Player in Focus: Anthony Recker
His Middle Name is Vito.
Had one stolen base in 2014—the only stolen base of his career.
He and his wife Kelly had their first child recently, a boy they named Camden, on Dec. 29.
Went to Alvernia University, located in Reading Pa. Alvernia was founded in 1926 as a teacher’s seminary by the Bernardine Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, a Franciscan order of sisters.
Was a teammate of former Met Zach Lutz in college.
Drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 18th round of the 2005 amateur draft.
Acquired by the Mets on October 25, 2012 when he was selected off waivers from the Chicago Cubs.
Recker wears number 20, which was also worn by former Mets Choo Choo Coleman, Howard Johnson, Jeromy Burnitz and Shawn Green. #20 seems like a big guy number, doesn’t it?
You can follow him on Twitter @Anthony_Recker
Earned over half a million dollars in salary in 2014 and will exceed $2M in career earnings if he makes the club this year. Yes, you wish you were a backup catcher.
Bravo TV talk show host Andy Cohen is very, very enamored with Recker. According to a Fox News report, Cohen attended a Mets game last year and was extremely impressed with one specific physical attribute of our backup catcher. Cohen also made a plea for any baseball players interested in a “46-year-old, young at heart Jewish male talk show host” to call him. No word on whether Recker has called.
Recker has a solid and accurate arm and is quick to his throwing position. He gunned out 37% of all baserunners in 2014 including Billy Hamilton.
Sadly, he is also one of the worst in all of baseball at framing his pitches. In other words, he doesn’t get close strikes for his pitchers, he does the opposite.
And finally, he did pretty much the coolest thing of any Met player in 2014, which can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKgfyUUPNsQ
Follow me on Twitter @Metsblue
Also another note about Division III Alvernia University, where Recker played, Lutz’s dad Yogi Lutz has been the head coach there for 29 years, and they are consistently one of the best programs in D3 baseball.
If you saw him recently on “Hot Stove” you know that he is an intelligent, well spoken student of the game.
He may have announcing or coaching in his post playing days. He was enjoyable to listen to.
He definitely seems like a genuinely good guy.
So, purportedly Recker can’t frame the pitches worth a damn.
But there’s this: in every one of Recker’s major league stops, his teams’ pitching staffs have had a better ERA while he was behind the plate than otherwise. Each instance is a small sample, but we’re talking about three small samples. Still, Recker has to live with the rep of a lousy defensive catcher.
As with the Piazza-is-a-lousy-catcher discussion (take a look at Al Leiter’s walks per nine, before and after he was traded to the Mets. Something happened when he arrived at Shea), all I know is that we still do not understand what constitutes a good defensive catcher.
Totally…I’m actually not certain how the stat is accumulated, but when I looked at the leaders I saw catchers that, as an eye test, look great behind the dish. It seems like the bigger catchers don’t do well on this stats, so it may just be a matter of them blocking the ump’s view of the edges.
That is an interesting observation, b’rer Singer.
Stat Guys…serious question…. where do you find a stat for “Framing Pitches”???
Is this a “reversion to eye test”, or is there actual statistical analysis that has proven itself over time?
Love when Ron Darling says whenever Recker plays, he impacts the outcome of the game. Completely agree with it! It always feels like he hits a homer or does something great to help the Mets win, glad he will be on the team for another season.
Recker is the kind of piece that helps win ballgames.
+1
If Campbell can become an emergency catcher and Campbell wins a spot on the roster then the residual effect would be using Recker and his power as a pinch hitter more often. Recker is a good bench player.