves is in his first season with the Owls and was a member of the 2014 C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. The sport management major has a 3.40 GPA.

And here's a shout-out to John Clay for making the Academic Honor Roll, which I bet is an extra challenge for a guy who transferred in from junior college.

(05-20-2014 10:45 AM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(05-19-2014 11:57 AM)grol Wrote:  

Quote:In 40 starts behind the plate, and Reeves calling the game, the Rice pitchers have a better team ERA (1.87) than in the 14 games where he was not the starting catcher (4.39 ERA). The Owls' record with Reeves catching is 31-9, and without him as the backstop is 6-8.

(05-19-2014 03:14 PM)I45owl Wrote:  

(05-19-2014 01:15 PM)mrbig Wrote:  I'm not much of a believer in C-ERA (catcher ERA), though some catchers are obviously more effective at some skills (framing pitches, blocking pitches, calling pitches, throwing out runners, etc.). But the difference in records is pretty eye-opening.

Especially when your starting catcher catches the top 3 starters and the other catchers are relegated to mid-week games (which, at least this season, have been against the top competition, accounting for several of those 8 losses (I'm not sure which games Reeves has caught mid-week).

Mid-week catching may not be a factor here. I went over the box scores and found:

Rice played 15 midweek games; record is 8-7.

Reeves was starting catcher in 8; record is 4-4. (W: TexSt, @SHSU, TCU, HBU; L: UH, SHSU, @UH, UH(Constellation))
Ewing was starting catcher in 5; record is 3-2. (W: @TexSt, Lamar, @UT; L: UT, @Lamar)
Kopycinski was starting catcher in 2; record is 1-1. (W: A&M-CC; L: A&M)

Reeves was DH in 4; record is 4-0. (A&M-CC, @TexSt, Lamar, @UT)
Reeves was pinch hitter in 1; record is 0-1. (A&M)
Reeves did not play in 2; record is 0-2. (UT, @Lamar)

What that suggests to me is the following:

• that our record in mid-week games was the same regardless of starting catcher ... around .500 for all three catchers.
• Reeves as batter mid-week brings the mid-week record to .666 (8-4 overall)
• Weekend record of 29-10 with Reeves starting most of those
  

So, the influence is (1) most dramatic effect is probably the weekend pitcher. (2) Rice seems to perform better mid-week with Reeves not catching but playing DH instead. Apples-to-apples comparison of mid-week games shows who is catching makes little difference in outcome.

Now, that's just winning percentage and not catchers-ERA, but I'd suggest that whatever difference there is in ERA is mostly due to the difference in pitcher. I'm not trying to argue against his skills, but rather that the numbers in the OP don't tell the whole story.

All of that said, I think Reeves is a critical part of the team - probably more to his bat than his catching skills. And we should all be proud of his all-academic accomplishment just as much as his influence on the team.

Reeves was named CUSA Newcomer of the Year today but only 2nd team overall at catcher (the FIU catcher was 1st team and the CUSA Player of the Year). I don't have a problem with the FIU guy making 1st team but I think they could have put Reeves 1st team at another position (like DH/Util).

(05-20-2014 02:41 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Reeves was named CUSA Newcomer of the Year today but only 2nd team overall at catcher (the FIU catcher was 1st team and the CUSA Player of the Year). I don't have a problem with the FIU guy making 1st team but I think they could have put Reeves 1st team at another position (like DH/Util).

Congrats nonetheless! Way to go, JC. No shame in losing out 1st Team to the Player of the Year.

I just hope (selfishly) that JC sticks around for another year on South Main; it would make a huge difference to have him anchor our offense as well as shepherd the pitching staff. It's hard to quantify what an impact his return could have.

I hope he gets drafted in the top 10 rounds for a nice slotted paycheck, but if not, I hope he returns to captain the squad and finish his degree.

(05-20-2014 03:07 PM)smackdaddy Wrote:  

(05-20-2014 02:41 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Reeves was named CUSA Newcomer of the Year today but only 2nd team overall at catcher (the FIU catcher was 1st team and the CUSA Player of the Year). I don't have a problem with the FIU guy making 1st team but I think they could have put Reeves 1st team at another position (like DH/Util).

Congrats nonetheless! Way to go, JC. No shame in losing out 1st Team to the Player of the Year.

I just hope (selfishly) that JC sticks around for another year on South Main; it would make a huge difference to have him anchor our offense as well as shepherd the pitching staff. It's hard to quantify what an impact his return could have.

I hope he gets drafted in the top 10 rounds for a nice slotted paycheck, but if not, I hope he returns to captain the squad and finish his degree.

I was just thinking the same thing. #enjoyingthisyear #lookingforwardtonextyear

JC will be back next year. He's had enough of moving around three years in a row. He loves his teammates and wants to stay around and get his degree.

That's great to hear Bob but I think we'll still have to sweat it out after the draft.

(05-20-2014 02:41 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Reeves was named CUSA Newcomer of the Year today but only 2nd team overall at catcher (the FIU catcher was 1st team and the CUSA Player of the Year). I don't have a problem with the FIU guy making 1st team but I think they could have put Reeves 1st team at another position (like DH/Util).

Yup. Aquino, Ewing, Hoelscher and Fox earned first team all-comference honors...and Duplantier made the Freshman team.

(05-20-2014 03:52 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  That's great to hear Bob but I think we'll still have to sweat it out after the draft.

Well I got it from his mom and dad. I asked specifically about his signing and that's what he had told them. I don't believe he'll change his mind. The family are real quality people and I take them at their word.

(05-20-2014 04:12 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  

(05-20-2014 03:52 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  That's great to hear Bob but I think we'll still have to sweat it out after the draft.

Well I got it from his mom and dad. I asked specifically about his signing and that's what he had told them. I don't believe he'll change his mind. The family are real quality people and I take them at their word.

Can we renew our season tickets now?

(05-20-2014 04:23 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(05-20-2014 04:12 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  

(05-20-2014 03:52 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  That's great to hear Bob but I think we'll still have to sweat it out after the draft.

Well I got it from his mom and dad. I asked specifically about his signing and that's what he had told them. I don't believe he'll change his mind. The family are real quality people and I take them at their word.

Can we renew our season tickets now?

Of course, we're still going to lose Aquino, Cook, Hoelscher, Lemond, McDowell and, most likely, Ewing. However, Connor Teykl has been patiently waiting to take over the 3B spot for two years now, and Kirby Taylor could easily move into starting 2B or 1B next season. And let's not forget we've got what should be our most highly regarded incoming class EVER (even if Stone Garrett doesn't matriculate). My one concern is whether Matt Ditman decides to go into the draft, which I've heard he is considering.

(05-20-2014 04:23 PM)13thOwl Wrote:  

(05-20-2014 04:12 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  

(05-20-2014 03:52 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  That's great to hear Bob but I think we'll still have to sweat it out after the draft.

Well I got it from his mom and dad. I asked specifically about his signing and that's what he had told them. I don't believe he'll change his mind. The family are real quality people and I take them at their word.

Can we renew our season tickets now?

Yes, excellent news. Hope it holds up. I'll be convinced when J.C. next changes his name.

If he becomes "U. Reeves" or even "I. Reeves," we're golden. But if we read about "A. Reeves," "A.A. Reeves," "A.A.A. Reeves," or god forbid, "Big Show Reeves," we're toast. Say yes, Coach! I mean, Come back, J.C.!! Er, U.!