posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 12:17 AM by Jim

A.J. Pierzynski

ESSENTIALS
2007 RECAP

Mark Buehrle aside, a lot of White Sox would like to forget 2007 ever happened.  A.J. Pierzynski is right there with 'em.

Pierzynski did catch Buehrle's no-hitter and gained revenge against Vicente Padilla on consecutive days in April, but the season would lose its charm thereafter.  He got off to a slow start and never quite hit his stride.  Among the ignominies:
He did set a career high in walks with 25, one more than his previous record.  A significant improvement in the second half (.286/.338/.437) kept his numbers afloat, and helped him to receive a two-year, $12.5 million contract extension. 

Although he singled to end the 13-inning, six-run comeback against the Twins in September and hit a go-ahead grand slam versus the Cubs in May, his biggest hit of the year may have been his double off Jeremy Accardo in a June 3 game against Toronto, which snapped the team's streak of 61 straight at-bats without a hit off a reliever.  True to the script, Pierzynski was stranded on third to end the game.

While it may have been a down year for Pierzynski's bat, he maintained his ability to get into spats.  A list of the incidents I can remember:
  1. Jan. 5: Gripes about the Toby Hall signing.
  2. May 19:  Kvetching with Mike North about day off ticks off Ozzie Guillen.
  3. May 20: Buehrle criticizes Pierzynski for comments.
  4. May 28: Accused of trying to spike Justin Morneau.
  5. June 9: Suspended one game for overzealous dispute with home plate umpire.
  6. June 13:  Present during the encounter with Patti LaBelle's entourage.
  7. Aug. 24:  Gets in argument with Greg Walker over scouting report.
As it turned out, the worrying about Hall cutting into Pierzynski's playing time was unwarranted.  Sox backups posted an even worse OPS than they had the year before thanks to the spectacular failures of Gustavo Molina (one hit in 18 at-bats) and Hall (one RBI in his first 100 at-bats).  Pierzynski probably would have topped 140 games, a personal best he set in 2006, if September mattered.

GOOD SIGNS

1. He stayed healthy. Since joining the Sox, Pierzynski has caught the fourth-highest total of games.

2. He threw out more runners.  Pierzynski threw out 24.4 percent of potential basestealers in 2007, up 3 percent from the previous year.  More notably, there was a stark decline in the raw total -- 62 steals allowed, down from 90 in 2006.  Freddy Garcia's absence and Jose Contreras' time away from the rotation are the likely reasons.

3. He hit well on the road.  At U.S. Cellular Field, he hit .247/.289/.389; away from the Cell, he hit .279/.329/.416.  These results fly in the face of his splits from 2005 and 2006, and could be partially attributed to a low batting average on balls in play (.252).  He may have been bad, but he was also unlucky to some degree, and fortune has a habit of straightening itself out.

BAD SIGNS

1. He stayed healthy.  It'd be a little more comforting if we could chalk up that awful first half to some sort of nagging injury, like a bad thumb was the reason for Tadahito Iguchi's slow start.  That doesn't seem to be the case with A.J.

2. His line drive rate.  After seeing a small incline in his line drive percentage the previous two seasons, it dipped to a career low in 2007.  That could be a fluke, but...

3. He's nearing the wall.  Pierzynski will be 31 this season, and he consistently endures one of the heaviest workloads for catchers in the majors.  I don't think there's any strong reason to suspect this will be the year age whomps him, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility.

2008 OUTLOOK

It'll be a good season if...

Pierzynski once again will be expected to shoulder the burden of the backstop.  Hall should be more capable of playing like a major leaguer if he rehabs well, but that won't be determined until real games begin.  Therefore, it's imperative that Pierzynski gets off to a better start than he did in April, regardless of the temperature.  If Hall is alive and well, Pierzynski should receive a boost in his OPS, since he won't have to face as many lefties.  An OPS under .730 would be hard to justify, especially since he just received a two-year extension.

One interesting note: Despite the godawful pitching performances throughout the year, Pierzynski actually sported a lower catcher ERA (4.41) than he did in 2006 (4.47).  His passed-ball total is hard to reconcile.  On one hand, he did allow a career-high in that category with 14, up from 10 in 2006.  Yet Sox pitchers threw seven fewer wild pitches in 2007 despite issuing 60 more walks, so perhaps he deserves some of the credit there.  Whatever the case is, he still needs to cut down on the passed balls, since he only allowed seven in 2005.

Similarly, we can probably expect his caught-stealing rate to decrease because Jon Garland is gone and Jose Contreras should pitch more, but it would be hard to explain going any lower than the 21 percent he threw out in 2006.

We shouldn't expect 2008 to be incident-free, because if Pierzynski doesn't find trouble, trouble finds him.  All I hope is that we don't have to count to seven next year, because his prick(ly) tendencies aren't nearly as endearing when the Sox aren't winning.

PROJECTIONS

A.J. Pierzynski
 AB HR RBI
 BA
 OBP SLG OPS
2007 ZiPS
459
1663.266.311.416.726
2007 BJS
 513 15
 62 .277 .323 .427 .750
2007 JCM
 460
 14
 57 .269 .315 .419 .734

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